Data Shuttle - Input Expressions to build keys?

Doug McCready

Can you build values in Input Expressions that are combinations of other input fields, which are then loaded in the target Sheet?

I'm trying to build the key to my Sheet from the combination of fields from my input csv. My Data Shuttle configuration has the correct source, target and mapping. The target Sheet has a primary "Employee Key", which is a combination of Employee ID and Job Code. I added an input expression of Employee Key 2 = [Employee ID]@row + [Job Code]@row, and Employee Key 2 is mapped to the Employee Key field in the target Sheet. When I run the workflow, it quickly finishes and there are no errors nor records in the target sheet.

Hope this makes sense - appreciate any advice.

Danielle Wilson

Hi Doug,

Yes - you can! This should be working assuming that your sheet has two columns named "Employee ID" and "Job Code" that are having information mapped to them and are exactly identical in spelling. It sounds like you have done this but once you have created the "Employee Key 2" Input Expression you will need to go back to the Mapping page to map that field.

Doing this process with an Input Expression in your case is essentially identical to doing this with a column formula, so you might play around with taking out the Input Expression and doing this as a column formula to make sure there isn't something else blocking your Data Shuttle workflow.

If you click into the "Last run" details on the Data Shuttle dashboard, you should see information about how many rows were added, unaffected, filtered out, etc. that should help with troubleshooting!

Best,

Danielle W.

Product Marketing Manager

Smartsheet

Doug McCready

Good morning Danielle -

Thank you for your reply. I'm not able to get this to work.

I did not realize that the actual text I put into the Input Expression was literally put into the target field (=LEFT([Employee ID]@row, 6) + LEFT([Job Code]@row, 4)), instead of performing the action internally and loading the formula result (1234561234) into the target field.

I tried to put the Input Expression (New Employee Key) into the target Employee Key (primary) field and no records are loaded. If I use the actual field ([Employee ID]@row) from the source, it does load data. Because our employees can have multiple job codes, I need the key to be the two fields (ID and Job Code) concatenated together.

I've attached my set up ... maybe you see what I'm not doing correctly.

Thanks for your feedback!

Danielle Wilson

Hi @Doug McCready ,

It does look like the formulas as you've written them in the screenshots should be functioning - though I'm not entirely sure what the function of "New Employee Key" is at the moment since you're already loading the "Employee ID" as its own column.

As I was recommending, if you're still having trouble loading in this data, I would recommend removing the input expressions, loading in the data as is, and creating this formulas within the sheet as a column formula instead, as this will achieve the same result.

You may check your filters as well to see if something is applied that is keeping the data from loading and if issues persist, I'd recommend filing a Support ticket to have it investigated. If you have Pro Support on your account, you could also book a Pro Desk session for 1-on-1 help with Data Shuttle!

Best,

Danielle

Product Marketing Manager

Smartsheet

Doug McCready

@Danielle Wilson Thank you very much for your feedback. Very much appreciated! I'll try putting the formula into the Sheet and reach out to Pro Support if I can't figure it out.

Doug McCready

Emergency Medicine Business Director

University of Colorado / UCHealth