Data: Add a new row to another table using values from this row

AppSheet AppSheet Q&A
1

I have a table named “AreaOfExpertiseAOE” that contains the following columns:
Employee_ID
LastName
FirstName
AOE (type ref)
ProductLevel (type EnumList)

Depending on what is chosen from the AOE the ProductLevel is populated with the appropriate products.

What I am trying to do is record all the changes that happen when editing AOE and ProductLevel fields for a particular Employee.

I have set up an “Action” to “Data: Add a new row to another table using values from this row” from “AreaOfExpertise” table to a table called “Edits”.

Set these columns:
UniqueID = UNIQUEID()
Employee_ID = [Employee_ID]
LastName = [LastName]
FirstName = [FirstName]
AOE =
ProductLevel =

I am unsure how to capture the changes to AOE and ProductLevel fields. I have tried using the following in Expression Assistant.

AOE = [_THISROW_BEFORE].[AOE]
ProductLevel = [_THISROW_BEFORE].[ProductLevel]

However, when I do that the system displays the following error "Unable to find column ‘THISROW_BEFORE’

Could you please provide guidance on how I capture the previous values of the AOE and ProducLevel fields for a particular employee?

Thank you.

2

When you’re adding a new row, there is no “before” version of that row. A “before” version only exists when you update an existing row.

3

Thanks Steve. That makes sense. A better question would be how do I capture all the existing data before it is re-written with new data when the team member makes changes to that row?

My thought was to transpose that row to another table before edits are made to the row of the main table. Am I wrong? Is there a better way?

1 Like
4

My preferred approach is to use a workflow that copies the row to an archive table every time the row changes. That way, the archive is always current.