If got a question regarding automated workflo...

AppSheet AppSheet Q&A
1

If got a question regarding automated workflow mails.

I have a database where our technicians set a status to a project called “started”.

Then, they need to fill out a lot of data fields. (This process can go over days) When they filled out every data field, they can press a new button at the end called “closed”. When the data field contains the word “closed” it sends a mail.

This works without a problem. My problem is, that they can edit this entry but the mail shouldn’t be sent again when the entry is saved.

Is it possible to only send a mail when the form is saved the first time the data entry “closed” appears?

Thanks in advance.

2

@Adrian_Enz

See topic “Sending Email When a Row is Updated to Have Specific Values” in this article https://help.appsheet.com/behavior/workflow-introduction/workflow

The article illustrates comparing the before and after values of the field so the email is only sent when the field value first changes to “closed”.

3

Thanks for the response @Philip_Garrett_Appsh

I tried it out but I get an error with the [_THISROW_AFTER].[Abschluss] expression.

I need to check if the value of the column “Abschluss” has changed. But when I write the formula it looks for a column in the referenced table.

Am I doing something wrong?

Here is my expression:

AND([Abschluss]=“Ja”, AND(ISNOTBLANK([_THISROW_AFTER].[Abschluss]), [_THISROW_BEFORE].[Abschluss]<>[_THISROW_AFTER].[Abschluss]))

4

@Aleksi_Alkio Sorry to tag you here Aleksi, but do you maybe have a solution to my problem? It always searches for a column in the referenced table because of the “.” but I only need to compare the before and after value of a cell in the same table.

5

@Adrian_Enz

The Change workflow rule is evaluated in the context of the record that is being added, updated, or deleted. Your expressions always refer to fields in that record. In your case, that is the record being updated.

What error is being reported for your expression?

6

@Philip_Garrett_Appsh

It can’t find the column. But I don’t need this column as it doesn’t exist.

I don’t really get why it thinks that I want to get a dereference. I just want to compare the before and after value of the column “Abschluss”

7

+Steve Coile Hey Steve, I tag you here, maybe you can help me out with this problem.

I tested it out and it works when I don’t have a reference in this table. When I have a reference in it, it tries to search in the reference table because of the “.”