Hello,
I am having trouble passing values to a child action using [_INPUT]. The “Inputs” section is not appearing in my parent action settings.
Here is my setup:
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Child Action
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Type: Data: add a new row to another table...
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Formulas: It is configured to receive data using expressions like [_INPUT].[InputName1] and [_INPUT].[InputName2].
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Status: It correctly shows an error: “Can’t find input value… No input values are defined.”
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Parent Action
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Type: Data: execute an action on a set of rows
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Referenced Action: It correctly points to the Child Action .
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The Problem: The “With these inputs” section (which I see in the documentation, attached as image_3309e1.png) is missing from my settings screen.
What I have tried:
I have already tried all the standard troubleshooting steps multiple times without success:
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Saving and reloading the editor.
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Changing the Referenced Action in the Parent Action to something else, saving, and changing it back.
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A full dependency rebuild (deleting the [_INPUT] expressions from the Child, saving, changing the Parent, saving, re-adding the [_INPUT] expressions to the Child, saving, and re-selecting the Child in the Parent).
The Inputs field still will not appear. Is this a known editor bug, or is there another way to force the Inputs section to display?
There is only one action type that you can pass parameters TO and that is the “set the values of some columns in this row” action. See image.
For the “add a new row to another table”, as shown in your example, you shouldn’t need to pass parameters. You have access to all of THAT row’s columns just as you do in the parent action. When you specify a column name in the right-hand side of that action, it KNOWS to pull the value from the source row.
If, for some reason, the value you need is NOT on the source row and you need to use a query to retrieve it from another table or another row, then you would implement the expression in that child action just as you would have done in the parent action.
I hope this helps!
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Thank you for your reply and the screenshot.
I believe there might be a misunderstanding regarding my issue. The screenshot you provided shows the Inputs section for an action like Data: set the values... or Data: add a new row.... This is where a child action can receive inputs, which is correct for that action type.
However, my problem is occurring in the Parent Action, which is a Data: execute an action on a set of rows action.
According to the official documentation, when a child action (the Referenced Action) is set up to use [_INPUT], the parent Data: execute an action on a set of rows action should display a section called “With these inputs”.
This “With these inputs” section is what is missing in my editor. This is the section I need to appear so I can pass the values from the parent (which is triggered by the Bot) to the child action.
My child action is already set up with [_INPUT] and shows the “No input values are defined” error (as seen in my previous screenshots), but the parent action’s editor screen is not showing the “With these inputs” section to let me define them.
Thank you for helping me clarify this.
You CANNOT pass values to an “add a new row” type action. What I was saying in my previous post is that there is only ONE type of action you can pass input to and that is the type I indicated in the image.
Also, be aware that the INPUT functionality has changed a few times. The “official” documentation you were referring to may have been older.
The “With these inputs” section will only appear on a parent action if the Referenced action is of the type “Data: set the values on a row” AND there are INPUT variables configured in the advanced section of that referenced action.
2 Likes
Thank you for your reply.
So, under the current settings, the [_INPUT] function is unavailable, correct?
If that’s the specification, then we’ll have to find another way to handle it.
I’ll explore alternative methods to achieve this.
Thank you for your thorough explanation.
Correct! Looking over your actions more closely I think you are struggling becasue your table relationships are not correct.
It appears that in the parent action you have specified CHILD rows in a Virtual Column in that “I…” source table.
That is not the best way to create Parent/Child relationships.
Instead, you would want to add a REF column to the “BOM…” target table that points back to the Parent table. When you do this, AppSheet will automatically create a Virtual Column with all of the child rows.
But the biggest advantage is that you will have on that child row a “pointer” to its parent so that when you are inside of the child action you can reference ALL of the Parent columns - [Example Parent].[Column1], [Example Parent].[Column], etc. No variables required!!
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