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Having trouble using automations on single select data columns

  • January 28, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 24 views
S

Hi there!

I’ve got a database which is presenting the same data but in different localisations. Everything is going well except for one aspect. The single select columns won’t transfer data in the same was a the multi-select (or any other data type I use).

You can see in this picture, where I have got multi-select data transfer to work fine despite the selection IDs being different

However, when trying to do something similar with single select, it will always add a new item. I have no idea how to sort this, and it’s really annoying (I have 24,000 cells to maintain, so I need this process to be automated)
The picture below is an example (I only told it to use one cell so I didn’t have to clean up 16 columns)

Does anyone have any ideas how I can sort this? Thank you!

4 replies

kuovonne
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  • kuovonne
  • Brainy
  • January 29, 2021

Each single and multi select choice has both a name and an id. Try using the name of the single select choice instead of the id.

S
  • Stadia_Game_Rev
  • Author
  • New Participant
  • January 29, 2021

Each single and multi select choice has both a name and an id. Try using the name of the single select choice instead of the id.


Thank you for your response!

I did try this alternative, and it works for something where the data doesn’t change between columns (ie. it’s numbers, so no translations needed). But not all of my columns can have the same “name”, as the names are different

kuovonne
Forum|alt.badge.img+29
  • kuovonne
  • Brainy
  • January 29, 2021

How do you know that the different ids of the single select fields are actually the same? They may or may not be the same, depending on how the fields are created, and there is no easy way to identify the ids without resorting to code. Plus, there is no way to force a choice to have a particular id.

Instead of using an automation, consider using a formula field instead. The results of the formula field won’t look as pretty, but it won’t take automation runs.

Here is a formula for a single select field:

SWITCH({single select field},
  "original language choice 1", "choice 1 in other language",
  "original language choice 2", "choice 2 in other language",
  "original language choice 3", "choice 3 in other language"
)

The formula for a multi-select field is a bit more complex. It also will not put commas

IF(
  FIND("original language choice 1", {multi select field} & "") > 1,
  ", "
) & 
IF(
  FIND("original language choice 1", {multi select field} & ""),
  "choice 1 in other language"
) & 
IF(
  FIND("original language choice 2", {multi select field} & "") > 1,
  ", "
) & 
IF(
  FIND("original language choice 2", {multi select field} & ""),
  "choice 2 in other language"
) & 
IF(
  FIND("original language choice 3", {multi select field} & "") > 1,
  ", "
) & 
IF(
  FIND("original language choice 3", {multi select field} & ""),
  "choice 3 in other language"
)
S
  • Stadia_Game_Rev
  • Author
  • New Participant
  • January 29, 2021

How do you know that the different ids of the single select fields are actually the same? They may or may not be the same, depending on how the fields are created, and there is no easy way to identify the ids without resorting to code. Plus, there is no way to force a choice to have a particular id.

Instead of using an automation, consider using a formula field instead. The results of the formula field won’t look as pretty, but it won’t take automation runs.

Here is a formula for a single select field:

SWITCH({single select field},
  "original language choice 1", "choice 1 in other language",
  "original language choice 2", "choice 2 in other language",
  "original language choice 3", "choice 3 in other language"
)

The formula for a multi-select field is a bit more complex. It also will not put commas

IF(
  FIND("original language choice 1", {multi select field} & "") > 1,
  ", "
) & 
IF(
  FIND("original language choice 1", {multi select field} & ""),
  "choice 1 in other language"
) & 
IF(
  FIND("original language choice 2", {multi select field} & "") > 1,
  ", "
) & 
IF(
  FIND("original language choice 2", {multi select field} & ""),
  "choice 2 in other language"
) & 
IF(
  FIND("original language choice 3", {multi select field} & "") > 1,
  ", "
) & 
IF(
  FIND("original language choice 3", {multi select field} & ""),
  "choice 3 in other language"
)

This looks pretty feasible, thank you!

I’ll give it a try tomorrow (it’s getting late here) and if it works how I need it to, I’ll mark this as solved.

Thanks! :slightly_smiling_face:

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