Add To/Update Field instead of overwriting

[Cady_Smith1]

Is it possible to have an ‘Update Record’ action add to a field instead of overwriting whatever is in there?

IE: We have a request base.

• If the department is Training then Jane Doe needs to be tagged in the Collaborator field on the record.
• But if the department is Report a Bug, John Doe needs to be tagged in the Collaborator field on the record.
  The problem: If a record is tagged with Training and Report a Bug, it’ll overwrite Jane with John, instead of adding John.

[kuovonne]

In the Update Record action, include the existing value from the record plus the new value.

[Cady_Smith1]

So structure like this?

The above doesn’t always work unfortunately. When a new record comes in with that field empty then it throws an error because the field is empty and then the automation doesn’t run at all. Am I doing this wrong?

[kuovonne]

Hum. That is a problem. I recommend contacting support to explain the issue.

In the meantime, you could have two different automations and some formula fields for the the “when record matches conditions” trigger. The formula field would compare the last updated time of the department field with the last updated time of the collaborator field to determine if an automation needs to run.

Automaton A would trigger when the formula field says an updated is needed and the collaborator field is empty. This update would have only the new collaborator.

Automation B would trigger when the formula field says an update is needed and the collaborator field is not empty. This update would have the new collaborator and the list.