Appending linked record to existing list of linked records

[David_Simpson]

First, here’s what I’m trying to do:

I’m working on an inventory for my video game collection. I have some games that are collections of other games. For example, ‘Metal Slug Anthology’ is a collection of 7 different Metal Slug Games. I have a record for the anthology, and 7 other records for the games that it collects. I have one field to show which games the anthology collects, and another field to show which collection the games are a part of. So the anthology shows the 7 games it collects in the ‘Collects’ field, and the 7 games each show that they are collected in ‘Metal Slug Anthology’ in the ‘Collected In’ field. Here is what it’s supposed to look like:

I’m trying to use an automation so that when a game is shown to be collected in another game, that game automatically shows that it collects the first game. That is, if I were to update the ‘Collected In’ field for Metal Slug 3, then Metal Slug 3 would automatically show in the ‘Collects’ field for Metal Slug Anthology. Here is the automation I’m using, triggered when the ‘Collected In’ field is not empty:

What I’m trying to automate is when I choose that a game is collected in another game, the collection is automatically updated with the collected game in the ‘Collects’ field, so that I don’t have to manually choose records every time. When the automation is triggered it only replaces the current record in the ‘Collects’ field, and I’m trying to append it. I’ve found 2 posts that talk about appending a linked record to another list of linked records by first inserting the original list of linked records, but they don’t specify exactly how to do that. Here they are:

Update Record step to append a record into a list of linked records rather than overwriting existing... Automations

Welcome to the community, @Anthony_Fennell! I haven’t tested this myself yet, but I believe that you might be able to append an additional linked record by (1) inserting the original linked record field from the trigger record, (2) adding a comma, then (3) adding whatever is supposed to be appended. Please try this and let me know if it works!

and

Automation Update Record Step not working for multiple linked records Automations

When you update a value of a field, it overwrites the existing values. To append values one usually needs to include the original values in your update. However, since it sounds like you are using a form, the automation doesn’t have easy access to the existing values. Instead I recommend a simpler fix. Make the link from the receipt side. Since this is an internal form, prefill the linked field in the form instead of messing with the record ID. Then you don’t need an Altima toon to do the linki…

Is this accomplished solely in the update record automation? Or do I need to use a formula as well?

Any help would be appreciated!

Edit: in trying to get this to work I’ve found I’ve used over 90% of this month’s automation runs. Figuring out how to get this to work with just a formula would be really nice.

[kuovonne]

It looks like you want same-table backlinks. It is not possible with just a formula.

If you’ve used over 90% of your monthly automation runs only doing tests, using automations may not be the right method for this.

An alternative is to use a script that creates same-table backlinks. (Scripting is free until March.) There are some scripts in this thread, although you may need to wade through the posts to find one you like.