Automation: Linking Multiple Application Records to a Single Personal Info Record

[cath123]

I’m working with two tables in Airtable: "Application Data" and "Personal Info". Here’s the setup:

1. Application Data Table:

   • Contains records for each application a student submits.
   • Students can submit multiple applications, so they may have multiple records in this table.
   • Has a column called "Full Name" (used as a unique identifier to match records in the Personal Info table).
   • Has a checkbox field "Reviewed" to indicate when an application has been reviewed.
   • Has a linked record field called "Personal Info Link" which should connect each application to the corresponding personal info record.

2. Personal Info Table:

   • Contains one unique record per student.
   • Has a "Full Name" column (used as a unique identifier to match records in Application Data).
   • Has a linked record field called "Application Data Link" to link back to all applications a student has submitted.

Goal:
I want an automation that, when the "Reviewed" box is checked in a record in the Application Data table, automatically links that record to the corresponding Personal Info record (based on matching Full Name). Each Application Data record should link to only one Personal Info record, while each Personal Info record should link to multiple Application Data records if the student has submitted multiple applications.

Problem:
I’ve set up the automation as follows:

• Trigger: When the "Reviewed" checkbox is checked in Application Data.
• Find Records Action: Finds records in the Personal Info table where Full Name matches the Full Name in Application Data.
• Update Record Action: Updates the "Personal Info Link" field in the Application Data record to link to the matched Personal Info record.

However, this only works for the first application record. If a student has multiple records in Application Data, the automation doesn’t link the additional application records to the Personal Info record.

Question:
How can I set up this automation to ensure that all Application Data records for the same student (same Full Name) get linked to the correct Personal Info record when "Reviewed" is checked?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[TheTimeSavingCo]

Hmm, your automation sounds fine; you've got it updating the record in Application Data that triggered the automation and so that'll add a new link to the relevant Personal Info record.

What error occurs when the automation runs for the second application record?  Could you provide some screenshots of your automation set up? 

[Alexey_Gusev]

Hi,
Automation works exactly according to the setup. Please clarify what's the problem?

- when you check 2nd, 3rd checkbox for other App Data records with the same Full Name, automation doesn't work?
OR
- you want automation to link this Full Name to all App Data records with corresponding Full Name after you check just one 'Reviewed' checkbox?

to troubleshoot problem, check run history.

for multiple update, use 2 find records actions in different tables then update links based on their output.
you can do it 'from any side', but to update from App Data you will need to use repeating group.