Google Agenda: updating an event always fail

[Denis_Filion]

Hi.
I am having a hard time making automation work with my Google Agenda.
Creating an event is simple enough.
But updating a record always fail, I do not understand why at all.
Maybe somebody experienced the same roadblock?

[Denis_Filion]

Hi. Having a bit of time to test this again.
I thought I was getting somewhere when I got many tests going well.
Then, in real life…
Weirdly, when I create a record, I get this message: “Unable to parse datetime”
Then I take the exact same record in AirTable, just duplicate it… and it works.
There must be a simple explanation.

[Kamille_Parks]

You are using the “when record is created” trigger. Unless you’re submitting records via a form, the API/scripting, inside a grouped view, or duplicating records, all non-calculated fields come in blank.

Your first screenshot plainly shows that no start or end time was passed because those fields were blank. You need to select a different trigger that suits your needs. Either use a more definite trigger (e.g. “when Checkbox is checked”) or use a formula field to compare the Last Modified time of your relevant fields to NOW() to trigger the automation (e.g. if difference between Last Modified and Now > 10 min, display “ready”, else display “not ready”)

[Denis_Filion]

Very good advice. I created a checkmark field and a text field to store the Google Event ID. When the checkmark is used, a Google event is created, and the text field is almost immediately updated. It works perfectly.
But for the modified records, I am struggling a bit. There must be a simple way to use the last modified time but I can’t seem to find it. I do not like the idea of using some checkmark field each and every time i modify a record (which I have to do quite often).

[Kamille_Parks]

You can have the “modify google calendar event” automation on every update if you’d like, you need the checkbox for the “create google calendar event” since you need to what until some date is there in Airtable to pass off to google.

Unless you’re constantly deleting the dates and adding them back.