Getting an alert when a duplicate record is entered into the system

Jayme_Richardso · ‎Oct 03, 2023

Hello!

I'm trying to come up with a formula or script or something that will let me know when a duplicate record was entered into my table. I know I can use Dedupe to find current duplicates, but this is an ongoing issue and would love to be able to be alerted if something is entered into the base that already exists.

I saw another thread from a few years ago that said this was possible with a script. Anyone have any insight? Basically I'm thinking that when a new record is created... the script will run and based on the results of that script it either will or won't send me an email.

Hopefully that makes sense!

kuovonne · ‎Oct 03, 2023

You can do this with an automation.

It is much easier if your new records are created with a form with all values filled out.

Trigger your automation when the form is filled out.

Your first action is to find records that match the triggering record.

Then have a conditional section that only runs if you found more than one record. (If you found only one record, that's the triggering record.)

Inside the conditional section, send your email.

If your new records are not created with a form, but have people type in values in Airtable, things get tricker. You cannot trigger the automation on record creation because the record is created with blank values. You will need to find some other way of determining when data entry is done, usually with a single-select or checkbox field. (Don't trigger off a text field having a value--those trigger as soon as there is a single character in the field, often before the person is done typing.

See Solution in Thread

kuovonne · ‎Oct 03, 2023

You can do this with an automation.

It is much easier if your new records are created with a form with all values filled out.

Trigger your automation when the form is filled out.

Your first action is to find records that match the triggering record.

Then have a conditional section that only runs if you found more than one record. (If you found only one record, that's the triggering record.)

Inside the conditional section, send your email.

If your new records are not created with a form, but have people type in values in Airtable, things get tricker. You cannot trigger the automation on record creation because the record is created with blank values. You will need to find some other way of determining when data entry is done, usually with a single-select or checkbox field. (Don't trigger off a text field having a value--those trigger as soon as there is a single character in the field, often before the person is done typing.

Jayme_Richardso · ‎Oct 03, 2023

How would I set it up to only find records that match what was submitted? I have a new automation open that triggers when my form is submitted.... and then the first action is to 'find records'... but how do I make it check the value of the specific record that was submitted against the database?

Jayme_Richardso · ‎Oct 03, 2023

Nevermind, I figured it out! Thank you!!!