Having notification scripts

[terryneedsleep]

Hi,

Not sure where to start, would like to know if it’s possible to receive notification for users on the phone once a profile has been updated. Can Airtable write scripts? I’m using Thunkable mobile app.

[Justin_Barrett]

Welcome to the community, @terryneedsleep! :grinning_face_with_big_eyes: Sorry to see that this has gone unanswered for so long.

When you say that you want an alert when “a profile has been updated,” what kind of profile are you talking about? An Airtable record that represents a user’s profile info, or something else? More details about your use case would help a lot.

[terryneedsleep]

Thanks for the follow up. I’m trying to match user availability to book schedules. In Airtable, each user stores data about their name, age, sex, location, availability etc.

UserA is trying to match the availability with UserB. UserA has a cell with Afternoon. UserB also has a cell with Afternoon. If both has Afternoon in Airtable, then UserA and UserB receives a prompt. How do you do that?

[Justin_Barrett]

Sorry for the delayed reply. If I understand you correctly, you want to make comparisons between all users to find certain types of matches in their profiles, and alert the users when these matches are found. Long story short, this might be doable directly within Airtable using some complex table mangling, but it’s admittedly a bit of a hack, and has some significant limitations. While Airtable is great for data storage and certain types of manipulation, any operation that involves comparisons across all records would be better done with the help of external tools. Integration services like Zapier or Integromat might help, but as much as I like those kinds of tools, this sounds more like the job for some custom code that uses the Airtable API to extract and examine the data. I’m going to tag @Bill.French to see what insights he can offer in this scenario.

[terryneedsleep]

Okay, I see, if it’s doable within Airtable, then how to do that?

[Justin_Barrett]

I said it might be doable within Airtable. I’ve built systems that can do certain kinds of data matching across records in the same table, but haven’t tested the specific use case you describe, so I’d have to play with it for a bit (i.e. several hours). Unfortunately I don’t have that kind of time right now because we’re moving next week, and have a lot that needs to be done to prepare for that. The soonest I can look into this more deeply will be in 2-3 weeks.

Also, I should have clarified that the part I was referring to that might be doable inside of Airtable is just the matching component. Even if a match were found, Airtable doesn’t provide any native tools for automatically triggering emails or text messages based on that. Even the tools available via blocks must be manually triggered. Automatic triggering would definitely need a tool like Zapier or Integromat, or something custom written to use the API.

Frankly, I suggest that you post in the Work Offered category. While you haven’t spoken to the scope of your database, my hunch is that your dataset isn’t small. Yeah, it might be possible to use a hack as part of this system, but I don’t think a hack is what you need. Better to find someone who can build you a proper system to make this work, rather than put your trust in a hack that might only do part of the job semi-successfully.

[Bill_French]

Terry,

Allow me to respond as well; Justin is slammed with stuff for a while.

terryneedsleep:

… possible to receive notification for users on the phone once a profile has been updated.

Yes. But not integrated inside Airtable or the Airtable apps. You need a push notification to the mobile device that’s based on an event, or you need to use the Thunkable API to effectuate this dunctionality. Since Airtable doesn’t support events that then trigger other actions, you won the trifecta of stuff that’s not designed to work together.

terryneedsleep:

Can Airtable write scripts?

No. It should, though.

That said, you need a middle-layer that “listens” for changes in your Airtable data and broadcasts notifications to your Thunkable app users, or makes data changes to your app that then triggers an alert using the Thunkable API.

Code-free integration platforms are not likely a remedy as things like Zapier and Integromat do not seem to support Thnkable apps. And this would make sense since every Thunkable app is not predictable in terms of its architecture.

Justin_Barrett:

… it might be possible to use a hack as part of this system, but I don’t think a hack is what you need. Better to find someone who can build you a proper system to make this work.

I echo this advice. What you’re trying to do is neither usual nor customary in terms of the intimated use case involving Airtable features. Unless you are skilled at creating reliable glue between SaaS and mobile apps, I recommend you spend a few - perhaps many cycles - defining your requirements and then asking for qualified Airtable or Thunkable forum members to respond.