Jul 31, 2023 04:58 AM
Absolute Beginner here - still struggling to make Airtable do what I want. So here I am - ONE YEAR later after my first post here, and I am not much further forward in my use and comprehension of Airtable.
Admittedly, I have not been continuously attempting to learn Airtable in all that time, but the interface really intrigues me and all the examples make it look really easy to master and the fact is - it isn't! Being a retired database developer, I am not exactly new to the concept!
However, I have just spent an hour trying to get a formula in an Airtable base record that gives me what I want - simple - you would think, but no - not for me!
All I am trying to do is insert today's date when a status field in the record changes to a certain value. I've learned that I can use the function today() in a formula field to achieve this. According to the "reference material", today() only returns a date - Not so as far as I can see! I cannot find any definition description of the function today() to discover what I'm doing wrong!
My formula is
Jul 31, 2023 04:43 PM
I will try the Kuvonne solution and report back. Thanks.
Jul 31, 2023 05:26 PM
OK - I now have a field called "Summons Received Date with the formula
Jul 31, 2023 05:31 PM
Yeah, it can get kind of confusing. I've set something up here for you to check out, and you should be able to view the automation itself to replicate it
Aug 02, 2023 02:46 PM
Sorry for the delay in responding. Thank you for your example. However, I cannot update it or run the automation so I have no idea what it does or who it related to my problem?
Thanks,
Geoff
Aug 02, 2023 09:38 PM
Hi Geoff, yeah, that automation is set up in my own base so you can't update it or run it. It's set up as an example of how to solve the problem (I think!) you're having, and you can view the automation and how it's set up so that you can build it in your own base
Apologies if it doesn't solve your problem!
Aug 03, 2023 01:39 AM
Hi all,
Many thanks for your help with all of this, but I'm afraid I have gotten too frustrated with the shortcomings of Airtable to do even a simple task - something that would have taken me 5 minutes in my usual database development platform.
Maybe it's my inexperience with Airtable and perhaps I'm not using the right tools, but the Airtable Help System is not the easiest to use and it is difficult to find help when you need it, to solve specific issues.
My simple task was to create a table that tracked the receipt and disposition of certain documents. I had a Status field that was a single select dropdown of "Not Received", "Received", "Awaiting Amendment" and "Processed". I wanted to record, in another field, a one-time date when the document was "Received" (when the Status was changed to "Received") and wanted this date to remain, even when changing the status to something else.
It appears, from my efforts, and those who have assisted on this post, that this is not possible. I am very disappointed and had hoped to be able to make use of Airtable, but it seems not.
Thanks all for your help.
Geoff