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Hi,



I’m working on automating multiple maintenance tasks in my base, but this one got me stuck … I’ve come to realize I need Zapier and a multi-step Zap (find record, then update record etc.), but I have not been able to figure out how to proceed from there.



See my example base here:






DeviceCutExample - Airtable





Explore the "DeviceCutExample" base on Airtable.























My workflow today:





  1. When some criterias are met (the PastDueDate?-field is “Yes” and the DeviceUsedBefore-field is empty) the record shows in a view (Projects --> TriggerView).


  2. I get a Slack notification, open the view and cut the linked record from DevicesUseNow to DeviceUsedBefore.




So, when DueDate is in the past I need the linked record (in the example base; DeviceB) to “move” from the DevicesUseNow-field to the DeviceUsedBefore-field.



And that is pretty much what I want to automate. Seems simple to do manually, but other tasks are dependent on this one being done, so it’s a potential bottleneck for the rest of my workflow.



Anyone out there with some tips on how I solve this?

Actually, if you’re updating a field in the same record that triggers the Zap, it’s considered a two-step Zap and can run from a Free account (assuming the update interval and number of actions per month fall under the account maximum).



You’d want to set your Airtable trigger on a record entering a view and then update the same record. In your Action step, select ‘Use a custom value (advanced)’ to be able to select the record ID from the triggering record as the ID of the record to be updated. (Step 3 in this reply goes into detail as how to specify this.) You’d specify {Field A} as the source for the value to store into {Field B}. Off the top of my head, I’m not sure how you’d zero out {Field A} afterwards, but I suspect there’s a custom value that allows you to delete an existing field.



My Wardrobe Manager base in Airtable Universe contains a Documentation] table containing 5 PDF documents as attachments. One is called ‘Wardrobe Manager Zapier Guide’; it provides step-by-step instructions on how to implement a two-step Zap of the type you need. (Slight caveat: The instructions are valid for the Zapier UI and logic structure at the time the guide was written; there may have been some minor changes to one or the other since.) If you go to the Wardrobe Manager base in Universe, click ‘Explore the base’, and select the Documentation] table, you can open the Zapier guide without having to duplicate the entire base.

Actually, if you’re updating a field in the same record that triggers the Zap, it’s considered a two-step Zap and can run from a Free account (assuming the update interval and number of actions per month fall under the account maximum).



You’d want to set your Airtable trigger on a record entering a view and then update the same record. In your Action step, select ‘Use a custom value (advanced)’ to be able to select the record ID from the triggering record as the ID of the record to be updated. (Step 3 in this reply goes into detail as how to specify this.) You’d specify {Field A} as the source for the value to store into {Field B}. Off the top of my head, I’m not sure how you’d zero out {Field A} afterwards, but I suspect there’s a custom value that allows you to delete an existing field.



My Wardrobe Manager base in Airtable Universe contains a Documentation] table containing 5 PDF documents as attachments. One is called ‘Wardrobe Manager Zapier Guide’; it provides step-by-step instructions on how to implement a two-step Zap of the type you need. (Slight caveat: The instructions are valid for the Zapier UI and logic structure at the time the guide was written; there may have been some minor changes to one or the other since.) If you go to the Wardrobe Manager base in Universe, click ‘Explore the base’, and select the Documentation] table, you can open the Zapier guide without having to duplicate the entire base.


Thanks @W_Vann_Hall!



Setting the “Use a custom value (advanced)” to the record ID made it for me.


And regarding zeroing out the first field (DeviceUseNow), I found that writing “” in the field in the Zap cleared it.



Case closed!

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