Button Suggestion: Open URL in New Tab w/o Opening

[Alexander-Jerry]

Just a quick suggestion: I use webhooks in my buttons to start and top timers in my timesheet tracking service: however, I would really like to be able to click on a webhook without having to immediately close the tab.

I could set-up a macro to close a tab automatically after a time interval, but I thought I would pop in here and suggest that we have that added layer of control in terms of what pops up as we click a button.

In another use case, sometimes I want to run a script to perform background tasks, and I don’t need to see the console. I would love the script to be able to run in the background without necessarily loading the dashboard - and I realize there is probably a limitation here, regarding only being able to use a block if it’s fully loaded on the screen.

In any event, these are my two cents! I am really enjoying the Button field, it really helps Airtable perform more like an application than a spreadsheet - there have been so many great updates recently, I’m excited to see how Airtable will evolve over the years.

[Bill_French]

Alexander-Jerry.Leon:

suggest that we have that added layer of control in terms of what pops up as we click a button.

This is a pretty good suggestion and almost goes without saying. Since the dawn of hyperlinks, HTML has supported a number of behaviours such as open in new window, same window, etc.

Your request - although reasonable - is more about the concept of a silent action (i.e., an event, a true webhook, or an ajax call). Links in buttons are not really webhooks because webhooks (by definition) are self-powered based on other dependencies like a field being updated, or a new record being added. The dependency with buttons - however a great improvement it may be - requires a human in the room wielding a pointing device.

Alexander-Jerry.Leon:

I want to run a script to perform background tasks

I agree with this as well; script blocks are simply functional objects that should be able to be executed (like stored procedures in SQL databases) or the underpinning of custom formula functions.

[Kamille_Parks]

Alexander-Jerry.Leon:

sometimes I want to run a script to perform background tasks

Obligatory “this has been suggested, but in a locked thread” note. Previously recommended implementations included adding a toggle to the Customize Field Options dialog to turn on/off the block panel (or in your first case, a new tab at the url) opening.

[Justin_Barrett]

Alexander-Jerry.Leon:

In another use case, sometimes I want to run a script to perform background tasks, and I don’t need to see the console.

I’m not sure if you’ve already seen this, but now that the scripting action beta is avaialble, you might give that a shot. It’s still in the beginning stages in some ways, but it’s a great way to trigger things in the background, including scripts that can make webhook calls without the need to click a button first, and without opening any sidebars in the process.

[Holli_Younger]

@Justin_Barrett new to scripting and webhooks - airtable has me researching things I never thought I’d care to know - Can you elaborate on what you mentioned about using a button without opening additional sidebars (or preferably windows). Scripting is way out of my league and I feel like I cannot utilize so much of the new airtable additions without understanding a new language first.

[Justin_Barrett]

Holli_Younger:

Can you elaborate on what you mentioned about using a button without opening additional sidebars (or preferably windows)

I think you got two of my comments crossed. With the scripting action beta, you’d be triggering a script without using a button. It all works in the background, without opening the Blocks sidebar in Airtable, using one of two triggers: a new record being created, or a record entering a view. By using the button to trigger a script, it does open the sidebar (currently; lots of us want the option of leaving the sidebar closed, but it’s anybody’s guess if that will come to pass). However the script is triggered, though, you can make a webhook call in the script, which wouldn’t open a new window/tab in your browser. Read this post for more.

Using Scripting Block to push a webhook on button click Scripting app

Welcome to the community, @Jonny_Matthews! :smiley: I’ve got this working with an Integromat webhook, though I’m only passing the record ID and letting an Airtable “Retrieve a record” module in the scenario pull the rest of the data I need, but you could send over as much or as little as you want. Here’s what I’ve got, stripped down to just the basics: let url = "https://hook.integromat.com/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?recordID="; let table = base.getTable("Invoices"); let view = table.getView("Outsta…