Just a Feature Request: I use synced tables a TON and I wish there was a readily available “Sync Now” Lightning bolt instead of having to click the drop-down on the Table tab. Or even a key command could be cool. Instead of ⌘+V to paste, it could be ⌘+S to sync. Something where I don’t have to constantly remember where the “Sync Now” button is located would be awesome for the bases that are synced.
What level of convenience are you aiming for and how far are you willing to go?
Assuming you have the table you need synced open, this code works for me in the browser console after simulating a dropdown menu* click (which depends on table position in a given base, at least based on this sample size of one I’m looking at right now. :grinning_face_with_sweat:
document.querySelector("#hyperbaseContainer > div.baymax.rounded-big.focus-visible.white.border-thick.border-darken2.light-scrollbar > ul > li:nth-child(7) > span").click()
Meaning it should also work from within a custom app. If you don’t want to mess with Airtable’s still-green SDK and/or would ideally like to automate your sync clicks entirely (are you on a free plan, to be clicking, anyway?), look into Selenium/Puppeteer/Playwright/insert_whatever_chromium_automation_library_is_cool_this_week.
Edit: Or if you’re really particular about your sync-this clicks, you could look into making your own browser plugin/look into existing js-injection solutions. But at the end of the day, the serverless sync is pretty responsive from my experience, particularly in busy bases, even at north of 42-43k records. The button isn’t readily accessible because it really isn’t meant to be clicked all that often, nor should that act be required in any well-designed workflow (i’m not 100% on that last one so maybe someone more experienced can chip in but I really see no real, long-term point in this that doesn’t have superior alternatives in other corners of the Airtable feature set).
@Cassie_Gatton You’re aware that it syncs automatically, right? (As long as you’ve selected the automatic sync option.) However, it only syncs every 5-15 minutes, which may not be fast enough for your needs. Personally, I don’t mind where the “Sync Now” option is located.
Yep I’m aware. Just not fast enough for me. I just keep forgetting where it is since it’s in a drop-down. It would be perfect if I could force it to sync just by refreshing the page.
would be perfect if I could force it to sync just by refreshing the page
Ok, that simplifies the challenge here. I’m certain JavaScript injection is what you want to look into, then.
So, forget about the automation frameworks I mentioned above (most of which only work in dev mode, anyway), and do the following:
decide on a browser plugin to use to inject the code
been using the Custom Style Script in Edge for over a year now, haven’t had my identity stolen once so I guess it’s cool in my book as far as hacky tools for tinkering go
use a combination of inspect element (ctrl+shift+c on Windows) and actual mouse clicks to figure out the two or three lines of code you’ll need to write in order to achieve the desired behavior and automate it for good - almost in the same statement even
afterward, just pass that code to the plugin to act upon and you’re done.
Come to think of it, vanilla Chrome/Edge dev tools might actually be able to accomplish this with no third-party plugins but I’m afraid I’m not up to date with the frontend world to claim anything more concrete. The Chromium feature I’m thinking of is called Content Scripts, however, and you should be able to find it with little effort after you launch the console by activating the inspect mode with the aforementioned shortcut.
Regarding event automation, this is what 10 seconds of googling gave me for this particular problem. The top answer’s pretty old, the original question is nothing short of ancient, but eh, it’s just a few lines that are pretty much guaranteed to work, so definitely a place to start if you’re still scratching your head over this.
I’m giving you my niche Airtable problem of the week award I’ve just made up, however. Have never encountered someone complaining about Airtable’s syncing times haha.
Chiming in to say that I too find the automatic syncing to be too slow for the way I’m using it. In the absence of an optional faster sync interval, I would love to see a “Sync All” button in the base header that I could use to sync all synced tables in my base simultaneously on select. That would make my day, Airtable! :pray:
This would be especially helpful when setting up syncs and automations. I have lost track of where the "sync now" option is about 10 times in the last 10 minutes as I work through sync settings. It's impractical to wait 10 minutes to check if new conditions or records are working as expected.
