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Auto Number that Resets Every Year

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Devon_Godfrey
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

(So, since I’m a “New” user even though I’ve used airtable for years, I can only post 5 images per post, so I’m breaking this up into multiple responses. )

Hi guys! I encountered a need to have this solved, and the nature of the problem just doesn’t mesh well with creating a formula to fix it.

Here’s a topic that was looking for a good answer on this, and one that gives an answer that I think can be improved upon:

This does require an automation, but only requires one table and two fields: a created time field and a single line text field. It doesn’t matter whether they’re primary or not.

Here’s how it works:

First, create a new base, just to play with it and get a handle on it:
2021-10-30 23_51_23-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox
Here, I’ve created a single base and renamed the first table “Projects”, as I will use this to create a project numbering system that resets each year.

Next, I’m going to add two fields: “Date” and “Number”:
2021-10-30 23_53_26-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox
They MUST be a date and single line text field, respectively! ( I would highly suggest that we make the date field a created time field )

23 Replies 23
Devon_Godfrey
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

Next, create an automation for when a record is created:
2021-10-30 23_54_45-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox
2021-10-30 23_55_10-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox

Add a script action:
2021-10-30 23_56_04-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox

Paste in the script in the following pastebin: //If you have any questions about this, reach me at devon[-at-]playfrey.tech// - Pastebin.com

image

Next, we need to configure this step a bit:

  • Change “configTable” to be EXACTLY what the name of your table is (In this case, “Projects”)
    2021-10-31 00_02_48-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox
Devon_Godfrey
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

Do the same with the other two:
2021-10-31 00_03_49-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox

Next, we need to add the following input from the record that was created:
2021-10-31 00_05_04-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox

It’s vital that it’s the “Trim” of the record ID
2021-10-31 00_06_01-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox

For Date, just the date field is fine:
2021-10-31 00_07_05-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox

Next, click finish in the top right and turn on the automation:
image

Devon_Godfrey
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

Finally, go ahead and create a record:
2021-10-31 00_10_48-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox
You’ll notice that the Number field auto increments, however if I convert the date field to a regular date field, then set up a form view and submit a project for next year ( the only way you should use this if you’re not using a created time field 😞

2021-10-31 00_12_55-Auto Number Base_ Projects - Airtable — Mozilla Firefox
You’ll see that the counter reset back to one.

You can even backdate records and they’ll keep count in that specific year. [EDIT: Don't backdate records, things get weird, and I don't know if I'll ever get around to fixing it]

Hopefully this was helpful. I don’t check here often, but if you want some help with this script don’t be afraid to shoot me using the email in my pastebin.

Thanks for sharing! It is very helpful!

Welcome to the community, @Devon_Godfrey! :grinning_face_with_big_eyes: Thanks for chiming in on this topic! I’m in the middle of creating my own script to append to the thread of mine that you linked above, but I’ve been swamped by other stuff and haven’t been able to wrap it up yet. I’ll hold off on checking out your solution until I finish mine. However, I will edit the category for this thread, as this belongs in the “Show and Tell” group instead of “Ask the community”.

Appreciate you Justin!

I’ve been getting emails asking about resetting daily and monthly, I just updated the pastebin so there’s now a option in the config variables to reset it daily and monthly.

Thanks for this Devon. Wondering how I can edit this to change based on Fiscal year, rather than calendar year?

Brian_Podnos
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Thank you for this! I keep getting an error that says:

“Error: Field “fldlEQVsveTqEliYH” cannot accept the provided value.
at main on line 92”

Any ideas here?

@Brian_Podnos We’ll need more details about how you’re attempting to implement the script, including the types of fields in your table.