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Airtable update record, based on change in Google sheets


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I am trying to update the Airtable base with a google sheet trigger “When a row is created”. The second part of the automation- setting actions fails at the setting of record ID, Could not find a solution on what to link. The record ID dosent exist.

Solutions please !

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Welcome to the community, @Naga! :grinning_face_with_big_eyes:

Could you please share more details about what you’ve tried to do when using the Google Sheets “When a row is created” trigger?


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  • July 12, 2021
Justin_Barrett wrote:

Welcome to the community, @Naga! :grinning_face_with_big_eyes:

Could you please share more details about what you’ve tried to do when using the Google Sheets “When a row is created” trigger?



Hi Justin,
Uploaded the file as requested for your reference, please let me know if you need more info.
Thanks !


Naga wrote:


Hi Justin,
Uploaded the file as requested for your reference, please let me know if you need more info.
Thanks !


You left the “Record ID” field empty, so the automation doesn’t know which record to update. Does your Google Sheets document contain Airtable record IDs? If so, you can use that data to populate that “Record ID” option. Otherwise you’ll need to find an actual record ID somewhere else.

Could you please describe what you’re trying to accomplish in greater detail? What exactly is the relationship between the data in Google Sheets and the Airtable table that you wish to update?


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  • July 13, 2021
Justin_Barrett wrote:

You left the “Record ID” field empty, so the automation doesn’t know which record to update. Does your Google Sheets document contain Airtable record IDs? If so, you can use that data to populate that “Record ID” option. Otherwise you’ll need to find an actual record ID somewhere else.

Could you please describe what you’re trying to accomplish in greater detail? What exactly is the relationship between the data in Google Sheets and the Airtable table that you wish to update?


I don’t have a specific “Record ID” to be populated in the G sheet, because I don’t see a need for that yet. What is the work around if I don’t have a specific Record ID to perform this ?
I am just trying to duplicate the G sheet into the Airtable, as my manufacturer is not intended to populate the Airtable that we maintain, so i am trying to get the google sheet from them and duplicate that file into Airtable.
This is for traceability purpose. Its more of a serial number tracking.


Naga wrote:

I don’t have a specific “Record ID” to be populated in the G sheet, because I don’t see a need for that yet. What is the work around if I don’t have a specific Record ID to perform this ?
I am just trying to duplicate the G sheet into the Airtable, as my manufacturer is not intended to populate the Airtable that we maintain, so i am trying to get the google sheet from them and duplicate that file into Airtable.
This is for traceability purpose. Its more of a serial number tracking.


That clarifies a lot. You don’t need to update a record. You need to create a record.

Updating means that you’re modifying data in an existing record. If you want to duplicate each new row from a Google Sheet, you want the Create record action. That doesn’t ask for an ID because it’s making a new record, not modifying an existing one. Inside that action you’ll need to insert the data coming from the triggering Google Sheet row into the relevant table fields.


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  • July 13, 2021
Justin_Barrett wrote:

That clarifies a lot. You don’t need to update a record. You need to create a record.

Updating means that you’re modifying data in an existing record. If you want to duplicate each new row from a Google Sheet, you want the Create record action. That doesn’t ask for an ID because it’s making a new record, not modifying an existing one. Inside that action you’ll need to insert the data coming from the triggering Google Sheet row into the relevant table fields.


You are right, that’s what i did initially, but i wonder also there might be a possibility of small correction or editing, if need be, in that case, that particular update might be missing.

Also for the creating a record, i could not control the relevant cell, to go into a particular cell in the Airtable, is there a way to do that ?

Appreciate your inputs, Thanks !


Naga wrote:

You are right, that’s what i did initially, but i wonder also there might be a possibility of small correction or editing, if need be, in that case, that particular update might be missing.

Also for the creating a record, i could not control the relevant cell, to go into a particular cell in the Airtable, is there a way to do that ?

Appreciate your inputs, Thanks !


I don’t understand what you mean. Could you please clarify?

Yes, but to set it up you have to have a successful test on the trigger step first. Assuming that your trigger works, the Create record step will let you choose which field(s) to fill with data in the new record. More about the Create record action and adding data from triggers can be found here:

In your case, you want to choose your trigger step, then click “Continue” at the end of the entry that says “Row Values”. That will show you Google Sheet column names on the left (from the header row, assuming that your sheet has one), and their respective cell values on the right. Click “Insert” on the one that you want, and it will be inserted into the chosen Airtable field in the new record once that record is made.


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  • August 20, 2023
Justin_Barrett wrote:

That clarifies a lot. You don’t need to update a record. You need to create a record.

Updating means that you’re modifying data in an existing record. If you want to duplicate each new row from a Google Sheet, you want the Create record action. That doesn’t ask for an ID because it’s making a new record, not modifying an existing one. Inside that action you’ll need to insert the data coming from the triggering Google Sheet row into the relevant table fields.


Hi Justin,

Hope you're well. I on the other hand need to update a record from Google sheets into Airtable. I tried out the find condition and then update trigger bt does not work. Could you give the exact steps we have to take to set this up? 

Thanks.


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