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Use automation to copy attachment to new record

  • September 17, 2020
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Hi all, I’m loving the new Automations in Airtable, but getting stuck on what I think should be a pretty simple thing…

I have a table that functions as an inbox for messages and attachments coming in via a Zapier integration from an email inbox.

And I want to then use Automations to copy these incoming records to various tables where they’ll be processed - I have a growing variety of incoming message types so want to split out the handling of each type to a dedicated table.

I can easily create new records and populate with much of the relevant data, but I cannot move an attachment(s) across to the new record in the second table.

What’s the easiest way to achieve that?

Thanks!

Best answer by ScottWorld

Mike_Mauer wrote:

Try creating a formula that pulls out the attachment URL from the attachment field:

RIGHT(LEFT({Attachment Field}, LEN({Attachment Field}) - 1), LEN(LEFT({Attachment Field}, LEN({Attachment Field}) - 1)) - SEARCH(“https://”, {Attachment Field}) + 1)

Then reference that Formula Field in your automation to create a new attachment in another table.

Hope that helps!


Actually, the solution is even easier than that.

Simply insert the attachment field’s URL from within the automation itself. See screenshot below:

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T
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Use Zapier to create the new record if it has an attachment. Zapier will copy the attachment to the new record, but built in automation won’t for some reason.

R
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Tim_Sullivan wrote:

Use Zapier to create the new record if it has an attachment. Zapier will copy the attachment to the new record, but built in automation won’t for some reason.


Thanks for suggestion - I’ve found Zapier as it has its own issues with multiple attachments - -it ends up wrapping them into a zip archive which I want to avoid. Cheers

M
  • Mike_Mauer
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  • September 19, 2020
Richard_Foxwort wrote:

Thanks for suggestion - I’ve found Zapier as it has its own issues with multiple attachments - -it ends up wrapping them into a zip archive which I want to avoid. Cheers


Try creating a formula that pulls out the attachment URL from the attachment field:

RIGHT(LEFT({Attachment Field}, LEN({Attachment Field}) - 1), LEN(LEFT({Attachment Field}, LEN({Attachment Field}) - 1)) - SEARCH(“https://”, {Attachment Field}) + 1)

Then reference that Formula Field in your automation to create a new attachment in another table.

Hope that helps!

P
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Mike_Mauer wrote:

Try creating a formula that pulls out the attachment URL from the attachment field:

RIGHT(LEFT({Attachment Field}, LEN({Attachment Field}) - 1), LEN(LEFT({Attachment Field}, LEN({Attachment Field}) - 1)) - SEARCH(“https://”, {Attachment Field}) + 1)

Then reference that Formula Field in your automation to create a new attachment in another table.

Hope that helps!


Can you show an example or elaborate further? I tried recreating this as a formula field referencing an attachment field and it did not work.

ScottWorld
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Mike_Mauer wrote:

Try creating a formula that pulls out the attachment URL from the attachment field:

RIGHT(LEFT({Attachment Field}, LEN({Attachment Field}) - 1), LEN(LEFT({Attachment Field}, LEN({Attachment Field}) - 1)) - SEARCH(“https://”, {Attachment Field}) + 1)

Then reference that Formula Field in your automation to create a new attachment in another table.

Hope that helps!


Actually, the solution is even easier than that.

Simply insert the attachment field’s URL from within the automation itself. See screenshot below:

M
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ScottWorld wrote:

Actually, the solution is even easier than that.

Simply insert the attachment field’s URL from within the automation itself. See screenshot below:


yes that seems to be a recent update to Airtable automations - it can now handle attachments natively!

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  • Mark_Barnes
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  • September 23, 2020
Richard_Foxwort wrote:

yes that seems to be a recent update to Airtable automations - it can now handle attachments natively!


You need to watch this method. It will REPLACE existing attachments, not ADD to the attachments.

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Mark_Barnes wrote:

You need to watch this method. It will REPLACE existing attachments, not ADD to the attachments.


You should be able to insert the new attachment, follow it with a comma, and then insert the original attachment field itself.

If that doesn’t work:

For ADDING attachments (and other advanced Airtable automations), I can’t recommend Make highly enough.

It’s my absolute favorite automation platform, and it is simply amazing, It has tons of flexibility and features, and it’s super inexpensive, too. (It’s about a zillion times better than Zapier, which is also significantly more advanced than Airtable’s automations.)

There can be a bit of a learning curve with Make, which is why I created this basic navigation video for Make, along with providing the link to Make’s free training courses. There are also many Make experts hanging out there who can answer other Make questions.

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