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Two-Way Sync between Tables in the *Same Base* ???

  • September 20, 2024
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M
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  • M_L
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  • 69 replies

Hello,

I am having trouble syncing records across tables within a single base.

  • Table A has a list of dates and times for appointments.
  • Table B has a list of people who are scheduled for appointments in Table A.
  • Table B, Column "Email Reminder Sent?" is a Checkbox field that indicates whether or not their Email Reminder has been sent.
  • I have "Table B, Email Reminder Sent?" linked so it also shows up as a column in Table A. This way we can see the communications status for each appointment without going to the Table B.
  • The problem is that when I'm in Table A, the Checkbox field is read-only and I'm not able to check/uncheck it. So i can "see" it in Table A, but I have to go to Table B to edit it.

I assumed I needed to enable "Two Way Sync" to get around it, but it appears that this feature is intended for syncing between *different bases*. Based on that, I assume I'm missing something that's causing the problem above.

What am I missing? How can I have two-way sync between two tables in the same base?

 

TIA,

ML

Best answer by Devinder_Singh

@M_L You can try Byteline data sync to easily configure a two way sync between these two tables of the same base. It keeps running in the background to keep the tables in sync. Now you can update your data in either table, and it will sync to the other table.
So you can use the "Email Reminder Sent?" field in tables A and B as a regular checkbox field. You can edit in any tables and the sync will update in the other table.

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9 replies

TheTimeSavingCo
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You're not missing anything I'm afraid.  You could try creating an automation to help you with this?  You'd create a field in Table A to trigger the automation, and the automation would then look for the appropriate Appointment record in Table B to mark the checkbox, and how to find that record's going to be dependent on your business logic

You might also consider using a List view to display the data from both tables in the same view in an editable fashion:

Link to base

Adam, Consultant @ thetimesaving.company
M
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  • M_L
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  • 69 replies
  • September 21, 2024
TheTimeSavingCo wrote:

You're not missing anything I'm afraid.  You could try creating an automation to help you with this?  You'd create a field in Table A to trigger the automation, and the automation would then look for the appropriate Appointment record in Table B to mark the checkbox, and how to find that record's going to be dependent on your business logic

You might also consider using a List view to display the data from both tables in the same view in an editable fashion:

Link to base


@TheTimeSavingCo , thanks for your response. I looked into the List View, but I don't think the LookUp fields are editable unless I add them in the 2nd row, which with List View hinders other features like the ability to Group rows by a condition.

If I tried the automation route, how complicated would that be? I have the 🔎 solution from another thread which is helpful, but am open to automating if it would allow me to get these fields as editable in this original List View Interface. (They're already there as emoji check boxes, but I can't uncheck or check them!).

Thanks,

ML

TheTimeSavingCo
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M_L wrote:

@TheTimeSavingCo , thanks for your response. I looked into the List View, but I don't think the LookUp fields are editable unless I add them in the 2nd row, which with List View hinders other features like the ability to Group rows by a condition.

If I tried the automation route, how complicated would that be? I have the 🔎 solution from another thread which is helpful, but am open to automating if it would allow me to get these fields as editable in this original List View Interface. (They're already there as emoji check boxes, but I can't uncheck or check them!).

Thanks,

ML


Hmm I'm confused, with the List view there aren't any lookup fields and everything is editable

---
re: If I tried the automation route, how complicated would that be?

It really depends on what your business logic is for selecting which appointment to send the reminder for I'm afraid.  If it's the latest Appointment that's linked to the Person, then you could use a lookup field to grab the record ID of that latest Appointment and have the automation use that record ID for the "Update record" action?

Adam, Consultant @ thetimesaving.company
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  • Devinder_Singh
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  • September 22, 2024

@M_L You can try Byteline data sync to easily configure a two way sync between these two tables of the same base. It keeps running in the background to keep the tables in sync. Now you can update your data in either table, and it will sync to the other table.
So you can use the "Email Reminder Sent?" field in tables A and B as a regular checkbox field. You can edit in any tables and the sync will update in the other table.

Kamille_Parks11
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@TheTimeSavingCo is correct, I would advise looking at your business process more closely. My suspicion is you have your data structure backwards.

If the checkbox is to indicate that a reminder was sent for an appointment, then the checkbox should exist on the appointments table (Table A).

Then Table B could have either a Lookup or Rollup to indicate if the person was notified for all of their appointments. The formatting might not be exactly to your liking, so you could try this trick:

  • Add a Count field to Table B that with conditions applied to only count how many linked records in Table A that have an unchecked "Reminder Sent" field.
  • Add a formula to Table B that that^ Count and outputs a true/false value that can be formatted to look like a checkbox. That formula would be something like: 

 

IF(AND({Link to Table A},{Count Field} = 0), TRUE(), FALSE())​

 

No automations, no syncs, no integrations. Now you have an editable checkbox on the table where it belongs, and a "checkbox" on the other table that is kept in sync with the other one.

M
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  • M_L
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  • September 24, 2024
Kamille_Parks11 wrote:

@TheTimeSavingCo is correct, I would advise looking at your business process more closely. My suspicion is you have your data structure backwards.

If the checkbox is to indicate that a reminder was sent for an appointment, then the checkbox should exist on the appointments table (Table A).

Then Table B could have either a Lookup or Rollup to indicate if the person was notified for all of their appointments. The formatting might not be exactly to your liking, so you could try this trick:

  • Add a Count field to Table B that with conditions applied to only count how many linked records in Table A that have an unchecked "Reminder Sent" field.
  • Add a formula to Table B that that^ Count and outputs a true/false value that can be formatted to look like a checkbox. That formula would be something like: 

 

IF(AND({Link to Table A},{Count Field} = 0), TRUE(), FALSE())​

 

No automations, no syncs, no integrations. Now you have an editable checkbox on the table where it belongs, and a "checkbox" on the other table that is kept in sync with the other one.


Thanks for this response. It makes sense that it may be better to move the checkboxes to the other table, however, I'm not able to make that change right now. 

M
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  • M_L
  • Author
  • Inspiring
  • 69 replies
  • September 24, 2024
TheTimeSavingCo wrote:

Hmm I'm confused, with the List view there aren't any lookup fields and everything is editable

---
re: If I tried the automation route, how complicated would that be?

It really depends on what your business logic is for selecting which appointment to send the reminder for I'm afraid.  If it's the latest Appointment that's linked to the Person, then you could use a lookup field to grab the record ID of that latest Appointment and have the automation use that record ID for the "Update record" action?


Thanks for the info! We have lookup fields because as Kamille noted, the checkboxes are on Table B instead of Table A.

M
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  • M_L
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  • Inspiring
  • 69 replies
  • September 24, 2024
Devinder_Singh wrote:

@M_L You can try Byteline data sync to easily configure a two way sync between these two tables of the same base. It keeps running in the background to keep the tables in sync. Now you can update your data in either table, and it will sync to the other table.
So you can use the "Email Reminder Sent?" field in tables A and B as a regular checkbox field. You can edit in any tables and the sync will update in the other table.


Thanks @Devinder_Singh , this reminded me that I have a subscription to zzBots which does 2-way sync. Since Airtable can't do a 2-way sync without me paying more, I'm going to see if I can do it through zzBots. The other solutions in the thread were great, but I'm not able to execute them at this point.

Thanks!

matthew_b
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  • matthew_b
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  • December 11, 2024

You might want to try Whalesync's 2-way sync (Airtable <> Airtable). Will let you connect tables in the same Airtable base.

https://www.whalesync.com/connector/airtable

It supports all Airtable fields, so you can basically just duplicate the table or fields you want and sync 'em up.

 

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