Automations empower you to manage events within your data table, allowing you to execute actions based on specific events. For example, you can send an email to a manager when a new item is created. Here's how to add an automation in Design mode:
- Click Edit View and then Automation.
- Click the Add button. You'll find three sections: When, Condition, and Action.
- In the When section, choose 'Inserted' to trigger the automation whenever a new record is inserted. Skip the Condition as this automation should always execute when a new record is added.
- In the Action section, select Email and provide the necessary details. Click the Save button. Now, when you add a new record to the table, an email will be sent to the corresponding people.
You can add more automations with specific criteria by defining conditions. For example, you can set up an automation for when 'Updated' and the condition is 'Status' equals 'Closed,' and the action is 'Send email to Manager.' This automation will trigger an email to the manager when the Status field is updated to 'Closed.'
When section:
- Triggers: Before Insert, Before Update, Before Delete, Inserted, Updated, Deleted.
- Workflow Triggers: If workflow is enabled for your table, four additional triggers are available: 'When selected step is approved,' 'When selected step is rejected,' 'When approval reaches the selected step,' 'When rejection reaches the selected step'. After selecting one of these, you will be able to select a workflow step.
Condition section:
If you need a condition to execute this automation, click the Add button to add a new condition. Select a field, then choose a condition such as 'Equals,' 'Contains,' 'Greater Than,' etc. You can select a static value or a field's value.
Action section:
Here you can select different action types depending on the trigger type you selected.
- Create record: Add a new record to a selected data table, and map columns and their values.
- Update record: Modify the record for the current data table, and map columns and their values.
- Email: Send emails to specific individuals. For workflow-enabled data tables, you can inform assigned users. Use record parameters in the email message in the format '##FieldName##' for dynamic emails.
- API call: Send REST or SOAP requests using the record's data being edited. Similar to emails, use the '##FieldName##' parameter format to dynamically build your API requests.
- Auto Approve: Automatically approve the selected workflow step.
- Recurring: Enable scheduling for the action, allowing you to send emails to the manager every day if specific conditions are met, for instance.