Forum Discussion

RyanFarrington's avatar
RyanFarrington
Qrew Member
5 years ago

Field Unavailable in Automations Criteria

I'm trying to set up an automation with the trigger being, "when a 'Task' is modified and the 'Time Spent' field changes, yet is not blank." However, under "additional criteria" where I'm trying to say, "'Time Spent' is not <<blank>>", the system refuses to include the field in the dropdown.

You can see in the attached image 'Time Spent' is second to the last in the list of "any of the following fields change." However, it's not in the dropdown below. Why would this be?

The 'Time Spent' field is searchable. It's a duration field.


Any insight is greatly appreciated!

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Ryan Farrington
Graphic designer, project manager, copywriter, engraver, internal Quick Base developer
rfarrington@experiencepinpoint.com
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Quickbase Automations
  • MarkShnier__You's avatar
    MarkShnier__You
    Icon for Qrew Legend rankQrew Legend
    5 years ago
    Try making a dummy helper  field of the same type with a blank formula and use that to compare in he Automation Filter.

    ------------------------------
    Mark Shnier (YQC)
    Quick Base Solution Provider
    Your Quick Base Coach
    http://QuickBaseCoach.com
    mark.shnier@gmail.com
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    • RyanFarrington's avatar
      RyanFarrington
      Qrew Member
      5 years ago
      I tried duplicating the field, but the duplicate doesn't show up in the dropdown list.
      I tried making a new text field, which did show up in the list.
      I tried changing the text field to a duration field, and it was no longer available. After changing the field type, the automation page displays an error:

      time spent 3 (fid_1163_) Remove condition or a select different field

      Apparently, it doesn't like working with duration fields. I'll just make another field that evaluates whether the time spent field was filled in and use that to filter the automation.


      ------------------------------
      Ryan Farrington
      Graphic designer, project manager, copywriter, engraver, internal Quick Base developer
      rfarrington@experiencepinpoint.com
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      • MarkShnier__You's avatar
        MarkShnier__You
        Icon for Qrew Legend rankQrew Legend
        5 years ago
        Ohhhh, yes I think I had the same problem with duration type fields.  I think you were right that automations don't play nicely with duration fields.

        ------------------------------
        Mark Shnier (YQC)
        Quick Base Solution Provider
        Your Quick Base Coach
        http://QuickBaseCoach.com
        mark.shnier@gmail.com
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