With the help of automations, you no longer have to perform a data processing operation manually, but can have it performed automatically. The variety of data processing operations available - from mathematical calculations to creating links between values in different tables - opens up new possibilities for automating your work processes.
Perform a data processing operation by automation
- In the Base header, click and then click Automation Rules.
- Click Add Rule.
- Give the automation a name and specify the table and view in which it should be triggered.
- Define a trigger event that triggers the automation.
- Click Add Action and select Run Data Processing Operation as the automated action.
- Select any data processing operation.
- Make the necessary settings (e.g. table, source column, result column) on the data processing operation.
- Confirm with Submit.
Creating the automation
After you have defined in which table and view the automation should be triggered, you define the trigger event. Currently, only a periodic trigger can result in a data processing operation. Therefore, you need to define a time when the automation should be triggered daily, weekly or monthly.
Then select Execute data processing operation as the automated action and decide on the desired data processing operation.
The following data processing operations are available for selection:
- Calculate cumulative values
- Calculate changes
- Calculate percentage
- Calculate ranking
- Transfer user name
- Compare and copy
In the next step, you make specific settings to the data processing operation that you want to trigger using automation. Depending on the selected operation, you will be asked to define tables and/or columns (e.g. source and result columns) that you want to use for the mathematical calculations or for establishing relationships between values in different tables.
Finally, confirm the automation with Submit to save it and have it executed at the defined time of the trigger, or click Execute now to have the automation executed directly.
Application example
A concrete use case for this type of automation could occur, for example, if you want to collect the number of daily accesses to a website in your spreadsheet. For this, you would like to add up the access numbers of each individual day, which are recorded in an existing number column, from row to row in a new column.
Until now, it was only possible to calculate the cumulative access figures manually using a data processing operation. With the help of a corresponding automation, it is now possible to have the cumulative access figures calculated automatically every day at a fixed time.
For the implementation you first need a table in which the different days are collected in a date column and the access numbers to the website in a number column.
Then add a second number column to the table, in which the cumulated values are calculated after each execution of the automation. The new, initially empty Cumulated Visitors column acts as the result column in the data processing operation, while the Unique Visitors column is the source column.
To create the automation, follow the steps described in the Creating the Automation section. Also, select the Unique Visitors column as the source column and the newly added Cumulated Visitors column as the result column.
After confirming the automation, SeaTable calculates the cumulative number of website visitors every day at the selected time and automatically writes it to the results column. Of course, the automatic calculation of the cumulative values requires that the number of website visitors of the previous day is written to the Unique Visitors column every day, before the automation is executed.
Table before triggering the automation:
Table after triggering the automation:
