Auto-number records by contract
Ulrich Weißensteiner
I need a smart way to auto-number records for contracts and contract items. Each contract has one or more contract items, and these items should be numbered by contract, starting from 1. When I add an item, the item number should be auto-filled with the next number, similar to sub-items but without the limitations of the sub-item field type.
S
Sarah Humphries
We have a similar requirement in that for each project we need to assign document number for every document produced. Typical document control functionality where assigned document numbers are made up of Project Number, Discipline producing the document, Document Type e.g procedure, report, drawing etc and then an auto incremented number based on these values.
Examples would be:
P1234-ENG-RPT-001
P1234-ENG-RPT-002
P1234-ENG-DWG-001
P1234-ENG-DWG-001
P5678-ENG-DWG-001
etc
Y
YES Integrations
Ulrich Weißensteiner why not create another table?
U
Uli
YES Integrations,
a separate table for each contract? That will hit the limits of SmartSuite. What I want to achieve is a "Items" table with some smart auto numbering - but without the use of any automation (because of potential race conditions). Example:
Y
YES Integrations
Uli no, one table for contracts and one table for contract items, each contract item linked to a contract. You could group contract items by contract to get a view like your screenshot
Jon Darbyshire
Hey Ulrich Weißensteiner, thanks for your feedback! Following up on this:
- Can you provide more details on the 'limitations of the sub-item field type' that you mentioned?
- What happens when a contract item is removed? Should the numbering be adjusted accordingly?
- Do you need the auto-numbering to be visible and editable by the users, or should it be handled entirely in the background?
U
Uli
Jon Darbyshire,
- sub-items are very handy, but lack some important features:
- some field types are missing (formula, lookup, due date, ...)
- not searchable (think of questions like: who ordered product xy?)
- yes, numbering should be adjusted
- I would say: handled in background but visible
As a workaround you can add some helper fields and an automation to calculate your own numbering, but this way you will always risk race conditions.