Updating collection records with different inputs

Hello,

I have a collection with over 400 records. I want to update every 100 records with different new inputs.

It’s not possible to update the CSV file because the import feature will add records to the current database in Adalo. It is also very frustrating to update each record in Adalo.

I heard about Airtable but I don’t want to create a new collection, delete the old one and link it to Airtable.

Is there a better solution in Adalo?

Thanks!

Hi @m-mrh ,
You can always use Integromat or similar tool for that using Iterations with conditions. @Flawless had already something related to that. Cannot find that post now.

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Hi @JL_LJ

Thanks for your reply. You mean this one Set up a daily deletion of collections from the database - #2 by Flawless ?

@JL_LJ this one? : Set up a daily deletion of collections from the database - #8 by Flawless

Also this video made by Victor also help here! : https://youtu.be/NRxRsgnwS0U ( post : Bulk custom action - #4 by Victor )

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@dilon_perera , @m-mrh yes those, I think here is the essence of what you need :).

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Hi @dilon_perera

Thanks for your reply! Yes I have seen this tutorial unfortunately my input values are not the same for all records. For example I want to assign 100 rows to an ID number 1, another 100 ID number 2, etc.

You will need to use Iteration with Indexing then and group by batches of 100. What is the criteria to add the 100 to the USER ID?

E.g. How do you define that from 200 to 300 goes to user X?

2 Likes

Actually, it is not related to users. So I have a collection of over 400 skills. I want to add a Text category with some job categories (example: IT, Writing, Engineering, etc.) and assign all skills related to a particular category. This way I can filter the Skills collection in a list. The only problem is that Skills are not added in order so I need to look for each skill and assign it manually to a category.

Ok, so you want to add an extra column to categorize the skills. I assume in your external file you have the skills mapped to the categories correct?

Also you don’t consider just deleting all and uploading the field for any particular reason? Collection has relationships, you want to maintain the ID, or other update info?

I assume in your external file you have the skills mapped to the categories correct?

That’s true, I have them in an excel sheet.

Also you don’t consider just deleting all and uploading the field for any particular reason?

You’re right, the collection already has relationships with other collections, and deleting and then re-uploading will remove everything with it.

Ok,
So you can apply this with Integromat: Unfortunately I exceeded already the scenarios limits lol, so cannot show it running:

Add the Excel Sheet to Airtable:

In my case I used City and Update, where City is the key I want to search for in Adalo database and Update is the new column that is empty currently in Adalo database

Then in Integromat add 4 tasks

1. Adalo List Records
2. Search Airtable Records - Leave the formula empty to return all results
3. Iterator where Array is the 1. Record ID from Adalo
4. Adalo Update Record

The 4 is the most important, you need to add a formula to match the key you want, in your case skills and to return the right category to update

The Integromat scenario will look like this:

If you need to filter some stuff in advance (In my case I filtered out some cities to not be updated), you can add a filter between Airtable and Iterator, in your case this is not necessary:

Optional Starts Here


Optional End Here

But this is :slight_smile:
Last step in the 4. Adalo Update records

image

And add formula to filter the right mapping

In my case I want to update the Adalo field “Category” where my key is the “city” and I will update with the “Update” field located in Airtable, so my city is your skills and my update is your category

image

Built this well, as I used it twice to test and I am in free plan and I spent all my credits in 2 runs :D, for around 350 records :slight_smile:

The result

image

The “Restaurants” where left out when I filtered it previously.

Let me know how it goes.

2 Likes

Hi @m-mrh ,

I have done something similar like this using just Adalo, it is related with few additional process before and after importing back to collection, and your relationship is intact, not loss.

If you need more help, we can discuss more in private, this would be community sponsor help, so very affordable.

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Hi @JL_LJ

Thank you very much for the solution. I tested it and it worked.

I am facing a problem that the Skills are not updating to the right category in the Airtable. Not sure why. Is this something related to the “limit” in the make tasks “List records” and “Search records”?

I tried the default limit of 10, but it only updates some records, and when I increase the limit it takes forever to finish which if I didn’t stop would take all operations left in my account :rofl:

Any suggestions?

Hi @Yongki

Thank you for the offer, I will contact you for sure if the proposed solution didn’t work!

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You mean it is not giving you the right mapping back in ADALO? That is definitely odd. I would need to see it running or if something missing in Integromat, but should work.

What you could do is apply that filter that I mentioned between Airtable and Iterator.

image

Where you filter data where Airtable Skills = Adalo skills

If you finished the number of tasks, just open another account and copy the scenario, I know it is not cool, but this way you don’t need to wait for the credits to come back.

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It’s okay there’s no need to create a new account I just stopped when I felt it will consume all operations.

This is how I set up the scenario:


limit is 10 in Airtable:


This is what the scenario looks like when it finishes:

And here you can see the difference between Adalo and Airtable
6
7

I will try the filter now and let you know if it gives better results

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@JL_LJ I tried the filter but it didn’t help. I even tried the “not equal to” same result

That is really strange then, works for me with no issues, only checking your data structure on both sides then. Let me see if I can check a more feasible option.

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Hi @m-mrh ,
My apologies, but was on “forced” holidays. Did you end up sorting this or you still need assistance?

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Hi @JL_LJ
Thanks for your message! Yes, I decided to update and download the collection, edit it, then upload it again as a new collection. This solved my problem but I didn’t try again with integromat solution.