Appsheet - automated email to capture multiple data sets and return it to the app

[PaulCarr]

Hi,
I’m trying to build an appsheet which asks Team A to provide duration of a task, which then needs to be sent to Team B to enter than information onto the system and then for Team B to reply to say that it's has been done.

Rather than sending one task at a time to Team A, I would like to collate the data daily and send all the tasks relating to each member of Team A once a day on one email.

Now I can do this using a bot to send an automated email with a csv attachment containing the task identification numbers and an empty field for them to enter the task duration but how do I get that information back into the appsheet so I can forward via another email to Team B?

Any data they fill in on the csv will not come back to the appsheet? I can use a dynamic email and ask the user to submit the duration via the email but that can only be done one at a time. I need to be able to send all daily tasks at once so that it is easier for Team A to fill in the data all once.

Is there any way of combining the 2 approaches, i.e sending one email with multiple tasks, capturing the duration data and then feeding that back into the app, maybe with google sheets? I may be able to send them a link to a google sheet which is linked to the app but I was wondering if there was another way of doing it?

Thanks

[dbaum · Accepted solution]

In the email, maybe instead provide a link to the pertinent app view where the recipient could perform the work directly.

If csv is indeed best for your users who provide the data, then you ought to be able to partially or wholly automate that. ICYMI, you can create an action to Import a CSV file for this view - AppSheet Help. Also, likely you could process the file via Apps Script (e.g., monitor a designated folder on a schedule, when a file appears transform the data from the csv file to the app's data source--either directly, such as writing to a spreadsheet, or via the AppSheet API).

[dbaum · Accepted solution]

In the email, maybe instead provide a link to the pertinent app view where the recipient could perform the work directly.

If csv is indeed best for your users who provide the data, then you ought to be able to partially or wholly automate that. ICYMI, you can create an action to Import a CSV file for this view - AppSheet Help. Also, likely you could process the file via Apps Script (e.g., monitor a designated folder on a schedule, when a file appears transform the data from the csv file to the app's data source--either directly, such as writing to a spreadsheet, or via the AppSheet API).

[PaulCarr · Accepted solution]

Sorry for the late reply, thanks dbaum.