Cross doc new column sync

I’ve noticed that creating a new column in a synced cross-doc table does not make that new column available in the host doc. It would be nice to have that new column at least sync to the host doc as hidden so that we could have the option to make it visible and/or reference it in other places in the host doc. The current workaround is deleting the synced table from the host doc and then re-adding the synced table again.

I know I’m complaining about awesome new functionality, so please — go easy on me. :wink:

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I also came here looking for a solution to syncing new columns, but since it’s not available yet, will use the workaround of deleting and re-adding for now. And yep, cross-doc is really awesome and puts Coda miles ahead of its competitors.

I haven’t checked, but I have a feeling that once you sync the table after you’ve added a column, you’ll have it in the Row object. And all you’d have to do is add a column in your cross-doc table yourself, and then write a formula for that to be Row.[Added column name].

This is a good idea. Would be significantly faster than deleting and resyncing the table. Will test and report back.

With Paul’s reply below, don’t forget to re-sync your table after you’ve added the new column to the original table. It won’t know it’s there if it’s not updated.

There seems to be a problem here with hidden columns.

I hid a column in my source table and that made it become unreferenceable in my crossdoc table. I unhid the column and resync’d and it did not become referenceable again.

I have a lot of things connected to the crossdoc table so I’d really rather not have to delete and re-add the crossdoc table if possible.

Any ideas @Paul_Danyliuk or @BenLee?

Thanks much!

Hiding a column will make it un-syncable.

Re-displaying the column will allow it to display again, but there will be a time lag before it kicks back in. If you wait a little while and come back to it, you should see it work again.

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Thank you @BenLee. I just wasn’t patient enough.

FWIW, it did take quite a while (more than a few minutes) before it was available again. Long enough for me to try many times and for me to google this post and add my message above. :slight_smile:

Thanks again!

Yes, it does take a while and there isn’t an immediate fix or remedy for this.

Sharing a lesson learnt that seems appropriate here - I added new columns to a view a of table. These are not automatically added to the original table (which is what the cross-doc syncs with) so you need to make them appear and then re-sync.

Yes @Jonathan_Richardson in a way its counter-intuitive yet also a security feature.

As an end-user, It’s surprising (and a bad enough UX that lots of folks end up here) that:

  • additional columns aren’t automatically synchronized
  • hidden columns in source table are hidden in sink tables (the idea that the visual representation of a table in one view should impact the underlying data model of a dependent table is frustrating)
  • renamed columns appear to, at least in my experience, also break cross-doc

Are y’all actively making improvements on cross-doc or is this implementation here to stay?

I’m using cross-doc, and it’s pretty clunky. When I add a new column to a source document’s table, I get the security implications of just having that appear everywhere. However, a person who has access to the source document should be able to choose to import the new column.

The workaround to delete the cross-doc imported table and re-add it breaks existing formulas in the target document.

Hi @Anthony_Yam,

You can add a column and it will sync without having to delete and re-add the sync table. A couple things to know…

Cross-doc pulls data from the latest snapshot backup. If you have a very large doc, it may be longer between snapshots, but generally we’re looking at a minute or so. Add your column, give it some time, then re-sync the table. You can then add a column and reference it by the column name, Row.[New Column]

Cross-doc will only pull over the columns and rows that are displayed in the source table. So if you add a new column and hide it, things still won’t pull over.

Hi @BenLee thanks for responding. This is in fact working. It’s confusing because 1) the column wasn’t available immediately after a manual sync (some amount of waiting and resync’ing is required) and 2) the column isn’t automatically added to the sync’d table.

So I would say this isn’t especially usable, but it’s workable.

I’d of course love to see a non-copied connection to the cross-doc table that’s real-time with optional bi-directional editing.

Thanks again!

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