Question Regarding Form Submission & Automation

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Hello & Happy Friday!

I have a worry about the form submission automation. I have noticed that sometimes it takes a minute or two for the automation to kick in, which normally isn’t an issue. But I have some automations that send emails using the information from the last submission on the form table using the last() formula.

So lets say for instance a person submits a form, then a few seconds later another person submits a form, then both automations kick in after the 2nd form is submitted, what’s the result? Does coda know to use the correct information with the correct form submission? Or will it use the last row of the table at the time of submission (which would be the row from the 2nd form submission)

Sorry if this is a bit confusing!
Thanks!

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Hey Sam!

I too have noticed that form submission automations are significantly slower than other automations but a wide margin.

I’ve found more luck mimicking a new-row automation which I show how to do here

Other than that, yes. Although Coda takes a long time to execute on the triggered automation it will not mix up or lose your data associated with the automation. It should trigger effectively even if three forms are submitted in the span of 5 seconds

That being said, you really should be using step1result to reference the correct information as opposed to last() in your automations.

I also cover some automation basics / ideas here in case it’s helpful

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Thanks for your reply! I actually was using your row change solution until I saw they added the form submission option.

For this automation I am sending out a page that uses the information from the last submission. Is there a way to use the step results within a page? Or does it have to be contained within the automation formula? Does that question make sense?

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Oh I get it, yeah you are populating a page with dynamic information from a rows columns and are using Last() to do so.

Then you are sending that page via email correct?

Is there any reason you need to use a page itself? Are you specifically sending tables, etc? You can also use a Canvas column like a page and send it via email and have the canvas column pre-populate with information using the value for new rows

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Good idea, let me test it out. Thanks so much!

1 Like
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If you are simply sending text (aka not sending tables) I recommend this approach which does NOT use canvas columns

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