Smart Saves

The Smart saves tool lets you choose event forms (target forms) to be automatically saved at a specified date and time. This is useful for event forms that do not rely on manual data entry and display data linked from other forms. For example, you may have a Summary form that links data from Daily Diary, Training Log and Injury Record forms. You can set up a Smart save to create a new record of a Summary form every day that combines information from multiple other event forms.

Setting up Target events

When setting up a Smart save, you need to select which event form will be used as the target form - that is, the form that a record is automatically saved for at a specified time. You will then need to select the Date type, which determines if the target form is saved on a periodic basis or at a specified date and time. When the Date type is set to Period, the Smart save will run at the same time each week, month or year, depending on the When setting. If When is set to Week, you can check the day boxes so that the Smart save only runs on certain days. Setting When to Month or Year allows you to select a specific day of the month or year for the Smart save to run on.

You can then set the Start and Finish time for the Smart save to determine the time that the record is saved against. It is important to note that this does not affect the time that the Smart save runs, but just determines the display time of the target record. Target records are always created during the server’s Smart save window. Smart saves can put a lot of load on the server due to the potential number of calculations (especially historical calculations) and quantity of records being saved, so Smart saves are set to run during server off-peak times (i.e. early hours of the morning). This ensures that the load on the server is minimal and reduces the risk of any performance impacts. If you would like to know more about your server’s Smart save window, please contact your Smartabase consultant.

Setting the Date type to Specific date / annual allows you to select a specific date for the Smart save to run on. You can also set the From and To times for this type of Smart save to determine the time that the record is saved against. Similar to the Start and Finish times set for a Smart save with Date type set to Period, setting these times will not affect the time that the Smart save actually runs. When the Date type is set to Specific date / annual, the target record will only be saved on the date specified - it will not run on a recurring basis. Ticking the Ignore year option means that the target record will be saved regardless of whether it falls in the current or next calendar year. You cannot set up a Smart save with a date that has already passed unless the Ignore year option is ticked.

One or multiple event forms can be set as target forms, each with their own settings selected.

The above example shows a Smart save that has been set up to create a Data Summary record every day each week. Period has been selected as the Date type and each day of the week is ticked, meaning that a Data Summary record will be created every day. The Start and Finish times are set to 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM respectively, so the records will be date-stamped at this time each day. However, the records will actually be created during the server’s Smart save window, which is likely to be early in the morning - 2:00 AM for example.

Configuring a Smart save to trigger at the end of a day

As mentioned previously, Smart saves are always created during the server’s Smart save window, which is generally early in the morning. Any linked data that is entered during the day will therefore not be pulled into the target record. For example, if you have a Summary form that links data from a Training Log form, any information entered into the Training Log form for the day would not pull through to the Summary record as the Summary record was created prior to the Training Log record being completed. To account for this, you can enable the Trigger at end of day feature. This feature ensures that the Smart save fires the following day, meaning that the target record is backdated to include any data from the previous day. That is, the Smart save would run in the early morning of the following day but be dated on the previous day, so any information entered on the previous day would be included in the target record.

For example, if a Smart save is being processed at 2:00 AM on Wednesday and Trigger at end of day is enabled, the system would check if a Smart save had run for the day prior (Tuesday), and if it hadn’t, it would create a record for the Tuesday, which would include any linked data entered on Tuesday.

If Trigger at end of day was not enabled, the Smart save would fire at 2:00 AM on Tuesday with the Start and Finish times you set in the Smart save. The target record would not include any linked data entered after 2:00 AM on Tuesday.

Setting the Smart save timezone

When setting up a Smart save, you should set the Timezone to match the timezone for your organization. This affects the Start and Finish time shown in the target record, not the time that the Smart save is processed. As mentioned previously, the Smart save runs during the server’s downtime, so the Timezone selected only affects the Start and Finish time of the target record.

It is important to set the Timezone correctly if your Start and Finish times fall close to midnight (i.e. 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM) and your region observes daylight savings. In this instance, it is important to change the Timezone when daylight savings comes into effect so that the target record is not saved on the midnight cut-off. If the Timezone does not take daylight savings into account, there may be overflow target records that aren’t processed during the Smart save window and instead get pushed to the next day.

We recommend setting the Start and Finish times not close to midnight in order to avoid any issues that arise with daylight savings. A Finish time of 11:00 PM or earlier is recommended.

Setting up a Smart save template

When setting up a Smart save, you can use a Template to store pre-filled data in the target form record. You have the option to either select an existing template or create a new one. When creating a new template, you will be provided with the target form which can be filled out with pre-defined values. The form appears similar to how it does when entering data using Smartabase Online - all manual data entry fields can be interacted with but linked and historical calculations will not appear in this view of the form. After completing a new template, you will need to save it before you save the Smart save. The values entered into the template will be used to populate a record of the target form every time one is created from a Smart save.

Note that default values aren't retained when a form is saved via a Smart save, so a template can be used instead to achieve the same result.

Adding monitored athletes and/or groups

When setting up a Smart save, you have the option to enable it for everyone or set specific people or groups of people that the Smart save will apply to. You will need to add Monitored athletes and/or Monitored groups in order for the Smart save to run. If these options are left empty, then the Smart save will not be active. The Monitored athletes and Monitored groups options will appear underneath the Save button after the Smart save is first saved.

It’s always important to test new workflows in Smartabase, so we recommend adding a test account as a Monitored athlete before adding real people or groups to the Smart save.

Linked data

Target forms used in Smart saves often contain data that is linked from other event forms. If you have enabled Trigger at end of day where Smartabase is actually creating the target record the next morning, linked calculations in the target form should be set up assuming that the record is going to be created and saved on the same day. For example, if you have a linked calculation to pull in the maximum training load for today, you would set up your linked calculation to have a Date restriction of Today and set the Linked update range Advanced property to update at End of current day.

If Trigger at end of day is not enabled, your linked calculations should be set up to fetch the most recent data. This could be restricted to the previous day or the last week if you want a summary report of the data entered in the last week. If Date restriction is set to Today in this instance, the target record would always be blank.

It is important to note that linked calculations will not update throughout the day if the target record is created in the morning. The linked calculations will only update throughout the day if the Linked Update range (an Advanced property) is set to End of the current day and the form is manually opened and saved or a resave is run on the form later in the day.

If you want the information in the target record to be up to date throughout the day, you will need to set up a Smart flow for each of the forms linking into the target form for the Smart save, so an updated record is created each time the relevant data gets updated.

Configuring the Target event form to be compatible with Smart saves

To add an event form as a Target event for a Smart save, the form must have the Save audits Advanced property disabled. The Save audits property tracks data entered in the form before a resave or migration. Turning off Save audits means Smartabase does not keep a copy of the data before the resave or migration.

If a resave or migration fails, disabling the Save audits Advanced property may result in lost data. Only disable this property if the event form does not rely on manual data input. For example, event forms with linked or profile linked calculations that display data entered in other forms.

Managing Smart saves

Using the Smart saves tool, you can edit and delete existing Smart saves or create a new Smart save. To find a particular Smart save you have created, use the search menu in the Smart saves tool. The search menu lets you search for:

• The Name of the Smart save.
• A Description of the Smart save outlining the reason for its creation.
• The Time zone set up for the Smart save.
• A Trigger at end of day feature if the Smart save is set up to run at the end of a day.

Steps to configure a Smart save

1. Log into the administrator interface.
2. Select the Smart saves tool.
3. Choose the option to Create new Smart Save.
4. Provide a Name and Description for the Smart save.
5. Set the Timezone for the Smart save close to your organization’s timezone.
6. Tick whether you want the Smart save to Trigger at end of day.
7. Select the event form you want to use as the Target event from the drop-down menu.

   Only event forms with the Save audits Advanced property disabled are available for use in the Smart saves tool. If you cannot see the event form you expect, check that the Save audits Advanced form property is disabled.

8. Set the Date type to Period or Specific date / annual.
   • If you choose Period, you can set the Smart save to occur on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis.
   • If you select Specific date / annual, you can specify the exact day you want the Smart save to occur.
9. Set the Start and Finish times for the Smart save.
10. (Optional) Include a Template created to store pre-filled data in the target record.
    • If you are creating a new template, you will need to save it before you save the Smart save.
11. Note that a Smart save will not complete unless there is data in the target record. There are two ways to ensure the target record contains data:
    • Use a template with pre-filled data that is entered and stored in the target record.
    • Include linked fields or profile linked fields in the event form to pull data into the form from other event forms.
12. Click Save.
13. Add the athletes or groups monitored by the Smart save. Any athletes or members of groups that are monitored will have the target event form automatically entered for them on the specified date and time.
14. Click on Save to confirm your Smart save settings and exit.