Is it possible to trigger an input dialogue for the user during an automation?

[Sarah_H]

I am hoping to include an user input pop-up as part of an automation. I find the documentation on this rather vague, but I am starting to realize it may not be possible.

This is for a cat rescue management app. I have set up a bot that is designed to write cat location changes to a location history table. The bot triggers when the main table's location field changes. It is supposed to collect the date of the cat's location change from the user, because this could be different from the day they are documenting it in the app. It then writes these to "temporary" columns in the main table, which are then used in a different step to create the new row in the location history table.

The automation as a whole is working, but only the default input values from the "card" on the bot step is transferring. It is not prompting the user to select a date. Is it really not supposed to? Below is my setup.

If the only intention for the "input" option in the automation step is to pass along a value that the app creator chose, why couldn't the app creator simply put that value/expression directly into the "Set these columns" option in the settings. How is a preset input value helpful?

If automation inputs are not intended to involve the user, does anyone have a better idea on how I might accomplish my goal of automatically "stamping" the change into a table, while still allowing for the date variable? I have considered adding a "move cat" action, but that would require I disable the user's ability to edit the location field normally and alongside the rest, so I don't love the idea. 

Thanks so much for your time!|
Sarah

[Steve]

Automations are performed entirely on AppSheet servers and do not have access to the user.

I'm finding your problem description confusing. Could you reexplain what you're trying to accomplish, but without speculation about how it might be implemented?

[Sarah_H]

Thanks Steve! I hope this is better:

The app is for managing cats at a rescue. The "Locations" involved are actually different people who foster the cats before they can be adopted. There is a "Cats" table, that has a [Foster] column referencing the "Fosters" table.

When a cat changes foster homes, the user will edit the "Cats" table and change the [Foster] reference ID. We need to create/retain a record of the original foster, so we can review a history of all the foster homes a cat has been in. The date the user is recording may not be the day the move actually happened, however (e.g. cat moved Saturday, but not recorded until Monday).  I need a way to change the Start Date/End Date associated with the foster records.

My team values "at a glance" table views, so I am hoping to accomplish this with the "Foster" column of the "Cats" table remaining a single reference value (and not something like a ref rows).

Is that a better explanation of the issue? Please let me know if you need different info.
_______

If it's helpful, here's what I have currently, which records foster assignments in a "Foster History" table. It works except for the customizable move date problem:

1. Bot triggers on an add/update to Cats[Foster]
2. Bot uses Set Row Values to record input values "Move Date" and "Notes" to hidden [Temp Date] and [Temp Long Text] fields in the "Cats" table.
   ^ This is intended to prompt the user for input, but that seems not possible, so it's pushing default input values.
3. Bot uses Run Action on Rows to search for the most recent previous "Foster History" row and set [Temp Date] as its [End Date]
4. Bot uses Add New Rows to create a new row in the "Foster History" table, using the info from "Cats", including the [Temp Date] -> [Start Date] and [Temp Text] -> [Notes]

This leaves me with a single, clickable reference in the Cats[Foster] column, which I like because we mostly use table views. This also leaves a nice "Related Foster Histories" table to view in the cat's detail view. I can also use the Foster History table for dashboards and reports. BUT the dates of the Foster History tables are not correct unless the user is recording the move on the same day it happens. So that's a real downer that I'm looking to solve.

Thanks so much!
Sarah