Overview

AppSheet automation supports the use of embedded app view emails with your app that enable users to interact directly with your app in an email, instead of clicking a link in the email to access the app in a separate browser tab or window. Emails with embedded app views are currently only supported with the Gmail client.

Objectives

In this lab, you learn how to perform the following tasks:

• Configure an automation task to create embedded app view emails with your app.

• Create the AppSheet automation components to send embedded app view emails to an app user.

• Use QuickEdit columns in an app view for the email.

• Test the email by interacting with the app view to update data.

Setup

Before you click the Start Lab button

Read these instructions. Labs are timed and you cannot pause them. The timer, which starts when you click Start Lab, shows how long lab resources will be made available to you.

This hands-on lab lets you do the lab activities in a real cloud environment, not in a simulation or demo environment. It gives you new, temporary credentials to sign in and access AppSheet for the duration of the lab.

What you need

To complete this lab, you need:

• Access to a standard internet browser (Chrome browser recommended).

• Time to complete the lab.

1. Make sure you sign in to the lab using an incognito window.

2. When ready, click .

   A new panel will appear with the temporary credentials that you must use for this lab.

   If you need to pay for the lab, a pop-up will open for you to select your payment method.

3. Note your lab credentials. You will use them to sign in to AppSheet for this lab.

   If you use other credentials, you will get errors or incur charges.

4. Click Open AppSheet to open the AppSheet UI in a separate browser tab or incognito window.

   Note: If you are not already using an incognito browser window, use the right mouse click in Chrome to open AppSheet and select Open link in incognito window.

5. Click to sign in with Google.

   

6. In the Sign in with Google dialog, enter the provided Username, and click Next.

   Note: If you see other accounts listed, click Use another account and then enter the provided Username and click Next.If you use other credentials, you'll get errors or incur charges.

7. Enter the provided Password and click Next.

8. Click Accept to accept the terms.

9. To enable AppSheet to access the Google Drive folders associated with your lab account, on the AppSheet consent page, click Allow.

   

10. You're now signed in to AppSheet.

    To view the AppSheet MyApps page, click X in the top-right corner of the Tell us about you so we can make better recommendations dialog.

    The MyApps page might be empty since you do not have any apps yet.

Task 1. Create the app

When working on your own app, you normally incrementally build the app over a continuous project timeline.

Apps that you build are saved and accessible in the Recent section on the Apps page until they are deployed and published.

In this task, you create the app that was built in a previous lab, using a template.

Delete prototype app (if listed)

In the lab environment, the app built in a previous lab might still be listed in the Recent section. You cannot use this app to continue working on this lab because the underlying data is not available for use by the app.

The app must be deleted before you continue with this lab.

1. If the Employee Onboarding app is listed, on the 3-dots menu, click Delete.

2. To confirm the deletion, click Delete.

   

3. If the Facility Inspections app is listed, repeat the previous steps to delete the app.

Copy a template app to your AppSheet account

In this lab, you enhance an existing Facility Inspections app by copying a template and modifying the app's definition.

1. To copy the Facility Inspections app to your AppSheet account, click the link: Facility Inspections

2. In the app preview, click Accept.

3. In the left navigation menu, click Copy app ().

4. In the Copy app form:

   a. For App name, type Facility Inspections

   b. For Category, select Inspections & Surveys.

5. Leave the remaining settings as their defaults, and click Copy app.

   AppSheet creates the app and copies the Google sheet that is used by the app to the /appsheet/data/FacilityInspections-nnnnnnn folder under the My Drive folder on Google Drive.

   AppSheet creates a folder for each of your apps with your account ID (represented by nnnnnnn) in the data folder.

6. To go to the AppSheet editor, click Customize your app.

   You can also access the app from the Apps page in the AppSheet UI under Owned by me.

   Your app is set up with the facilities data, and you can now continue to build out the app's functionality. This app is used to inspect different facilities and report on their status.

7. In the app preview, in the bottom navigation bar, to browse the app's functionality, click Inspections.

Click Check my progress to verify the objective. Create the app.

Task 2. Create automation components

Facility inspectors use the app to report on the status of various inspection points at a facility. When an inspection is created in the app with a status of Passed, information about the inspection must be sent to a manager for approval.

The manager can approve or reject the inspection in the app; however, in this scenario, you want the manager to process the inspection by interacting with the app directly in the inspection email.

In this task, you create the required AppSheet automation components to send an embedded app view email to the manager.

Create an automation bot and event

1. To create an automation bot, in the AppSheet UI, in the left navigation bar, click Automation () > Bots, and click Create a new Bot (+).

2. Click Create a new bot.

3. For the New Bot, click More () and Rename to Inspection approval.

4. To configure an event that will trigger the bot, click Configure event.

5. For the Event name, type Passed inspection created, and press ENTER.

6. In the Settings pane on the right, specify the following, and leave the remaining settings as their defaults:

   a. For Event Type, click Data Change.

   b. To trigger the bot when a new row is added or updated in a table, click Adds and updates.

   c. For Table, select Inspections.

   d. For Condition, click Filter ().

   In the Expression Assistant form, for Condition for event Passed inspection created (Yes/No), type:

   [Status]=Inspection Passed

   e. Click Save.

   The event is configured to trigger the bot when a row is added or updated in the Inspections table in the app. The bot is only triggered for the row if the Status column in the row has been set with a value of Inspection Passed.

Create the process and task

Continue configuring the process and its steps, which will be executed by the bot. Each step is configured to run a task when it executes.

1. For Run this Process, click the arrow, and select Create new process, and then enable Linking.

2. To change the process name, click Process for Inspection approval - 1, and type Inspection passed

3. To add a step to the process, click Add a step.

4. For the Step name, type Inspection passed email, and press ENTER.

5. To create a task, in the Settings pane, enable Linking.:

   a. For Task name, type Send inspection passed email

   b. For the type of task, click Send an email.

   c. For Email Type, select Embedded app view.

   d. For the Table name, select Inspections.

6. Configure the email settings for the task:

   a. For To, click Add, and then click Filter ().

   b. To open the Expression Assistant, click Filter () again in the condition field.

   c. In the Expression Assistant form, for To Email address (Email), type [Staff Manager]

   The task is configured to send the email to the inspector's manager. Staff Manager is a virtual column that is defined in the Inspections table and whose value is obtained from an app formula. The formula uses the Inspected By ref column to obtain the manager's email address. Staff Manager = [Inspected By].[Manager Email]

   d. Click Save.

   e. For Email Subject, type Manager approval required for inspection

   f. For Email Body, type:

   Dear Manager, Please review and approve or reject this inspection. regards, Facilities Dept.

   g. For App view to embed in email body, select Inspections_Detail.

   Inspections_Detail is a detail view defined in the app. Selecting this view enables app users to interact with the app directly in the email.

7. To save your changes to the app, click Save.

Task 3. Update the embedded app view

When using embedded app view emails, you configure the task that sends the email with a detail or form view in the app. This view is presented to the user in the email. In the previous task, you configured the automation task to use the Inspections_Detail view.

In this task, you update this view with a QuickEdit column so that the user can directly update the column's value in the email.

Update the view configuration

1. In the AppSheet UI, in the left navigation bar, click App () > Views (), scroll to the bottom, and click System generated.

   If the system views are already displayed, skip this step.

2. Under Inspections, click Inspections_Detail.

3. In the view configuration, for Quick edit columns, click Add.

4. From the column list, select Manager Approval. The app user or manager who receives the embedded app view email can approve or reject the inspection by setting a value for this column in the email.

5. To save your changes, click Save.

Task 4. Deploy and share the app

AppSheet will send email notifications from automation tasks only to the app creator while the app is in prototype state. For other users to receive notifications, the app must pass a deployment check and be deployed.

In this task, you deploy the app and share it with your own Gmail user account to which the embedded app view email is sent.

Deploy the app

1. To run a deployment check, in the AppSheet UI, in the left navigation bar, click Manage () > Deploy tab, and then click Deployment Check. Click Run deployment check.

2. There should not be any errors displayed for your app. Ignore the warnings, and click Move app to deployed state.

Share the app

1. To share the app, in the title bar of the AppSheet UI, click Share .

   

2. For Email address or domain, type the email address of your own Gmail account, and press ENTER.

3. Select the reCaptcha checkbox to verify that you are not a robot.

   Note: The reCaptcha verification has an expiry time, so you may have to select it again if it times out.

4. Click Send.

5. Click Done.

Task 5. Test the bot

In this task, you create a new inspection entry in the app, and as a manager, review the embedded app view email that is received. You also approve the inspection by interacting with the view presented in the email.

Add a facilities inspector

Before you can create an inspection, you must first add yourself as a facilities inspector in the app.

1. In the app preview, on the main menu (), click Inspectors.

2. To add yourself as an inspector, click Add ().

3. In the new inspector form, specify the following, and leave the remaining settings as their defaults:

   Property	Value (type or select)
   First Name	[your first name]
   Last Name	[your last name]
   Email	[your Google Cloud Username from the Qwiklabs credentials pane]
   Phone	1-555-555-5555
   Manager Email	[your own Gmail account email address]
   Shift	Night

   Where specified above, replace the square brackets and italic text with the required value. Note: AppSheet currently supports embedded app view emails only with the Gmail client. For the Manager Email above, please provide your own Gmail address in order to receive the email.

   This email should be the same one that you shared the app with in the previous task. If you do not have one, you can sign up for a test Gmail account at mail.google.com.

4. In the app preview, click Save.

5. Wait a few seconds for the app to automatically sync the update to the backend, or to sync the data changes manually, click Sync ().

Click Check my progress to verify the objective. Add a facilities inspector.

Create a new inspection in the app

1. To create a new inspection, in the bottom navigation bar of the app preview, click Inspections.

2. Click Distribution Facility.

3. To add a new inspection, in the app preview, click Add ().

4. In the new inspection form, specify the following, and leave the remaining settings as their defaults:

   Property	Value (type or select)
   Inspection Point	Loading Docks
   Well Lit?	Y
   Surfaces Clean?	Y
   Garbage Emptied?	Y
   Doors Locked?	Y
   Area Organized?	Y
   Status	Inspection Passed

5. To go to the next page in the new inspection form, in the bottom navigation bar of the app preview, click Next.

6. For Signature, click Tap to unlock, and using the mouse, draw a signature.

7. In the app preview, click Save.

8. Wait a few seconds for the app to automatically sync the update to the backend, or to sync the data changes manually, click Sync ().

Check your email and provide manager approval

1. In a separate browser tab or window, sign in to your Gmail account with the manager email address used earlier.

2. Verify that an email was received with the subject Manager approval required for inspection.

3. Open the email with the subject Facility Inspections shared to view its contents. Because this is the first time you're accessing the app with your own user account, provide your consent to the app's use of data. In the email, click Open in Browser app.

4. The app's data consent page is opened in a separate browser tab. Review the agreement, and then click Accept.

5. Navigate back to the email received in your Gmail account. To refresh the email content, click Sync () in the email.

   The email then refreshes to display the details about the inspection that was created in the app preview.

6. To approve the inspection directly in the email, for Manager Approval, click Yes.
   The inspection is approved and the approval date and time are displayed in the email.

Verify the approval

1. Navigate back to the AppSheet UI in the other browser tab or window.

2. In the app preview, in the bottom navigation bar, click Inspections.

3. Click Distribution Facility, and then click Inspections Passed.

4. Click the inspection that you created earlier to view its details.

5. To sync the app's data with the AppSheet backend, click Sync ().

6. Verify that the manager approval is displayed with the approval date and time.

Click Check my progress to verify the objective. Manager approval received for inspection.

Congratulations!

You have successfully configured your app with AppSheet automation to use embedded app view emails.

In this lab you learned how to:

• Configure an automation task to use embedded app view emails with your app.
• Create the AppSheet automation components to send embedded app view emails to an app user.
• Use QuickEdit columns in an app view.
• Test the email by interacting with the app view to update data.

End your lab

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