The Auto Number field creates unique IDs for Tables and is particularly useful in working with large volumes of records. Auto Number fields are system generated and are view-only fields - they cannot be modified or deleted directly by members.
They can be used in saved views and for importing / exporting data. Similar to First Created and Last Updated fields, Auto Numbers display in the header of records. Solution Managers will need to access the Modify Field Settings for Auto Number fields via the column header in Grid View.
Important Notes:
Any given Table in SmartSuite can have only one Auto Number Field. This field cannot be deleted.
When you delete records: Auto Number fields are not re-numbered, which can lead to gaps in numbering sequences. Because of this, we do not advise using an Auto Number field to track the number of records.
Auto Number fields live in the header of an open record. Clicking the auto number copies a link to the record to your clipboard for easy sharing.
Auto Number can be used in the Saved View (Reporting) Toolbar control to filter and sort everything except Grouping.
Customizing the field
Solution Managers have plenty of configuration options to use with Auto Number fields, selecting:
Starting Number (1 is the default)
Leading Zeros - None to 6 zeros (00 is the default)
Labels - Prefix or Suffix (Prefix is selected by default)
Check out quick articles on Adding Help Text to fields.
Adding Prefix & Suffix labels
Auto Number field labels - both Prefix and Suffix - support date script variables that may be useful in adding context to when records are created, including:
{YYYY} - 4-digit year
{YY} - 2-digit year
{MM} - 2 digit month
{DD} - 2 digit day
The date values correspond to the date a record was created.
Consider a Purchase Order use case, where SmartSuite is used to generate new POs for clients. Solution Managers can configure the Prefix value as follows:
PO#-{YY}-{MM}-{DD} to generate "PO#-21-01-15-0001 as a purchase order number