Excel Sheet Understanding Data Synchronization: How Data Stays Up-to-Date

Once the connection is established and mappings are confirmed, the Excel Spreadsheet AI Agent continuously works to keep the Excel file synchronized with PortPro TMS data.

TMS to Excel: The Primary Flow

The primary direction of data flow is from PortPro TMS to the connected Excel worksheet. The process generally operates as follows:

• Continuous Monitoring: The agent actively monitors PortPro TMS for any changes related to the mapped data fields.

• Near Real-Time Updates: When changes occur in TMS, they are reflected in the Excel sheet in near real time. Exact timing may vary but is designed to be rapid, ensuring access to the most current information.

How Changes are Handled:

• New Records: When a new record (e.g., a new load) appears in TMS that matches the defined criteria and mappings, a new corresponding row is added to the Excel worksheet.

• Updated Records: If data in an existing TMS record is modified (e.g., a container status changes from In Transit to Delivered), the agent locates the corresponding row in the Excel sheet (using the Primary Key) and updates the relevant mapped columns with the new information.

• Deleted Records: If a record is deleted from PortPro TMS, the corresponding row is also removed from the Excel worksheet to maintain consistency.

New Feature: Spreadsheet Changes (with Matching Keys) Trigger TMS Data Refresh

A new enhancement introduces a specific type of interaction initiated from the spreadsheet side:

Scenario: If a new row is manually added directly into the connected Excel worksheet, and the Primary Key column in that new row is populated with a value matching an existing Primary Key in PortPro TMS, a special process is triggered.

• Polling Mechanism: The agent periodically checks the Excel sheet (approximately every 1 to 5 minutes) to detect newly added rows with matching TMS Primary Keys.
• TMS Data Refresh: Upon detection, the agent ignores any manually entered data in other columns of that new row. Instead, it uses the Primary Key to retrieve the complete, up-to-date record from PortPro TMS and overwrites the entire row in the Excel sheet with this authoritative data.
• Purpose: This feature ensures that placeholder rows or entries from other integrations are replaced with definitive TMS data, maintaining PortPro TMS as the single source of truth for all existing records.
• Important Note: This is not a bi-directional synchronization feature. Changes made to existing data in Excel will not update PortPro. The process only applies to newly added rows in Excel that have a Primary Key matching an existing PortPro record, triggering a refresh of that Excel row with TMS data.