Build a Flow based on time passed and Choice Field

[jbrines]

Hi All,

We have a list that we use to create client issues. We want to send a specific email based on how long since the issue was created and what category has been assigned to it.

We want to send an email if the issue is 4 hours old to category A and there has been no update from the person assigned to it

We want to send a different email if the issue is 5 days old to Category B and there has been no update from the person assigned to it

We want to send a different email if the issue is 10 days old to Category C and there has been no update from the person assigned to it

Is possible?

How do you work out how to check the time from created time?

How can you check the time time between created and modified time?

J

[annajhaveri]

Hello @jbrines , you can check this post https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Flows/Number-of-days-between-two-Dates/td-p/281578 to know how to calculate difference between current time from created time and also time between created and modified time.

[jbrines]

@annajhaveri 

Thanks I will give that a go and let you know how I get on.

J

[annajhaveri]

@jbrines  sure, let me know if face any issues.

[jbrines]

@annajhaveri how would I get the flow to check if the list to see if the time is passed, what trigger would I use?

[annajhaveri]

i think you will need to create a flow with recurrence trigger, configure it to run the flow daily or every hour, depending on requirements, then query items from list and then loop through items. Here i would suggest to query based on date, like if due date is today or status is open to minimize number of items returned by the query. After get items loop through items and use relevant actions to apply the logic further in the loop.

[jbrines]

@annajhaveri Sorry to be a pest. After the trigger what action do I use to get the list I want?

[annajhaveri]

@jbrines no worries, happy to help further. 

1. Use recurrence trigger, configure the recurrence schedule as per your requirements.

2. Then the list that you are using, is it in SharePoint, if yes, then use Get Items action to get the items and apply filter query in the Get Items action to get limited number of items you want to process. 

[jbrines]

@annajhaveri When I try to add a condition is after get items to compare created and modified as soon as I put in created it gives me the screenshot below.

[jbrines]

@annajhaveri I got past that part

[annajhaveri]

You can configure the flow after get items action as follows, i think you will need difference between the Created Date of items and today's date in the flow, you can do that by configuring the flow as below screenshots

1. Do initialize variable for ticksUTCNow, and then set variable as follows, here the expression will be 

ticks(formatDateTime(utcNow(),'yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss'))

2. Then add apply to each loop to run through all items fetch from Get Items action as follows

Expressions for action in above screenshot:

Action: "Set variable - create date ticks"

ticks(items('Apply_to_each_2')?['Created'])

Action: "Compose - calculate difference in days"

div(div(div(div(mul(sub(variables('ticksUTCNow'),variables('ticksCreated')),100),1000000000),60),60),24)

Action: "Compose - calculate difference in hours"

div(div(mul(sub(variables('ticksUTCNow'),variables('ticksCreated')),100),1000000000),60)

Action: "Set variable - diff in days"

outputs('Compose_-_calculate_difference_in_days')

Action: "Set variable - diff in hours"

outputs('Compose_-_calculate_difference_in_hours')

After this you can put condition action in which you can check following conditions

DifferenceInHours=4, then send email

DifferenceInDays=5, then send email

and so on.

[jbrines]

@annajhaveri 

Failed at first step, not only does it not like the expression it won't let me enter a name for the Variable.

[annajhaveri]

okay, please try following expression for the first step

ticks(formatDateTime(utcNow(),'yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss'))

[jbrines]

@annajhaveri 

It like the expression now but won't let me put in a name for the variable.

[annajhaveri]

Sorry i dont get that? in which action are you facing issue?

[jbrines]

@annajhaveri 

I think the issue is that I haven't initialized the variable.

[annajhaveri]

You need to initialize two variable one is ticksUTCNow and other is ticksCreated

[jbrines]

@annajhaveri 

I see you have two Compose - Calculate difference in hours created, is this a mistake?

[annajhaveri]

Yes thats a mistake in taking screenshot, you just need on  Compose - Calculate difference in hours created action

[jbrines]

@annajhaveri 

When initializing the variable what type should each be?