Copying folder structure AND renaming the new root folder using dynamic content?

[User_2ja7Dhh89]

Hello,

Hoping someone can help me, as I've read numerous posts on this but still struggling as I'm very new to Power Automate.

The closest solution I have found is this one, but due to my lack of experience in that area, I cannot get it to work for my site because I don't fully understand how it works.

What I am trying to set up

A flow which:

1. Automatically duplicates a default folder structure in a document library, structure is:

• Folder A
  • Sub-Folder B
    • File A (excel file, always standard)
  • Sub-Folder C
  • Sub-Folder D
  • Sub-Folder E

2. Automatically renames the newly created Folder A based on one of the values in the latest addition of a list item

Where I have got to so far

I have created a simple flow which achieves point 1. above (can't seem to paste screenshots, so will describe below):

- When an item is created: [site address]: [list name]

- Copy Folder: [current site address]: [folder to copy] (this is a folder structure within a document library): [destination site address]: [destination folder] (a different document library): [fail this action]

The list imports data from MS forms. One of the columns in the list contains data which is to be used to rename Folder A in the newly duplicated folder structure.

My question is, how do I set this up dynamically so that each time the new folder structure is created, Folder A automatically gets renamed using the data in Column X of the list. Is this possible?

Any help appreciated, many thanks!

[v-litu-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @User_2ja7Dhh89,

Yes, you could use the column value get from the MS Form to update the new created Folder, instead of Update file properties action, you should use the Send an HTTP request to SharePoint action to update the folder name:

Method: Post

URI: _api/web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl('Hub/@{body('Copy_folder')?['DisplayName']}')/ListItemAllFields

Headers:  "Accept": "application/json;odata=verbose",

                "X-HTTP-Method": "MERGE",

                "If-Match": "*"

Body:  {
            'Title': 'NewFolderName',
            'FileLeafRef': 'NewFolderName'
           }

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[User_2ja7Dhh89]

Hi there @v-litu-msft ,

Thanks so much for the reply. It's really useful and has gotten me further than before!

However, the flow still gets stuck and says '1 retry' on the 'Send an HTTP request for SharePoint' part. When I click view, it looks as though everything is fine (it's even picked up the dynamic content from my List as to the folder name), but for some reason it doesn't complete the action, and the folder name does not change.

I have a feeling it's something to do with what I have written in the body? In your example I see you have used expressions. For mine, I just put the dynamic content of the relevant field in the SharePoint List here. Am I doing something wrong? Everything else is exactly as you have written it.

Many thanks again.

[v-litu-msft]

Hi @User_2ja7Dhh89,

Actually, the expression is a kind of dynamic content, too. So the root of the reason not the expressions. You could even input a fixed value into the Body to rename the folder.

Could you please check the connection of the Send an HTTP request action?

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[User_2ja7Dhh89]

Hi @v-litu-msft,

Thanks.

Please could you just explain to me how to check the connection? When I click settings on the action, it shows My connections and my e-mail address associated with my O365 account, which is where I am building the flow so I think that is correct.

Maybe I need to somehow connect to the SharePoint site? Although I would have thought that happens in the 'Site Address' field.

By the way: the status says 'Bad Gateway', so I'm wondering if the request is being sent over the SharePoint site, it must need a permission somewhere if it's being blocked?

[v-litu-msft]

Hi @User_2ja7Dhh89,

You could check the connection whether valid when you test it, click the Review connections and actions, if they are green mark, it is valid:

If you assume it is a permission issue, you could confirm you whether have edit permission:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/customize-permissions-for-a-sharepoint-list-or-library-02d7...

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[User_2ja7Dhh89]

@v-litu-msft 

Hi there, Unfortunately I still cannot get this to work. I have reviewed the connection; it is fine and has a green tick. I am also an Owner of the site, so no permissions problems there.

The error messages changes each time. Sometimes it runs and just times out (and doesn't rename the folder). Sometimes it says 'Cannot read property 'properties' of undefined' but doesn't show where to edit the flow.

[JamFestival]

For the benefit of anyone else who arrives at this solution, but cannot get it to work. With a lot of trial-and-error. I have this method working.
The sole issue I was having was with the Uri syntax:
URI: _api/web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl('Hub/@{body('Copy_folder')?['DisplayName']}')/ListItemAllFields

Try as I might, I couldn't get it to work by substituting 'Hub/' with the path to the new folder from my subfolders. This method extracts the path itself from the 'Copy folder' step.
For the most part, I used the original suggestion, but the amendments I made to make it work were:
1. Initialise 2 string variables (You could probably do this with one if you have the knowhow...), I called these 'varPathTrim' and 'varPath';
2. Add a 'Set Variable' AFTER the 'Copy Folder' step. This one is for 'varPathTrim'. In the value field, I used this function:

substring(outputs('Copy_folder')?['body/Path'],1,sub(length(outputs('Copy_folder')?['body/Path']),1))

This is to take the path of the newly-created folder and remove the leading '/', as this causes the 'Send an HTTP request...' step to fail.

3. If you have the knowhow, you could combine this with step 2, but I added another 'Set Variable' underneath the previous one for 'varPath' to further amend the path and remove any spaces and replace them with %20, so that the path is a URL:

replace(variables('varPathTrim'),' ','%20')

4. Now to the 'Send an HTTP request to SharePoint' step. I followed the instructions as above, but for the 'Uri' field I used:
_api/web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl('@{variables('varPath')}')/ListItemAllFields.

...and presto! it works.

[Gantulga]

Thank you.

failed many times cause of that one dot after ListItemAllFields.

it works well.

[Alex4580]

Hey!

Thanks for the useful tip!  I've consolidated your functions and removed the need to create variables for them as well!

This is useful for when you use conditionals, since you cant set variables within a branch - it has to be top-level.  Instead, you can just use the "Add dynamic content" button from the Uri field and Paste this in the "Expression" tab:
replace(substring(outputs('Copy_folder')?['body/Path'], 1, sub(length(outputs('Copy_folder')?['body/Path']), 1)), ' ', '%20')

Replace "Copy_folder" with whatever you've named the Action that generates the folder path. Just make sure that this function replaces the "Hub/" section in your Uri.  Here's what it should look like in your Uri field:
_api/web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl('@{replace(substring(outputs('Copy_folder_2')?['body/Path'], 1, sub(length(outputs('Copy_folder_2')?['body/Path']), 1)), ' ', '%20')}')/ListItemAllFields

I would not have figured this out without your help, so thank you! I hope this is useful to you as well.

[AndreasO]

In case someone else trips on this. The method works, but if you like me want a folder renamed with say a "[Date] + [Title]" you have to remember that standard date formats use "/" as a separator -- which is illegal in folder names!

It'll just hang on the Post HTML step with no failure. 

Example: dd/MM/yyyy will give you the output 31/12/2023 -- which will fail.

Initialize a variable early after your Get request and use a FormatDateTime expression to fix it. 

Example for dynamic content:

formatDateTime(outputs('Get_response_details')?['body/r78d9d9a76e48412a98720e9706d59f14'], 'dd.MM.yyyy')

Note that with dynamic content you omit the '' before the value. 

[AndreasO]

For the record, it will also hang if the last character in the filename is whitespace.