Create unique reference ID

[MoEdu]

I have a column name ReferenceID on a SP list, what I would like to do is each time an item is created in list A for the referenceID to be auto generated as ABC1 ABC2 ABC2 and so forth

This is part of a bigger flow which I am building which is as follows:

1. when an item is created in list A create in list B

2. when an item is modified in list B update list A

Could anyone kindly explain how I can achieve this in flow?

[abm]

Hi @MoEdu 

You need to use two flows to meet your requirement.

Flow 1. When an item is created
Flow 2. When an item is created or modified. Microsoft Power Automate does not support a trigger for when an item is modified only currently. So here you need to implement your own logic. Just an idea may be checking the created and modified date is same or not.

To generate the Id you need to get the latest record based on created on date from sharepoint. Find the reference id and increment to next number. Here you need to use some string manipulations to extract the number.

If you need any further help please let me know.

Thanks

[v-bacao-msft]

Hi @MoEdu ,

It is recommended that you directly append the Item ID to the back of AB to create the reference ID. The Item ID is the unique and non-null field, so the reference ID will also be.

You could refer to the following methods to configure these two flows.

Flow 2:

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

[MoEdu]

Hi @v-bacao-msft

I have followed your steps and it works like a charm! thank you very much! 😀

I have noticed once the item is created in list A it is copied over to list B which is fine however if further updates are carried out in list A these do not appear in list B

How can I ensure any subsequent updates to list A appear in list B?

also I forgot to mention attachments in my post

If attachments are added in list A these should also appear in list B

Once in list B if list B is updated/modified and if further attachments are added or the existing ones deleted will this also be reflected in list A?

And  if no attachments are added in list A but are added in list B will these appear in list A

Could you kindly provide an example how I could achieve this?  

[v-bacao-msft]

Hi @MoEdu ,

“further updates are carried out in list A these do not appear in list B

How can I ensure any subsequent updates to list A appear in list B?“

If the update of List A is also synchronized to List B, then Flow will fall into a loop. Because there is an Update item action in Flow, Flow will be triggered again, which will cause many errors. I don't think this requirement can be realized through Flow.

For adding attachments, you can do this through the following methods.

Flow 1:

Flow 2:

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

[MoEdu]

Hi @v-bacao-msft 

Is there no other solution within flow that I could use? i.e if item is modified in list A update list B

I'll detail out my requirements as you may have another solution

If item is created in list A it should appear in list B inc attachments

If item in list A is modified these should appear in list B inc attachments

If item in list B is modified these should appear in list A inc attachments

So to summarise, any item that is created in list A should appear in list B including any changes made after the list is saved from list A.

Any changes list B does should appear in list A

I hope that makes sense

[v-bacao-msft]

Hi @MoEdu ,

Unfortunately, although I would like to provide you with the right ones, relying on the current features of Flow cannot achieve such requirements, they will always fall into the loop.

Maybe someone else has the right method. I am not able to provide you with the right method for the time being.🤔

Best Regards,

[Jay-Encodian]

Hey @v-bacao-msft @MoEdu 

Just checking the issue... I assume you trying to avoid event recursion where the Flows are essentially triggering each other?

If so check out this blog post which details what you need to do: https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Power-Automate-Community-Blog/SharePoint-Managing-Recursive-Even...

Cheers Jay

[MoEdu]

Hi @Jay-Encodian 

I have SP list A, anything that is created in SP list A should appear in list B

Only new items that are created appear in list B, so for example if you were to edit an item in list A make changes etc and then click save these do not appear in list B

And the final step is once the item is in list B any updates that are carried out in list B should then appear in list A

I hope this makes sense, the example you provided in the link will I need to create this as a new flow or add it in to the example @v-bacao-msft provided?

look forward to hearing from you

[Jay-Encodian]

Hey@MoEdu 

This should be pretty simple:

For the Flow (Flow A) on List A: use the 'When an item is created' SharePoint trigger

For the Flow (Flow B) on List B: use the 'When an item is created or modified' SharePoint Trigger

The slight issue is that the Flow on List B will be triggered by Flow A ... to work around the item created event, enable list versioning on List B and add a condition to check whether the current version of the triggered item is equal to '1.0', if it is then terminate the Flow, if it isn't it must be change and then you can perform your logic.

The final thing to consider... you need a way to correlate the item in List A with the item in List B; I would suggest you create a column on List B called 'List A ID' or similar and then populate this field with the List A item ID... that way you can ensure you can get the correct list item from List A when Flow B is triggered.

HTH

Jay

[MoEdu]

Hi @Jay-Encodian 

I've already built the flows as per the example provided by @v-bacao-msft 

The only step that is missing which I am looking for is if any changes that are carried out to list A after being saved should also appear in list B

Would I need to start from scratch or do I need to insert in additional steps?

I would appreciate if you could provide screenshots as I am new to flow

[Jay-Encodian]

Hi @MoEdu 

Can you clarify please;

Your previous response stated:

"Only new items that are created appear in list B, so for example if you were to edit an item in list A make changes etc and then click save these do not appear in list B"

And you last

"The only step that is missing which I am looking for is if any changes that are carried out to list A after being saved should also appear in list B"

Those are contradicting statements?

Thanks J

[MoEdu]

Hi @Jay-Encodian 

So at the minute the flow works as follows

if item is created in list A it appears in list B including attachments, which will have a reference ID against it

If the item is updated in list B then this change is also reflected in list A

All this is fine, however if a user who created the item in list A then decided to modify the item list, make changes these do not appear in list B

Hope that helps

[Jay-Encodian]

@MoEdu 

You're using the 'When an item is created' trigger... therefor the Flow will only fire when an item is added to List A.

If you want the Flow to run on updates to List A you need to use the 'When an item is created or modified' trigger action.

Cheers J

[MoEdu]

Hi @Jay-Encodian 

That's what I thought would do the trick change the flow to when an item is created or modified

however @v-bacao-msft advised the following which would cause conflict

If the update of List A is also synchronized to List B, then Flow will fall into a loop. Because there is an Update item action in Flow, Flow will be triggered again, which will cause many errors. I don't think this requirement can be realized through Flow.

[Jay-Encodian]

Hi @MoEdu 

It's fine... you just have to implement a way to avoid recursion.

You basically have two lists duplicating data... with two Flows (I assume) being triggered which then implement the changes between the two lists.

I would suggest you create a service account and set SharePoint 'Create' and 'Update' actions to use the service account identity in the connection.

You can then add a condition to check which user triggered the change... it it's the service account you simply terminate the Flow stopping the endless loop... if it's a normal user then apply your logic, which would trigger the update by the service account which would be ignored.

That's what the blog post details: https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Power-Automate-Community-Blog/SharePoint-Managing-Recursive-Even...

HTH

Jay

[MoEdu]

Hi @Jay-Encodian 

Do I create the flow as per the screenshots in your blog if not could you please provide a screenshot example for me to follow? but with a different service account?

[Jay-Encodian]

@MoEdu 

Hopefully the blog post is pretty clear... you just need to integrate the logic into your Flows and test.

I'm sure you can appreciated that it's very time consuming for us to totally rebuild your Flow to your exact requirements... you should now have the guidance you need to stop event recursion in your Flow?

Cheers J

[MoEdu]

hi @Jay-Encodian 

No worries, you have been more than helpful. I'll give it a go and refer to your blog

will report back, many thanks 🙂

[Jay-Encodian]

@MoEdu 

👍It's the best way to learn, let me know how you get on

Cheers J