Deleting a folder

[NeuM49V]

I have a flow that works to create a Sharepoint folder with name of BKP-[Date Stamp] each day. 

The new BKP-[Date Stamp] folder is created within an existing hierarchy.

The same flow then copies any files in a specified target Sharepoint sub-folder to the above BKP-[Date Stamp] folder without issue. 

That bit works just fine.

Now what I'd like to do is to delete any folder named BKP-[Date Stamp] that has a data stamp of older than x days. 

For the purposes of testing it's anything older than 1 day because all data in here is expendable test data.

After *a lot of misadventure* I've created a very basic flow that *could* work but I get a persistent 401 unauthorised error.

I checked the user ID I was using for this flow and it corresponds with the user ID listed as Owner of the Sharepoint site where all these folders exist.

So - is the user ID at fault? Is there something in the flow at fault? Is there something else I should be trying?

It's a pretty basic flow...so I'm kinda stumped.

 

[Expiscornovus]

Hi @NeuM49V,

It looks like your URI field contains an Array value in the Inputs and not an URI value. That field expects an URI like the below:

_api/web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl('Folder Name')

That is probably the reason why it is failing. What did you use in the configuration of that field, an expression? Can you share that setup?

[NeuM49V · Accepted solution]

The above flow just didn't work for me, so I tried a simpler approach and it works. Actually it works very well. However, I have no idea why this approach works. Any ideas?

Actual steps are:

• Recurrence (daily)
• List Items (set top level site, restrict to sub-folder)
• Insert Condition (which automatically inserts For Each, body/value) - set condition(s) to:
  • IsFolder (dynamic, from List Items) = true
  • Created (dynamic, from List Items) <= addDays(utcNow(), -30), or any number of days.
• Delete Item, select ID from Get Items step.

Test - folders and all contents in those folders are nuked. 

Job = done.

But why does list items work and (say) List Folders not work? 

Also: what is the most up to date Power Automate reference? Finding reliable information on Power Automate is more challenging than most applications (or is it just me that struggles with PA?)

I've looked at this link:

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/business-apps/power-automate/guidance/working-with-...
  • where: "get items action only works with lists, whereas the Get files action only works with libraries"
• So?
  • If I'm looking at Sharepoint site - Documents - that's a list?

[Expiscornovus]

Hi @NeuM49V,

Great that you found a new approach.

The list folders action does return limited information, for example it does not include the Created property. Typically I prefer to use the Get files (properties only) for folders. That action also returns folders.

Below is a setup I have used adjusted to your example

FSObjType 1 is a folder (0 is a file) and FileLeafRef is the internal name of the Name field. I have also entered the Documents library as a custom value in the ListName dropdown (since it won't be populated because it is a Library, not a List).

(FSObjType eq 1) and (startswith(FileLeafRef, 'BKP-')) and (Created le '@{addDays(utcNow(), -30)}')

[NeuM49V]

Well - your method works, my method works. I've got two methods now, which is pretty useful. 

I think! 

Thanks.