Flow Error - Get File Content

[afitzpatrick1]

Hi there, novice power automate user here so I apologize in advance if this is an easy solution for a lot of you. I am running into an issue with a flow I am piggy backing off of a youtube tutorial! I have a microsoft form that is shared with me (the sharepoint owns it, i.e: i have two "collaborators" on this form).

This form also saves an attachment (if there is one uploaded, it is not required) in the sharepoint site, not my own personal onedrive. 

I have the flow set up to create a sharepoint list no problem. However I am running into an issue when I get to the "get file content" portion. I believe this is due to the filepath of the attachment I am looking for. The tutorial I followed showed the one drive file path as: personal user/Documents/Apps/Microsoft Forms/CMH Capital Project Submission/Please upload your quote/attachment

whereas the path I have and desire is this: Capital projects(sharepoint site)/Documents/Apps/Microsoft Forms/Capital Project Submission/Please upload your quote/attachment

so I believe I need another action to get the file path but I am unsure as to how to execute this.

link to tutorial I am using
Photo of error I get:

the onedrive for business connection I have is to my personal email. 

[creativeopinion]

@afitzpatrick1 If the file is located on a SharePoint site you will need to use the Get file content SharePoint action (not the OneDrive action)

Hope this helps!

If I helped you solve your problem—please mark my post as a solution ✅.
Consider giving me a 👍 if you liked my response!

👉 Watch my tutorials on YouTube
👉 Tips and Tricks on TikTok

[afitzpatrick1]

thank you for the reply! I appreciate you taking the time. sorry for such an elementary question however I am fairly new to this. what should i use as my file identifier? i tried following that tutorial verbatim but using the get file content sharepoint and get the following error:

and here is my setup:

[creativeopinion]

@afitzpatrick1 Sorry can you screenshot your entire flow. Have you already saved the attachment from the form to SharePoint or is that what you are trying to accomplish? It isn't clear if your original post.

[afitzpatrick1]

yes, Attachment is already saved in the sharepoint site document library via form submission:

Here is the flow:

Thanks again for taking time out of your day.

[v-yetonggu-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @afitzpatrick1 ,

I initially set up the 'When a new response is submitted' trigger and the 'Get response details' control.

Before copying the file information to the ‘Parse json’ action, you must first run the flow to obtain the file information in ‘Get response details’ action.

Below is a screenshot of my complete flow:

My SharePoint List:

Best Regards,

Sunshine Gu

[creativeopinion]

@afitzpatrick1 

The first apply to each action isn't necessary in your flow. Just add a Get response details action after your flow trigger.

Get file (properties only)

You would need to use the Get files (properties only) action in that case. Use a Filter Query to filter the files by file name using the following expression:

FileLeafRef eq '[insert dynamic content filename here]'

Parse JSON

I would recommend using the Parse JSON action to make it easier to access the dynamic content. Add a Compose action to store the File dynamic content.

Run a test. Copy the entire Output to your clipboard.

Add a Parse JSON action. In the Content field insert the File dynamic content. Press Generate from sample. Paste the content from your clipboard.

Press Done. This will create the Schema for you. 

Add an Apply to Each action and insert the Body dynamic content from the Parse JSON action above. 

Add a Compose action (optional)—however I find it helpful when building and testing out flows because it can help with troubleshooting. 

Insert the name dynamic content from the Parse JSON action. Run a test.

Confirm the output contains the file name.

Tip: If your form is set to only accept a single file upload—you can avoid the Apply to Each action by using an expression instead. The Parse JSON action will always return an array. To access an item in the array you need the item key and the key for the dynamic content you'd like to return.

The dynamic content key is the red text between the single quotes. To access the file name you need to use the 'name' dynamic content key.

Because there is only a single item being returned you need to use a [0] to access the first item in the array. 

Insert a Compose action and use an expression. Enter the following:

?[0]['name']

Select the Dynamic content tab and press the Up Arrow Key to go to the start of your expression. Insert the Body dynamic content from the Parse JSON action. 

Your expression should look like this:

Run a test. The output should be of your file name.

Get files (properties only)

Add a Get files (properties only) action and limit the entries to the folder that contains all the attachments.

Use a Filter Query to filter out the file by file name.

This next step is optional, you can put the expression directly into the Condition if you prefer. I prefer to use Compose actions to verify the output. 

In this Compose action I'm using an expression to return the number of files from the Get files (properties only) action.

Run a test. Verify that the Get Files action is returning an item.

Add a Condition 

To prevent your flow from failing if a file isn't found—add a Condition action. This is also optional but good practice.

Insert the outputs from the Compose action above and change the operator to is not equal to, enter a 0 in the second value field.

Before I continue on, is there a reason you need to attach the file to the SP item instead of including a link to the item that already exists in SharePoint? By attaching the item to the SP List you'll have two instances of the file (unless that is what you want). However, if you include a link to the file—you could maintain the file integrity (have a single copy). 

Hope this helps!

If I helped you solve your problem—please mark my post as a solution ✅.
Consider giving me a 👍 if you liked my response!

👉Watch my tutorials on YouTube
👉Tips and Tricks on TikTok

[afitzpatrick1]

thank you very much. This is the solution to the problem. I appreciate you taking the time.

[afitzpatrick1]

Hi there, thank you very much for taking the time. I did read through everything and it does work however there was a less complex solution via v-yetonggu-msft  solution above. I do appreciate you taking the time to explain everything in an elementary fashion so that I am able to learn from your post.