Get SharePoint locked status from HTTP

[annetoal]

I'm using the Send an HTTP request to SharePoint to get the name of the person who locked a file.

But is there a way to use the Send an HTTP request to query if the file is locked or not?

Thanks,

Anne

[Expiscornovus · Accepted solution]

Hi @annetoal,

There seems to be a vti_sourcecontrollockid property within the MetaInfo property of the FieldValuesAsText property everytime I lock a file. I have to do some further testing but I wanted to share my findings, it might be useful for you.

Below is an example 

_api/web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl('TestDoc')/Files('Presentation.pptx')/ListItemAllFields?$expand=FieldValuesAsText&$select=FieldValuesAsText/MetaInfo

Condition expression

outputs('Send_an_HTTP_request_to_SharePoint')?['body']['FieldValuesAsText']['MetaInfo']

contains vti_sourcecontrollockid

[annetoal]

@Expiscornovus ,Thank you for your response. If the file is not locked, it outputs a "null," which causes the "contains" condition to fail. As it happens, this is the same problem I had with my previous approach, which was to retrieve the SharePoint property LockedByUser. If the file is not locked, LockedByUser is null, which brings me back to the original question: How can I keep the null output from causing the contains condition to fail?

Thanks,

Anne

[Expiscornovus]

Hi @annetoal,

In the example I shared you could add a second criteria to the condition and check that metainfo is not empty. Make sure that is the first criteria listed (move it up) in the condition action.

not(empty(outputs('Send_an_HTTP_request_to_SharePoint')?['body']['FieldValuesAsText']['MetaInfo']))

is equal to true

[annetoal · Accepted solution]

@Expiscornovus Thank you for the helpful tip. I found that it worked better when I added a ['d'] in the fields and inserted the missing question marks. Here's what I finally got working:

The condition is 

outputs('Send_an_HTTP_request_to_SharePoint_2')?['body']?['d']?['FieldValuesAsText']?['MetaInfo']

I really appreciate your help. The _api/web code to expand the Field Values and the existence of the vti_ values was great. 
Thank you,

Anne

[annetoal]

@Expiscornovus I've been using the method you outlined in this post, and I've observed that it's not always consistent when vti_sourcecontrollockid appears in the MetaInfo field. I'm running a test where I open a Word file, then I run a flow on that file that tries to determine if the file is locked. Sometimes, contains vti_sourcecontrollid, sometimes it has this instead.

 "MetaInfo": "xxxx;#Document1 - Copy.docx;#xxxx;#\"{xxxx},1\";#\"{xxxx},2\";#0x0269B10526D4DBE0FAFC3496C557C2C7F7589AEEE8;#20791;#0\r\nvti_iplabelpromotionmoduleversion:IR|3\r\nvti_dbschemaversion:SR|16.0.333.0\r\nvti_priorversioncreationtime:TR|31 Mar 2023 15:04:02 -0000\r\nvti_timelastwnssent:TR|03 Apr 2023 16:05:10 -0000\r\n_Status:EW|\r\nvti_cobalt_NewInSession_i\\:0#.f|membership|user1@mail.edu:SW|true\r\nDocument type:EW|\r\nvti_foldersubfolderitemcount:IR|0\r\nvti_ZeroByteFileIsOverwriteable:SW|false\r\nvti_title:SW|\r\nvti_contentchangeunit:SW|\r\n_ip_UnifiedCompliancePolicyUIAction:EW|\r\nvti_iplabelpromotionversion:IW|0\r\nComments:EW|\r\n_Comments:SW|\r\nvti_streamSyncTokenSequenceNumber:IW|267\r\nvti_areHybridOrphanHashedBlobsCleaned:BW|false\r\nDept. Group:EW|\r\nDepartment owner:EW|\r\nvti_mediaserviceofficebundlegenerated:SW|TRUE\r\nvti_mediaservicemetadata:SW|{\"ctag\":\"\\\\\"c:{xxxx},26\\\\\"\",\"generationTime\":\"2023-03-31T15:09:23.3520182Z\",\"buildVersion\":\"media_prod_22709858_031623.1_03-16-2023-workerrole\",\"lastStreamUpdateTime\":\"2023-03-31T15:09:23.3520182Z\",\"modules\":[{\"module\":\"AIPLabelExtract\",\"version\":3},{\"module\":\"DocxParser\",\"version\":1},{\"module\":\"TimeToRead\",\"version\":1},{\"module\":\"OfficeBundleGeneration\",\"version\":1}],\"billedEvents\":[],\"document\":{\"language\":\"en\",\"extension\":\"docx\"},\"officeBundle\":{\"ctag\":\"\\\\\"c:{7e2de4e8-8156-4398-835c-e9104bb2ebc0},26\\\\\"\",\"fatalError\":false,\"version\":\"4.1632930951\",\"generationTime\":\"2023-03-31T15:09:23.0395164Z\",\"generationReason\":\"AnalysisPipeline\"},\"timeToRead\":0}\r\nvti_parserversion:SR|16.0.0.23515\r\nreviewComplete:BW|false\r\n_ip_UnifiedCompliancePolicyProperties:EW|\r\nreviewNotice:FX|0x01da5d78|0xb67db000\r\nvti_TimeOfLastCobaltVersionCreation:TW|31 Mar 2023 15:04:02 -0000\r\nvti_decryptskipreason:IW|1\r\n_Category:EW|\r\nreviewDue:FX|0x01da8003|0x9ee64800\r\nvti_sprocsschemaversion:SR|16.0.837.0\r\nvti_cobalt_NewInSession_i\\:0#.f|membership|user2@mail.edu:SW|true\r\nvti_modifiedby:SR|i:0#.f|membership|user2@mail.edu\r\n"

This has led me to read more on SharePoint file locking and I've noticed that it is variable when SharePoint locks and unlocks a file, and it seems variable when SharePoint knows the name of the user who locked the file. 

For instance, some of the time, MetaInfo contains vti_sourcecontrollockid (it thinks the file is locked), but the LockedByUser shows as null (it can't identify who locked the file).

Also, there seems to be a delay between when you close a file and when SP detects the file is closed. And finally, there are certain files that once opened, SP never again reports them as closed. You might have to go to the extreme of copying the file contents into another file just to get a copy of the file that SP treats as unlocked.

I was wondering if you have any similar experiences to share, or maybe commiserate with me.
I'm still trying to get a handle on when a SP file is locked and find a consistent method to identify the locking user.
Thanks,

Anne