How to determine if a specific field in sp list has been updated in my Flow

[Anonymous]

I've seen previous threads on this topic from 2018, but just wondering if we're REALLY expected to create a duplicate SP column and manage the check in our flow between previous status column and current status column with the trigger of When a SP item is created or modified just to see if a field has been updated in our SPO to trigger some actions...... please tell me this has been fixed and is easy to do and I'm just not able to figure it out.

Here's my scenario;  

When a specific field (Status) in the SP list has been updated (can be from pending confirmation, Fast Track or Design Track), then we need to trigger a planner creation or sending of emails etc based on the status change.  We already have over 100 columns in this complex SP list, and many changes can be made.  It seems pretty poor if we really have to manage the duplication of columns and set previous and current etc or worse, create a shadow list to compare with for each change and update to synch. 

Can't we check if the item field has been updated with the edit date or something?

[efialttes]

Hi!

There are several techniques to solve the limitation you describe. One of them is to add a new column to store last status value. Another approach is to activate Version History on your SP list, so your flow can compare current Status value and also last value stored by means of 'Send an HTTP request to Sharepoint'; in order to avoid infinite loops. IMHO, this second approach is the most precise strategy, but also the most complex to implement. You will find an example here

You can get a good overview of most of these approaches in the following post

https://powernimbus.com/2019/06/microsoft-flow-avoiding-the-sharepoint-list-update-trigger-infinite-...

Hope this helps

[v-litu-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

@efialttes's method is very close to the way of your issue, actually, get the previous version of an item is the only way could do in Power Automate for now:

Get the previous version of item>> compare with the lasted version>>If the special column changed>>do the next steps.

There is a blog write by @ScottShearer, Check-for-a-Change-in-a-SharePoint-List-Column-Value.

Hope it will help you something.

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.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback.  It is in fact what we're doing, but just seems sooo incredibly sloppy for a solution and actually adds additional processing for the Flow and size of the SP List.  For example we have 3 fields that we need to monitor so therefore we have an addition 3 columns to manage with every update.  NUTS - I just can't believe MS can't give us the simple option to check If fieldx = updated.

Hoping MS are looking into this option for future versions!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback appreciate the idea to check the version history - hadn't thought of that!!

I'll look into that option.  However, a bit worried about the processing time to connect to the server for every change that is made to to the SP list.  We already have some processing time issues with the flow - sometimes takes 20 minutes to complete the flow!  This might be due to internal connectivity issues though, not sure.

[OliverR-82]

Hi, I happened to come across this thread while trying to find an answer to a different problem, but this is something that I had to do just recently as well. I thought I would point out that there is a simpler solution than the HTTP calls querying earlier versions.

Check out this blog post from Wonder Laura. It uses the 'Get changes for an item or a file (properties only)' action to compare versions of a specific column. So, essentially it does the same thing as the solutions that you find all over the internet involving HTTP calls. But in this case it comes packaged in a convenient flow action that is much easier to use. I hope this helps someone.