Prevent flow from adding Apply to Each step from Get Items / Add Attachment / Id

[SDH_84]

Hello, 

I am trying to prevent an 'Apply to Each' as the flow is marked as ticked but the actions inside the apply to each are not pulling data through and remining blank. 

The Value I want to bring in is a Id value from a Get Items step further up the flow. Can you extract Id? 

Thanks 

[SimonSmith84]

Hi SDH, 

I've had similar issues in the past. The "Apply to each" inserts itself anywhere that might have more than one result. Even if you know your 'Get Items' only returns one, it will still throw an apply to each in there. I tend to get around this by initialising a variable, and then using "append to string" for the value I want. This takes all the "for each" results (of which you have 1) and then turns it into a string variable you can then use 

Not 100% sure whether this is of use to you without seeing your flow, but it has bypassed this issue nicely for me on a few occasions. 

[SDH_84]

Hi @SimonSmith84  

Thanks for your response. I've posted the flow in screen grabs below. The value I'm after is the SharePoint List Item Id from the first 'Get Items' adding it into the 'Add Attachments 3' For some reason currently the loop inside 'Add attachments 3' is greying out and not collecting the data, but the flow is ticking off the step.  

[SimonSmith84]

Thanks! Much easier to understand when seeing it in context 🙂

If it's literally just the Sharepoint item ID you're after, this should solve the problem:

1. After "Get Items", initialise a string variable.
2. After the initialized variable, create an "Append to string variable" step.  
3. In the 'Append to string' step, select the variable you just initialised as the 'Name' and set the 'Value' to your dynamic content 'ID' from 'Get Items'
4. As soon as you do this, the Append to String will be put inside an 'apply to each'. This isn't a problem, as you're just appending one result to the string. 

The end result will be a string variable that you can use in 'Add attachment 3' where you currently have the 'ID'. 

It's an awkward method, and as much as it does sort of make sense how Power Automate does this, as it assumes 'Get Items' will return multiple results. Even though you know it is only going to return 1. 🙂

Hopefully this helps, but if not please feel free to check back in!

[SDH_84]

Hi @SimonSmith84 

Thanks for taking the time to respond. 

Unfortunately when I add the append to string variable to the Id filed it only allows a 'Current Item' which leads to the following error message:

'Flow save failed with code 'InvalidTemplate' and message 'The template validation failed: 'The inputs of template action 'Add_attachment_4' at line '1 and column '4985' is invalid. Action 'Apply_to_each_3' must be a parent 'foreach' scope of action 'Add_attachment_4' to be referenced by 'repeatItems' or 'items' functions.'.'.' 

Any suggestion on this? Thanks

[SimonSmith84]

Hmmm... 

that is really odd. I must be missing something here. I don't have an answer right now, but let me try and build something similar to what you have here and see if I can replicate the issue. (It's something I use a lot so it's useful for me to understand what's going wrong for my own future use.) 

I'll try and get back to you ASAP with an answer 🙂

[SimonSmith84]

Hi SDH - Just had a thought while building a similar flow myself... 

If you add a 'Get Item' (Singular) step after your apply to each 3, and  use the String_Test variable as your ID, would this work? I'll keep working on it myself anyway, but if this solves the issue, it'll get you moving on quicker 🙂

[SimonSmith84]

Hi SDH - Solved it!

I managed to replicate your issue, and could see no good reason why the String_Test variable wasn't showing up in your Dynamic content. 

I tried to basically force it to accept the result of the variable using an expression and this worked!  in your Id field in Add Attachment, input the expression as follows: variables('String_Test')

[SDH_84]

Hi @SimonSmith84  _ really appreciate the time and effort you have put into this!

However - When running the flow I get the following error at the point of the flow where I have forced the expression!

The 'inputs.parameters' of workflow operation 'Add_attachment_4' of type 'OpenApiConnection' is not valid. Error details: Input parameter 'itemId' is required to be of type 'Integer/int64'. The runtime value '""' to be converted doesn't have the expected format 'Integer/int64'.

[SDH_84]

@SimonSmith84 By removing the Get Items and replacing with Get Item I lose the ability to Filter which is required to check if the email received to the Shared Mailbox has the Conversation ID which send new emails into a different flow. 

[SimonSmith84]

Hi SDH - Not a problem, it's proving educational for me too! 

That error implies that your variable is a null string I think? Can you check the flow run history on the run that failed, specifically the Append to string variable part?

If it's appending nothing but null values, then your variable at the Add_attachment_4 step will be """ rather than a whole number as it requires for the 'ID' field. 

[SDH_84]

@SimonSmith84 Morning,

Yes there is a Null value being returned.

Where should I put the "" ? Instead of variables('String_Test')?

Thanks

[SimonSmith84]

Morning SDH. We'll get there! 🙂

Check the "Append to string" step and see what the output is there. I suspect the issue isn't the Add Attachment step, it's that nothing is being appended to the variable. If your "Get items" returns no results, then it's appending "" (ie: Nothing) to the string, resulting in the variable being applied in "Add Attachments" to be a blank (""). 

[SDH_84]

Simon - Yes the value is greyed out, which was the problem I was having initially in Attach Item 3! Do you know why this passes the validation? 

[SimonSmith84]

Hi SDH, 

it passes the validation because the variable still exists, it just happens to be a blank because nothing was appended to it. Can you check your "Get Items" result and see if it's returned anything?

If your 'Get Items' Step returns no values, then there's nothing to append and the issue lies in the flow failing to retrieve any items. 

If 'Get Items' is retrieving items, then the issue is with the variable. 

I think it's more likely that it's the Get Items, but let's find out so we can then dig deeper 🙂

[SDH_84]

"Body":{"Value":[]}} mean empty? 

[SimonSmith84]

Erm... 

OK so I might have spotted the issue.... your filter query states: ConverstationID eq 'AAQkADAw.....' is that a typo? Or is that really the field name?

If that is definitely the correct field name, then I'd reccomend manually trying to locate that conversation ID in your Sharepoint list. Then you know whether it's the conversation ID that's incorrect, or the request to retrieve the item 🙂

[SDH_84]

Simon - that was rather embarrassing. I've corrected the formula, the flow still does not work, however the output of 'Get Items' Filter query is returning a blank 

The formula should be 'Converstation Id' eq outputs('Get_email_(V2)')?['body/converstationId']

[SimonSmith84]

Happens to the best of us! 

It's really hard to help you isolate the problem without knowing exactly how the sharepoint list is structured, what drives the ConversationID field etc. The only thing I can think to suggest is the below:

1. Remove the oData filter query and see whether you get any results that way. If you do, then the issue is likely the filter query. If not, then there's another issue with the data source. 
2. Check your Filter Query carefully, including the field names. I've found the best way to confirm you're naming the field in your query right is to access the sharepoint list, and go to "list settings". Then select the field you want to see. You'll see the exact name of the field in the URL like this: 
3. If we can't figure out how to make the filter query works, you can use a workaround - get all items, and then add in a 'filter array' step, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it. 

[SDH_84]

Hi,

Point One has shown why the flow isn't working. There is a problem with the filter, as the flow has run, however the ID number the variable adds to the Id is a string of all ID's. I am trying to compare the Conversation ID captured at the first ticket against the Conversation ID in the subsequent emails received as this is always the same. That way incoming tickets don't generate new tickets but are saved as attachments in the SharePoint item against the Id

I've rechecked point two and the columns are correct.