Remainder mail for approval

[ThaarA-1424]

Hello,

I'm facing a peculiar issue in the approval flow. The requirement is that I need to trigger an email notification to the approver every 7 days if the approval is pending. In my flow, I used "Start and Wait for an Approval." There are a total of 14 approvers, so I need to trigger emails to those 14 approvers in parallel. I also used 14 approvals in my flow in parallel. Based on each decision of the approver, it updates a list, which is the triggered list. Finally, based on all those responses, the status is updated in another list named final .

Now, the issue I'm facing is that it's not updating the final list even after the decision is taken. It's waiting due to a delay. In this case, the first approval updates the triggered action, causing it to be triggered again.

Please find the attached flow and let me know how to fix it.

Thanks

[Pstork1]

I did something like this for a client recently. Instead of using 14 parallel branches for the approvals you should put them all in an Apply to Each loop and set the loop for concurrent processing so each approval is sent out in parallel.  Then as each response comes in use a single variable to set the overall approval. Once all approvals are received you will exit the loop and record the overall approval/rejection back to list. Reminders are sent out using a parallel branch.  But that way you only have two branches instead of 15.

[Pstork1]

Here's a screenshot of the overall flow.

This is the loop to send the approvals

And this is the reminder loop. This only sends out reminders to the approvers who haven't responded yet.

If you want the flow to finish faster replace the Delay in this loop with another loop with a shorter delay inside and a counter. Then when the approval is completed set the counter to max and the loop will complete faster.

[ThaarA-1424]

Thank you for the response, @Pstork1.

To be honest, I'm new to the Power Platform. Could you please attach some referenced screenshots? It would be more helpful

Thanks.

[Pstork1]

Check my last response. Screenshots are attached.

[ThaarA-1424]

Thank you for the response, @Pstork1.

For me, it is still complicated to understand the entire flow. Could you please show me what you have used in the 'Filter Array' and variables in your flow for more reference?

Thanks.

[Pstork1]

Here are the variables at the top of the flow

And here is the filter array to filter out the responder emails that have already responded.

[ThaarA-1424]

Hi @Pstork1,

I apologize for the delayed response. I was dealing with some other matters. I will begin working on it now and will let you know if I encounter any further issues.

Thanks

[ThaarA-1424]

Hi @Pstork1 ,

Let me explain my flow here then you guide me what are the changes I need to do , pls attach screenshots it would be more helpful. I am able to understand the solution you provided, but I'm not sure where to incorporate it into my flow. You added "apply to each" to combine all approvers to avoid a parallel loop, but in my case, I can't do this because there is no fixed limit for approvers. Sometimes it could be 4, and other times it could be 10 it can be upto 14, depending on the user's selection.

In the beginning, I need to check if the approvers have been added or not. Please refer to my screenshot and provide me with more detailed guidance on how to proceed with this. I've been stuck with this flow for a long time, so your assistance would be greatly appreciated.  I attached my flow in detail for your understanding

This is for Approver1, it is the same in all the remaining parallel actions

inside that I check the reviewer1 email is not equal to null and also reviewcomments1 is equal to null

If yes :

Set variable 41 is the variable for remainder , initialize with false 

after that I checked the outcome : 

you  can notice here it is updating the outcome to the list stakeholders which is the trigger list

in the end of the flow it checks the variable if all the assigned reviewers takes their decision 

if yes then it is marked as Review completed 

If I place delay action inside the condition, the entire condition remains inactive  or grade out until the delay ends. However, I want the status to be updated to 'Review completed' immediately, once the decision is taken. Currently, even if I make the approval decision, the flow waits for 7 days, affecting the final step.

I hope you can assist me in resolving this.

Thanks

[Pstork1]

1) Its actually easier to use a loop set to run concurrently when you don't know how many approvers you will have than to try to do it in parallel branches.  As long as you have less than 50 approvers you can and should use a loop.

2) I don't think there is a way to fix the over complex design that you have.  I've already posted screenshots of an alternative design. I suggest changing your design rather than trying to fix what you have.

3) To fix the problem with waiting 7 days for the delay, use a delay that is two loops. One an outer loop to send the reminder and an inner loop set for a short timeframe (for example 5 minutes) and a counter that increments.  The inner loop exits after the counter reaches a number that is equal to the overall timeframe (7 days / 5 minutes).  When the approval is finished simply max out the counter and the reminder loop will complete after the short timeframe (5 minutes) instead of the 7 days.

[ThaarA-1424]

Hello @Pstork1 ,

Will try the 3rd point you mentioned . do you have any rough prototype screenshots?

Thanks

[Pstork1 · Accepted solution]

Here's an example. The Inner loop counter here is only set to 12 for demonstration purposes

[ThaarA-1424]

Hlo @Pstork1 ,

Let me clarify: In the screenshot you provided, there are two variables, varloopcounter and varoutcome, both of which are of integer type. Varloopcounter is set to 0 outside the loop. Inside the loop, it will exit after 60 minutes if the delay is set for 5 minutes, and the counter is increased by 12. Should I use the same logic for sending an approval every 7 days? Additionally, I would need to see the expressions used in the length() function in both the "do until" and "condition" (I'm not sure whether it is this length(variables('varOutcome')) or this length(variables('varloopcounter'))). And where do you increase the variable varOutcome to check if it is greater than 0 or not?

[Pstork1]

varOutcome is a string variable. It is used so that the parallel branch can see the Outcome from the Approval. When the length of varOutcome is greater than 0 then the Approval was completed.

Yes, you would use the same logic for the inner loop. You just need to update the counter size. Right now it times out after 60 minutes (12 X 5). For 7 days you would increase the check to 7 days X 12 hours X 12 - 5minute intervals. That would be 1,008 loops per 7 days.