Store Copies of SharePoint List Attachments in Existing SharePoint Library Folders

[BKME]

Hi,

Scenario: I have created an app (connected to a SharePoint list) to keep track of medication records for my organization. Each record will ultimately have multiple attachments associated with it. In the app, for each medication, users can see a list of all associated files but because of List limitations, they are required to download the attachments if they wish to view them which is not a very user-friendly experience.

Solution: In my document library, I have folders created for each patient. I would like to utilize flow to create subfolders for each medication record in my Sharepoint list and have all associated records copied to these folders. 

I'm open to any suggested solutions, but what I am imagining is a two part flow solution (one flow would create subfolders for each medication record and another would capture the attachments from my SharePoint list and copy them to their appropriate subfolders within my document library). The second flow is where I'm getting stuck. How do I make sure all attachments are copied (attachments will be added at various times, not just when the record is first created)? How can I make sure the files go into the correct sub folder? How do I avoid duplicate files? 

Current Workflow:

1) I have already created and tested a flow that is triggered when a new record is created. The flow creates a subfolder (subfolder name = item ID) within the appropriate patient's folder (to identify which folder the medication subfolder belongs, I have a series of conditional statements in my flow). There may be a less clunky way to do this. 

2) I'm imagining a recurring flow that would get all attachments from my list and copy them to their appreciate subfolders (probably at the end of the week). Would I need to build my flow to delete all previously existing files to avoid the creation of duplicates? 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[ekarim2020]

Take a look at SharePoint Document Sets - it may offer you a solution or some new ideas:

https://sharepointmaven.com/document-sets-hidden-gem-sharepoint/

But I could not get it to work with Power Apps. I don't work with Power Apps very much.

I too am trying to develop a Power App connected to a SharePoint List form. In my case a team needs to store contract documents as well as information about those contracts. And just like you, the users can see a list of all associated attachments, but in order to view them they are required to download the attachments first.

After a lot of searching, reading and testing, I was able to implement a solution that enables users to view list item attachments within the Power Apps - without needing to download the document first before viewing. The document can be previewed within the app, but requires all documents to be in PDF format. The app uses the PDFViewer and no Power Automate flows were needed. (Microsoft had recently broken the PDFViewer over 2 weeks ago,  but they must have fixed it now as it seems to be working today).

This is the SharePoint List showing the associated Power App form.

In the Attachment tab, users can view a list of file attachments:

Click on an attachment to view it in the PDFViewer:

Ellis

[BKME · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the reply, ekarim2020! 

This this is a great solution for customized forms attached to SharePoint lists. I will definitely file this away for future reference! I'm sure I will be working with that configuration again. 

For my own purposes, I realized I was overcomplicating my workflow trying to marry SharePoint Lists with SharePoint Libraries. Too messy trying to find a way to sync the two! My priority was a user-friendly experience where users could see a list of files associated with a specific record and that they had the ability to open and view them without having to download them onto their devices. In the end, I decided to avoid saving attachments to my List all together and instead have users upload files directly to my Sharepoint library. I created a flow (triggered when a new record is created) that creates a subfolder in my Library for each new record and then updates my record with the subfolder's URL. It's not a perfect solution, but I'd rather my users are navigated away from the app to the Library than to force them to download files onto their devices if they wish to view them.

[Cecilia6699]

Where is your solution? I want to set the same flow too. Store the files uploaded from the Form, instead of storing files in the OneDrive, I hope when the user upload their files by the Form, the documents can store in the SharePoint library.

[BKME]

Hey Cecillia6699,

Can you tell me a little more about your current process and what you're hoping to accomplish? 

[BKME]

Hey Cecillia6699,

Can you tell me a little more about your current process and what you're hoping to accomplish?