Generate a unique ID in a form field.

[JimboSey]

Hi,

So, I have a form in my App, which creates a Work Item (writes to a SharePoint list).

My work items all need a unique reference number which will be populated based on options selected throughout the form. 

So, in my SP list I have a choices column for department, when the user fills the form in on the App they select the relevant department from a dropdown.

Lets say in this case they select 'Maintenance' department. I want this to populate a unique reference number in the 'WorkItemRef' textinput box in my form (WorkItemRef is a column in my SP list' in the following format 'MAI' then the ID column number +1. So for example if I have 100 work items, when someone else adds a new one it would populate the WorkItemRef, so when the form is submitted it will add the ref to the WorkItemRef column in my SP list.

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks

[ScottShearer]

@JimboSey My suggestion would be to use a Flow and a SharePoint list to generate the ID.  You could use a list with a single row and columns for each department or a row for each department.  The Flow could return and ID to the Power App and then increment the number by 1.  I am assuming that you want a different series of incremental numbers for each department.

Let me know if you need help with the Flow.

[JimboSey]

Thank you for your reply.

I am a novice with Flow, so any help on how to achieve the above would be greatly appreciated.

Just need to bare in mind the reference needs to use the format MAIXXXXX so the Xs represent unique numbers. But there will be different departments so Collections deparment would be COLXXXXX

Thanks

[BrianS]

Finding the next number available is always problematic using a SP list because 2 people may be adding items at the same time. It may be better to come up with a scheme based on date and time of day.

You can use a variable as the Default value to be written to the list. You can use the Concatinate() function to assemble the parts you need. Something like:

Concatenate( Left(  Department,3), Right(Text(Now(),"######"),6))

Would give you the first three letters and a 6 digit number that should be unique.

You can just use that function in the Update property of the form field. If yo want the user to see it you can put the same formula in the Default property

[ScottShearer]

@JimboSey 

@BrianS has a point that two users might be creating items at the same time which would may cause an issue in a high volume environment.

Please let me know which way you want to go - if you want to use a Flow I will provide an example.

[JimboSey]

I would like to try using Flow please as it will be low traffic

[ScottShearer]

@JimboSey 

Here is an example of a Flow that you might use.  Pass in the Department name to the Flow.  It will return the prefix as well as the number to you.  The number will be 4 wide with leading zeros.

[JimboSey]

Thank you for this.

I will try tomorrow and let you know, thanks again.

[More2Learn]

I have a SP list that already has a Flow that generates a Unique ID Number based on user inputs into the SP List in Teams.  I am rolling out a Power App that will allow our users to complete a few additional things after an item has been placed in the log, so I have built a Power App that will let the users enter new items in the app instead of using the SP List.

There is always a lag time for the Flow to run after the user has enter the new items for the ID to generate, so I have a Generating ID loop established in the Flow.  Now when I have the users do the same thing in Power Apps, how do I return/call the new ID number after the item is submitted to the SP List from the Power Apps Form?

What I'd like to have happen is that when the User clicks a Submit button on the form submitting the information to the SP List that a Pop Up appear on their screen telling them the new ID Number, I'm just not sure how to make that happen.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

[BrianS]

You can have the Flow return the ID to PowerApps. As in the previous answer you just return the number in the Respond to PowerApps  step. You can add whatever info yo want in that step