Boolean variable turns up true when it should be false

[Lila]

Hello everyone, 

I have been struggling with this problem for days now and I can't see why it is happening. Hopefully a pair of fresh eyes from one of you will help. I have built a flow that gets the items from a Sharepoint list and checks if a certain number combined with a name and year is already in my list. If not, the entry is accepted and a new item is made. If the combination already exists, an email is sent out. This email informs the person who filled out the form, that they have entered a combination that is already present in the list.

On most days and for the majority of the entries the flow works fine. But my struggle is with a two-part problem, which is very likely to be related.

1. At random moments the flow claims that the variable is true (meaning there are items that match the entered combination of card-number, medicine name and year.), when it should be false.

2. When I let the exact same flow run again, that same variable comes out as false (meaning it now claims the entered combination does not exist yet in the list) and it makes the item.

I have uploaded the parts of my flow that I think might be relevant because it is a flow with multiple side branches that aren't involved in causing the problem IMO. 

My get items step has a filter on three data points from the MS Form, which are the name of the medicine (they select this from a drop down menu), the number of the card (this is a plain text-field in the form) and finally the year (a choice select in the MS Form). 

My problem lies with me not being able to recreate the error (I have tried different scenarios in hopes of getting the same error) and the error basically fixing itself after I rerun that exact run of my flow.

Screenshots of the flow with the error, which solved itself after I clicked on 'run this flow again'

What I get when I click on 'uitvoer' in my get items step. 

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I hope someone sees what could be going wrong.  

[Expiscornovus]

Hi @Lila,

Can you by any chance share a screenshot of the switch section? I am missing a couple of details which will help with troubleshooting.

For example it looks like you have a parallel branche after Items ophalen (Get Items) in the Nieuwe lege kaart Case 2, is that correct? And if so, what happens in that other section of the parallel branche? 

I see you also have an apply to each directly after the Get Items with a Set variable action which sets the Zijn er items boolean variable to true.

However, in that loop you are not using a dynamic content field of that Get Items action. I would say that apply to each is not needed.

[Lila]

Hi @Expiscornovus ,

Thank you for your reply. As for your questions, the second part of the switch looks like this: 

It is another get items, where I let the flow check if the number before the one that has been submitted, is already in the list or not. So, it should be a stand alone action and not affect the result I am getting with the left branch of that switch case. 

As for your second question, it is in a apply for each loop because it has to check the item list if it is empty or not. That answer is needed in the condition step that follows. There it checks if the statement of 'There are no items=true' is false or not. If it is false, it sends out an email stating that the entered number is already in the list. If not, it makes a new item in said list. 

I hope this helps clarify things. 

[Lila]

Hi @Expiscornovus,

Not sure if you got my message from Tuesday but I thought it wouldn't hurt to bring this to your attention again in case you might have a solution for me. For me it is a real head scratcher at the moment. 

Thanks in advance,

Kind regards,

Lila 

[Expiscornovus]

Hi @Lila,

Apologies, I missed your message. Thanks for clarifying why you are using a parallel branche.

What is actually in the Op elk(e) toepassen 3 apply to each loop? Can you by any chance share a screenshot where all these actions are expanded?

Btw, I wouldn't use the same variable for every check if there a no items. I would rather use a length function in an expression and check if the body/value of the action equals 0. You can put that directly in your condition action. This will reduce the number of apply to each and set variable actions being used.