Flow not running for blank values from power apps

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

i have a flow which is connected to power apps and it is a simple one. i have 6 fields that need to be sent to flows. Now it can be a case that not all 6 values have data in them, so when i run my flow if all the 6 values are not present it does not trigger but if i provide all the 6 values it does trigger. Any idea on to how to get this working?

[yashag2255]

Hi @Anonymous 

You can use the coalesce function in flow for handling null values. Here is my blog post that might help you with this one: https://www.bythedevs.com/post/how-to-pass-a-null-value-as-an-input-while-using-a-manual-trigger-in-ms-flow

Hope this Helps!

If this reply has answered your question or solved your issue, please mark this question as answered. Answered questions helps users in the future who may have the same issue or question quickly find a resolution via search. If you liked my response, please consider giving it a thumbs up. THANKS!

[Anonymous]

@yashag2255  thanks for the input and i read your blog , however my data is coming from power apps and the flow is triggered from a power app button. 
so my flow which is xyz. Run(different parameters) and if one of the parameters is empty it does not run. i am not quite sure how can i make use of Coalesce function. Any guidance in regard to this would be really helpful.

[hilary_stoupa]

I wonder - could you use an IF statement in your Run() and pass in a placeholder value if the user doesn't have any data? Then handle for that in the Flow? Like - say the field is unlikely to have a user entered value of ~ you could use If to pass in ~ if there isn't a value for the field. A little hacky, but it seems like it would work. 🙂

[v-bacao-msft]

Hi @Anonymous ,

It seems that it depends on your configuration in PowerApps. The result of my test is that even if multiple inputs are null, Flow will still trigger as long as the submit button is clicked.

Have you done any settings to limit the triggering of Flow, could you tell us the details of PowerApps configuration?

Please check this online doc and see if it helps:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/canvas-apps/using-logic-flows

Bes Regards,

[jb007]

I have also been having this problem .. I am using a button on a PowerApps sharepoint input form to create an new item in a different sharepoint list when certain conditions are met (using power automate). At first I thought it was a field type issue but changes to simple text didn't help. I then put in if statements and created a variable to force a value eg "unknown". which appears to work. It appears the problem is random ie some fields are accepting as blanks and others not. Even worse is after I force a value the issue moves to another field that hasn't had a value forced so I am now putting in if statements for all fields … a real pain when I am capturing 20 fields.

[Anonymous]

@jb007 could you kindly tell me the condition that you used in your run statement for flows as i have still not figured out the solution for it. 
just the if statement would help. 

[jb007]

What is did was create variables and associate PowerAutomate to the variable 

Following is the code attached to the On select property of the button used to activate the process

'This part checks whether mandatory field have values and if not a popup detailing the requirment is activated
If(Or(IsBlank(DataCardValue47),IsBlank(DataCardValue11),IsBlank(DataCardValue9),IsBlank(DataCardValue12),IsBlank(DataCardValue15),IsBlank(DataCardValue8)),
UpdateContext({varPopUp:true}),
ButtonReview.Visible=false;
' This next section simply checks whether the other fields have a blank value and if so updates the associated variable (eg varContact) with a "~"
If(IsBlank(DataCardValue32.Selected.DisplayName),UpdateContext({varContact:"~"}),UpdateContext({varContact:DataCardValue32.Selected.DisplayName}));
If(IsBlank(DataCardValue34.Text),UpdateContext({varPhone:"~"}),UpdateContext({varPhone:DataCardValue34.Text}));
If(IsBlank(DataCardValue49.Text),UpdateContext({varDesc:"~"}),UpdateContext({varDesc:DataCardValue49.Text}));
If(IsBlank(DataCardValue1.Text),UpdateContext({varHPERM:"~"}),UpdateContext({varHPERM:DataCardValue1.Text}));
If(IsBlank(DataCardValue50.Text),UpdateContext({varFacRef:"~"}),UpdateContext({varFacRef:DataCardValue50.Text}));
If(IsBlank(DataCardValue6.Text),UpdateContext({varQty:1}),UpdateContext({varQty:DataCardValue6.Text}));
If(IsBlank(DataCardValue16.Text),UpdateContext({varPrice:0}),UpdateContext({varPrice:DataCardValue16.Text}));
Set(varReview,{Value:"Review has been created"});

'This next section is the part that runs the PowerAutomate "WarrantyReview54" ... Note the values no longer relate to the DataCardValue but instead to the variables
WarrantyReviewV5.Run(DataCardValue45.Text,varDesc,DataCardValue47.Selected.Value,varHPERM,varFacRef,
DataCardValue9.Text,DataCardValue11.Text,DataCardValue12.Text,DataCardValue15.Text,varQty,DataCardValue8.Text,varContact,
varPrice,varPhone,DataCardValue52.Selected.DisplayName,DataCardValue42.SelectedDate,Today(),DataCardValue13.Text))

Apologies for the length … hope it helps / makes sense

[yashag2255 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous 

Can you share the formula used by you to trigger the flow?

You can pass the blank string "" in case the input is not passed.

FlowName.Run(If(IsBlank(TextInput1.Text),"",TextInput1.Text),If(IsBlank(TextInput2.Text),"",TextInput2.Text),If(IsBlank(TextInput3.Text),"",TextInput3.Text),If(IsBlank(TextInput4Text),"",TextInput4.Text),If(IsBlank(TextInput5.Text),"",TextInput5.Text),If(IsBlank(TextInput6.Text),"",TextInput6.Text))

Hope this Helps!

If this reply has answered your question or solved your issue, please mark this question as answered. Answered questions helps users in the future who may have the same issue or question quickly find a resolution via search. If you liked my response, please consider giving it a thumbs up. THANKS!

[Anonymous]

Hi @yashag2255 This was the solution I was looking for - THX so much for the hint of using th "if" statement.

/Frank

Denmark

[jwilson1]

After two days of trying to troubleshoot, you provided a simple solution that works!  Thank you!

[Anonymous]

But how would this work if you had a collection. Is there any way to make sure all the fields in your collection had empty strings? Below does not work because if Email is empty the field will not even show up in the flow.

ClearCollect(colDataExport, ShowColumns(MyGallery.AllItems,"ID","Dept","SEC_Title","Facility","LastName","FirstName","Email") );
ExcelExport.Run(JSON(colDataExport, JSONFormat.IncludeBinaryData));

[Johnolnes]

This will be one long if statement if I have 250 inputs and two flows using the same fields.

Would there be another easier way?