SharePoint list to assign people to Planner task

[C21]

Hi, I'm trying to automate a flow that assigns a Planner task to different people (departments) based on a form response category using a SharePoint list. I'm following your video  https://youtu.be/uzpS6ZWsvmM?feature=shared @ChadVKealey but cannot select the same dynamic content as you Chad in the 'select from items in assignee list' section. I can only see 'Task assignee' where as you can select 'Task assignee email'. 

I think this is where I'm going wrong as although the automation works there is no input nor output when run 

My list is in SharePoint with a 'Title' for each department and a people column for the 'Task assignee'. 

I would be very grateful for any help on this one. 

[ChadVKealey]

Does your "Task Assignee" column allow multiple selections? If so, in the "From" field of your select action, you need to select "Task Assignee" (note, just that, without anything after it). In the "enter value" field, you can use the Expression item()?['Email'] to get the email address. I would actually recommend switching to array view (the little button to the right) and using just that expression, so you end up with simple one-column array of just the email addresses.

[C21]

Hi @ChadVKealey thanks for the quick reply. Yes the 'Task Assignee' column allows multiple selections. Is the screenshot below what you mean I should do...? The flow automatically added the 'apply to each'. Do I need to add a compose action too as you did in the video? If I run the automation as it is, it doesn't add who it is assigned to.  Apologies for all the questions, I'm a novice but learning lots all the time. 

[ChadVKealey]

Yes, that loop is normal because you're using a "Get items" (plural) action that can (and often does) return more than one item. So, the select action needs to run for each item returned, even if there's only one.

[C21]

Hi @ChadVKealey my flow still isn't allocating the task based on my SP list 🤔 and I'm not sure what to do after the select action. Should I have a 'compose' somewhere so I get an 'output' to put into the 'create a task'? Would you have any suggestions?

[ChadVKealey]

The simplest option is to:

1. Before the loop, initialize a string variable (varAssignTo)
2. Inside the loop, add an "append to string variable" action
3. In that action, select varAssignTo and for the input, enter the expression join(<output-of-select>,';')

This assumes that you changed the Select action to include just the email address. The resulting string should be each assignee's email separated by semicolons. Then in the Assigned to field of the create task action, just enter varAssignTo.

See this video for more details: https://youtu.be/fjYNT0EgzAU

[C21]

Thanks @ChadVKealey I'm really sorry but I'm still struggling. Don't supposed you would do a zoom/teams call to help me please? 

[C21]

I think the automation is not pulling the data in from the list. Below is my flow 

Here is the result of a test - looking like the value input is empty. Any ideas @ChadVKealey 

[ChadVKealey]

What does the output of the get items action look like? What filter are you using? I suspect that's the heart of the issue. Also, when initializing the variable, leave the value blank.

[C21]

The input and filter of the 'get items from assignee list' is below. I have made sure that the titles used on the form and SP list are exactly the same. (The assignees in the SP list is a people column and when you hover over it it shows all their contact details etc.)

The output of the 'get items from assignee list' is below. 

The flow runs and everything else works except for the assign to bit. I've obviously got it a bit wrong. @ChadVKealey 

[ChadVKealey]

The "Query Category" question on your form...it's a choice question, right? Does it allow multiple selections? I think it does, based on the fact that the response is coming in an array format (the square brackets and quotes are a dead giveaway). 

If that question doesn't need to be multi-select, then change that setting in the form and try submitting it. The data will come in as a plain string (with the square brackets and quotes) and it'll match what's in your SP list. All sunshine and rainbows 😁

If that question is supposed to or needs to be a multi-select choice, that complicates your process a bit. If multiple categories are selected, to whom should the task be assigned? You can do that, but, well, it's complicated.

[C21]

Hi @ChadVKealey yes it was a multiple choice question but I've now changed that to single option and it seems to pick up the email address (hooray). However, the flow is failing now at the 'create a task'. 

Below is what the 'create a task' looks like. We want to have labels that correspond to the query category too (but these were working previously). 

[ChadVKealey]

What's the expression you're using in the "Pink" (or other) label field? If you're keying that off of the same question data, it's now getting that data as a string, not an array, so you'll need to adjust the formula accordingly.

[C21]

Hi @ChadVKealey so I removed the labelling and the assignment now works. Thanks so much. 

However...

1. I have conditional attachments on the form and the flow works when there are no attachments. The flow also appears to work when there are attachments but there are no attachments added to the task. Please can you help. See images below

2. I need to add labels based on the query category selected on the form. How can I do this now as the data is a string not an array?

[ChadVKealey]

Regarding the attachments: what is the format of the "varAttachments" array? In planner, "attachments"/"References" are actually just links (not actual files, but links to files or other resources). See https://youtu.be/wg5xzN2TEok for more details on how to get the proper format for that array.

Regarding the labels, what is the expression you're using for "Pink" (and the other labels)? If it was working before, you probably had included the quotes and brackets in that formula. To get it working again, you need to remove them.

[C21]

Attachments: below is a copy of what I have in the flow. 

Labels are now working. Hooray 

[ChadVKealey]

You need double quotes around the dynamic content for the alias and resourceLink, like this: 

[C21]

Thanks, I've re-done this part but it still not adding attachments. Could it be something else?

[ChadVKealey · Accepted solution]

So, either the attachment data isn't being compiled into the variable or the update task action isn't adding them. I would suspect the former, because the latter would more than likely result in an error/failure in the flow. 

Have you opened up a flow run to ensure that the variable is being populated correctly? 

[C21 · Accepted solution]

Hi @ChadVKealey, yes I think its the 'handle attachments' step as it is greyed out when it runs 

The input is

The schema is 

{

    "type": "array",

    "items": {

        "type": "object",

        "properties": {

            "name": {

                "type": "string"

            },

            "link": {

                "type": "string"

            },

            "id": {

                "type": "string"

            },

            "type": {},

            "size": {

                "type": "integer"

            },

            "referenceId": {

                "type": "string"

            },

            "driveId": {

                "type": "string"

            },

            "status": {

                "type": "integer"

            },

            "uploadSessionUrl": {}

        },

        "required": [

            "name",

            "link",

            "id",

            "type",

            "size",

            "referenceId",

            "driveId",

            "status",

            "uploadSessionUrl"

        ]

    }

}

I can't work out where I'm going wrong.