Rename Files with appended date in SharePoint libraries

[trice602]

Often times there are requests to append file names with a timestamp, customerID, or another identifier when files are created in SharePoint Libraries. This short flow will show you how to do it, step by step.

In this example, I have a trigger, When a file is created (properties only), that fires when a new file is created in a specific folder /Shared Documents/123_ABC/

Next I have a quick compose action that is getting the value after the last "." for the file extension.  I understand there are other ways to do this, here is one way.

The expression is:  

last(split(triggerOutputs()?['body/{FilenameWithExtension}'],'.'))

The final action is to use the Send an HTTP request to SharePoint action and rename the file.

The method is POST.

Enter the URI as shown below, with the dynamic content from the trigger body/ID.

Lastly, enter the body as shown below.  There are three dynamic contents:

1) body/name

2) formatDateTime(utcNow(), 'yyyy-MM-dd')

3) output from compose that contains the file extension

In this example an Excel spreadsheet "testa.xlsx" was created and it was renamed to testa-04-30-2024.xlsx

And that is it!  It's pretty quick and easy and works as an automated flow.  I've answered a handful of related/ancillary questions over the last 9 months, and I hope you enjoyed this quick walkthrough!

I look forward to catching up with you on the next community post.  Always glad to help! Tom

[lilkitkat]

Hi Thomas @trice602 , thanks for your guide.  I am a total newbie to Power Automate!  I want to do exactly what this guide is for and add a date stamp to file names added to a specific library.

I am having some issues with setting this up.

1. I only have option to add "Compose" not "Compose File Extension" like yours

2. I don't have the option to add the dynamic contents like yours

3. In the body text, do I need to have the spaces before the code like you eg. before "formvalues" or is this not important?  How do I know how many spaces to do?

Added screenshots.

As I said, total newbie so apologies if these are silly questions !

Thank you

[trice602]

Hi @lilkitkat ,

Glad to hear you trying this out!  Let's figure it out together!

1. I only have option to add "Compose" not "Compose File Extension" like yours

I renamed mine in this example, "compose" is the default name for the action.  You can rename it by typing in the box at the top of the action, shown below.

2. I don't have the option to add the dynamic contents like yours

Type in the URL shown below (or copy/paste from here):

_api/web/lists/GetByTitle('Documents')/items()/validateUpdateListItem 

With your cursor between the two () in items() click on the blue lightning bolt that appears to the right of the field, that's how you can add the dynamic content to this URI.  Then select ID from the trigger.  It may appear as ID but they are the same.

3. In the body text, do I need to have the spaces before the code like you eg. before "formvalues" or is this not important?  How do I know how many spaces to do?

You can copy the code below to help.

{
     "formValues":[
       {
             "FieldName": "FileLeafRef",
             "FieldValue": "DYNAMIC_NAME-DYNAMIC_DATE.DYNAMIC_COMPOSE"
       }
     ]
}

[lilkitkat]

Thanks so much for your quick reply @trice602 

I have made these changes and tested but it is not working.  I don't have the dynamic contents in the body or the compose inputs - could that be why and how do I add that please?

Another thing is, I renamed my 'Documents' library to 'Purchase Orders' so should I replace the URI 'Documents' with 'PurchaseOrders' or not?

Thank you

[rajeevan23]

Hi @trice602, thank you for sharing this guide. Sometimes we get the following error when the flow runs while the file is open:

Do you have a solution for this?

Thank you!