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Update SharePoint - blank fields from Forms

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Posted on by trndlnd

I use Forms for employees to record the number of improvements each month. When they fill out the form, they must first select the correct position and then select the month they wish to apply for. Each month has an answer field in the form.
This means that every time a response is submitted, there are 11 empty fields.

In the SharePoint list, I only want the field with content from Forms to populate the list, and that empty fields from Forms remain as they are in the SharePoint list. Now the value is set to zero in all fields that have no data, and only one month gets data.

I reckon there's an easy fix for that. I know whats causing the problem, but I can't get it right. I've tried the If empty formula, but can't quite get it to work. Can someone show me? Thanks!

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efialttes 14,756 on at

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Hi @trndlnd
How did you design your Form? The more context you share, the faster you will get a useful response
Thanx!

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trndlnd on at

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This is the form.

1. Pick your department
2. Pick month to register
3.-14.: The number of improvements for the selected month.

I've used branching from field 2. to field 3. - 14 so that you can only record one month for each registration.

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efialttes 14,756 on at

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Hi again!
So there is a question on the top of type choice, 12 possible values and...once the month is selected, just one of the questions 3-14 is shown due to branching rules, right?

And all 3-14 questions are of type text, right?

If above assumptions are correct, I have made a test by selecting 'February' from a list of 3 months, and the respose body is as follows, i.e. responses for 'January' and 'february' are empty strings

I need some more minutes to build a test SP list, I will let you know soon the result

....

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efialttes 14,756 on at

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Hi again!
One more question... you mention that 'I only want the field with content from Forms to populate the list, and that empty fields from Forms remain as they are in the SharePoint list. Now the value is set to zero in all fields that have no data, and only one month gets data.'

You mean you have one SP item per employee, and when updating a SP item, you do not want to delete already existing values in previous months, right?
So for example, an employee is filling the report for Febreuary, and some time ago he already filled values for January:
And you wanna keep old January value, and just add new February value right?

If so, I would do the following:

Now, I am identifying empty answers as you mention by means of empty() WDL function. What I am doing is to 'Get item' first and use Month output value to update the item if that Month's empty in the form. In order to understand WDL expressions better, I am storing each Month Forms response in a variable with the same Month Name:

Next, I am reading current SP item content for the emploee that provided a new answer, and I am using the following WDL expressions to update 'January', 'February', 'March' on 'Update item':

if(empty(variables('January')),outputs('Get_item')?['body/January'],variables('January')) if(empty(variables('February')),outputs('Get_item')?['body/February'],variables('February')) ...

So my test flow looks as follows:

Hope this helps

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trndlnd on at

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Thanks for your reply @efialttes ! I really appreciate it!
You are completely right about how I want the flow to work.

I've tried to copy your example, but it still doesn't work as it should. I've probably missed some steps..

I've stored each Month Forms response in a variable with the same Month Name.
I didn't understand what's inside the "Initialize variable ID" action so maybe here is where the problem is.

Can you show me the whole flow?

I realize i did not mention I have a condition to identify the right Item in the SP-list. Don't think this is why it is failing..?

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efialttes 14,756 on at

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Hi @trndlnd !
In my test flow, I declare "Initialize variable ID" variable of type Integer but do not assign yet a value, then I am searching for the matching SP item and store its ID in "ID" variable by means of several steps hidden inside the 'Scope get SP item' action block, finally I use the ID variable content in 'Get item' and 'Update item'.

Sorry I did not add a complete image from my test flow in my last post, I have updated it, you can also find it here:

:

Hope this helps

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efialttes 14,756 on at

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Hi again!
I have replicated your flow design, so I guess you are using a 'Get items', then the 'Apply to each' iterates through all of the items, and if the condition itself is met, you update the item.
If so, you can forget about Id variable, keep your current design (do not add 'get item' action block) and use the following expressions to update columns:

if(empty(variables('January')),item()?['January'],variables('January')) if(empty(variables('February')),item()?['February'],variables('February')) ...

Overall design look like this:
Apply to each content looks like this:
Hope this helps

There are other ways to implement a more efficient flow, but if your SP list have just a few items, it should work fine.

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trndlnd on at

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Thank you for your help, @efialttes !

It works fine now. The SP-list has 21 items and it seems to work fine with that amount of items.

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