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Format Date in Return Values

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Posted on by 271

Hi all,

 

I have a flow with my PVA topic which pulls a date from excel, but it is returning it as a number. 

 

After my 'Get a row' action I want the date to return as a date, not a text string.

Gwill1983_0-1647437949157.png

Gwill1983_1-1647438309956.png

It is the "W/C Date" in the output above that I am trying to format.....

 

I know how to format this in power automate, but the return values section doesnt allow formulas to return a value. 

 

I am fairly certain it will be in a compose action, but cant get any formula that I try to work.

 

Can anybody help with a solution for this?

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  • Gwill1983 Profile Picture
    Gwill1983 271 on at
    Re: Format Date in Return Values

    Perfect!! All sorted. Thanks for your help

  • renatoromao Profile Picture
    renatoromao 6,819 on at
    Re: Format Date in Return Values

    @Gwill1983 ,

     

    If still not working, you can open the Dynamic Content panel, select you "W/C Date" field. This Excel column will appear in your output, then you can select the input and copy all content there, and paste in a notepad.

     

    You will see something like that:

    @{output(....)} 

     

    Then, you can replace the output within the expression below (without @, {, and } 😞

     if(empty(______PASTE_YOUR_OUTPUT_HERE_WITHOUT_@_AND_{_}______),null,addDays('1899-12-30',int(______PASTE_YOUR_OUTPUT_HERE_WITHOUT_@_AND_{_}______),'yyyy-MM-dd'))

  • Verified answer
    renatoromao Profile Picture
    renatoromao 6,819 on at
    Re: Format Date in Return Values

    @Gwill1983 ,

     

    Sometimes, this alert appears but you can try to confirm multiple times. (sometimes works)

     

    Also, you can follow my steps below:

     

    format1.png

     

    format2.png

     

    format3.png

  • Gwill1983 Profile Picture
    Gwill1983 271 on at
    Re: Format Date in Return Values

    Ah! I had to zoom out for this to appear! Apologies

     

    Getting this error message now

     

    Gwill1983_0-1647440726840.png

     

     

     

  • renatoromao Profile Picture
    renatoromao 6,819 on at
    Re: Format Date in Return Values

    @Gwill1983 ,

     

    Remove the text added and open the Dynamic Content panel (right side) >> Go to Expression tab >> Add the following code and click OK if(empty(outputs('Get_a_row')?['body/W~1C Date']),null,addDays('1899-12-30',int(outputs('Get_a_row')?['body/W~1C Date']),'yyyy-MM-dd'))

  • Gwill1983 Profile Picture
    Gwill1983 271 on at
    Re: Format Date in Return Values

    Thanks.

     

    I added this into the return values as below:

     

    Gwill1983_0-1647439782196.png

     

    In my bot it just returned the  symbol however

     

    Gwill1983_1-1647439839713.png

    Any ideas what I am doing wrong?

  • renatoromao Profile Picture
    renatoromao 6,819 on at
    Re: Format Date in Return Values

    Hi @Gwill1983 ,

     

    You need to format this date.

    I have added your code below, you can copy and paste within your PVA output (within your Flow):

     

    @{if(empty(outputs('Get_a_row')?['body/W~1C Date']),null,addDays('1899-12-30',int(outputs('Get_a_row')?['body/W~1C Date']),'yyyy-MM-dd'))}

     

    Note: yyyy-MM-dd we are formatting as Year-Month-Day

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