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Converting text string to date format

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Posted on by MK-16042032-0

I am adding files to a document library and part of the file name includes a date: e.g. EmployeeName_documenttype_20250416.pdf. I have used the split function to split the employee name, doctype and the date, and have an output of "20230701" for the date, but now I'm struggling with getting "20230701" into a date format to populate a "Document Date" column in my library. I've tried formatDateText, parsing the JSON and the concat function but always a different message and seem to be going in circles. How do I need to modify my Compose 1 to format the date, or maybe I need to add an action between Compose 1 and Update File Properties?

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ronaldwalcott 3,847 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Can you show the part of your flow where you are using the equivalent of formatDateTime(outputs('Compose1'), 'yyyy-MM-dd')

Did you add validation to ensure that the split string will always transform to a valid date?

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w.p 8,339 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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@MK-16042032-0

can you try this

concat( substring('20230701', 0, 4), '-', substring('20230701', 4, 2), '-', substring('20230701', 6, 2) )

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Chriddle 8,443 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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There is a function for that: formatDateTime()

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stampcoin 5,058 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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MK-16042032-0 Hi,

Assume that in "20230701", "07" is the month, otherwise it will be different .

parseDateTime(

concat(

substring(triggerBody()?['text'], 0, 4), '-',

substring(triggerBody()?['text'], 4, 2), '-',

substring(triggerBody()?['text'], 6, 2)

),

'sv-se'

)

this this one.

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w.p 8,339 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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parseDateTime('20190521', 'fr-fr', 'yyyyMMdd')✅ parseDateTime('20190521', 'fr-fr', 'ddMMyyyy')❌ parseDateTime('21052019', 'fr-fr', 'ddMMyyyy')✅ parseDateTime('21052019', 'fr-fr', 'MMddyyyy')❌ parseDateTime('21052019', 'fr-fr', 'yyyyMMdd')❌

from Chriddle

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Chriddle 8,443 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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parseDateTime( slice( 'EmployeeName_documenttype_20250416.pdf', -12, -4 ), 'es-es', 'yyyyMMdd' )

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MK-16042032-0 6 on at

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Thanks for all the suggestions. Chriddle had the quickest and easiest solution. I was able to add another compose to get this functioning.

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w.p 8,339 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi @MK-16042032-0

You mentioned Chriddle but you didn’t give him a like or credit.
You may have marked the wrong one, or you could select more than one answer.

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MK-16042032-0 6 on at

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Oh, my bad. I'm new to this community. I added the like but I already had the checkmark for "does this answer your question". Is that where I give credit or somewhere else?

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w.p 8,339 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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@MK-16042032-0

Thanks for your response. I thought you marked the wrong post—the solution came from Chriddle's post.

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