Comparing Dates in condition

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Posted on by wonka1234

920 Super User 2024 Season 1

Hi,

I am trying to compare two dates .

Today and "Conclusion Date" but i get the error

Unable to process template language expressions for action 'Condition' at line '0' and column '0': 'The template language function 'less' expects two parameter of matching types. The function was invoked with values of type 'Null' and 'String' that do not match.'.

I use Compose to get todays date - formatDateTime(utcNow(),'yyyy-MM-dd')

but my conclusion date has dates of 10/2/2023.

is this a format TYPE for each field? or could this be the DATE format?

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wskinnermctc 6,519 Moderator on at

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One of those two fields is empty or not returning a value.

The function was invoked with values of type 'Null' and 'String' that do not match.

See how it says one of the types was 'Null'? That means one of them doesn't have a value at all. So you are trying to compare a string/text to nothing, which isn't possible.

You need to check the outputs of that Conclusion Date or the outputs of your compose expression and see which one is not producing a value.

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RobElliott 10,525 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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@wonka1234 date formats must be in the same format on both side of the condition, and both in yyyy-MM-dd format. So youu need to add a compose action and add a formatDateTime expression with the date format yyyy-MM-dd. Then use the outputs of that Compose in the condition.

Rob
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wonka1234 920 Super User 2024 Season 1 on at

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@wskinnermctc why would it be null? in my sharepoint list this column always has values.
@RobElliott I have changed the format of the today date to formatDateTime(utcNow(),'MM/dd/yyyy') to match conclusion date.

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wskinnermctc 6,519 Moderator on at

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Show a screenshot of the compose you are using to compare with. Maybe you have the expression incorrectly put into the Compose.

You will probably need to do more adjustments to make sure you are comparing datetime to datetime.

What is the column type of "Conclusion Date" in your sharepoint list? Is it a single line text string? Or is it a Date Time with the date only? Go look at your SharePoint list settings to see.

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wonka1234 920 Super User 2024 Season 1 on at

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@wskinnermctc

here is my compose -

Comparison-

Conclusion DAte - DateTime Format in my list

compose value -

I am assuming this the compare is where the error is occuring.

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wskinnermctc 6,519 Moderator on at

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That is helpful, but can you show me what is in the SharePoint List settings that shows the column types?

Here is an example of the screen.

SharePoint List Settings

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wonka1234 920 Super User 2024 Season 1 on at

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@wskinnermctc

does this help?

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wskinnermctc 6,519 Moderator on at

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Yes, don't worry about formatting the utcNow() expression or using a compose.

Here is an example of a SharePoint List where I have a column "PurchaseDate" that is a Date Time type column which only has the date.

Purchase Date

If I wanted to compare which purchases were less than today it would look like this below:

Date Condition Compare

The utcNow() is by itself with no formatting.

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wonka1234 920 Super User 2024 Season 1 on at

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@wskinnermctc sadly, still getting the error
Unable to process template language expressions for action 'Condition' at line '0' and column '0': 'The template language function 'less' expects two parameter of matching types. The function was invoked with values of type 'Null' and 'String' that do not match.'.

not sure where its going wrong here..

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wskinnermctc 6,519 Moderator on at

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If you are still getting the error then it most likely has to do with the value coming from SharePoint and/or how your flow is arranged.

Since we know the utcNow() will always have a value, it must be the SharePoint field that is the problem.

You will have to show more of your flow for me to determine the error. I'm guessing it has something to do with your Apply to Each and what is the source being used for the Dynamic Content of the Conclusion Date.

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