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Power Platform Community / Forums / Power Automate / Inconsistent Vlookup r...
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Inconsistent Vlookup results when creating a pdf from excell

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Posted on by 24

Hello,

I've ran into an issue when the pdf is created from excel. In the cells where a VLOOKUP formula resides I get Inconsistent results. usually the first one form submitted brings back ### results while others give a mixture of expected results and unexpected results. I put a delay in after the cell edit thinking excel needed more time to calculate but I am unsure what the issue is. any advise would be greatly appreciated.

The flow works as follows. 

Davefin_0-1700161227348.png

Davefin_1-1700161263853.png

Expected Results:                                                                      Unexpected Results

Davefin_2-1700161511341.pngDavefin_3-1700161585563.png

 

 

 

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  • wskinnermctc Profile Picture
    6,519 Moderator on at

    How long is the Delay?

    And what is the format of the ID number in Cell M46? Is it a full number or does it have some text?

     

    You could try to put a delay between Add a Row into a Table and Insert ID into M46.

     

    I'm not surprised you are having issues. It is difficult to use Excel as a middle source/calculator for a flow. It is probably more of an issue if it is doing some kind of box checking formatting.

     

    Best guess would be to increase the delay time to like 10 minutes or something between each Excel modification. You could also try using Excel Scripts and see if that is an alternative to this vlookup method. You can create an Excel Script and then run it from Power Automate flow.

  • Davefin Profile Picture
    24 on at

    The ID number in Cell M46 is a general format. It holds the form id number. Putting in a 10 min delay would not be very productive. I do have a 10 sec delay after the insert id in cell m46. The Vlookup acts like a checkmark system. Basically if the answer to a question in a form is "Needs attention" then that cell = "X" otherwise it = " ".

  • wskinnermctc Profile Picture
    6,519 Moderator on at

    A 10 minute delay is productive if it guarantees the correct output every time.

     

    10 Seconds is not going to be enough. The Excel Connector - General Known Issues and Limitations reference states that it could lock a file for up to 6 minutes. It also says that actions could take up to 30 seconds.

     

    From what I've seen, even if you set the delay to anything under minute, you aren't guaranteed that it will return updated information on time. It might work sometimes, or maybe most of the time, but it is unreliable.

     

    Go look up information about the Excel Connector and see that it is not stable for rapid updates and data retrieval.

     

    The reason I ask about the ID number is that sometimes it will vary how the value is used. If it is a number in a text format, it might actually be in the column as '12345 with the single apostrophe in the front. If the number is a number value, then it will not have the apostrophe. Power Automate might be changing a number to a text string. I really don't know if that is the issue, but it would be something I would look into to confirm the vlookup is working correctly.

     

    Using Excel as a middle function in a Power Automate flow will usually require some adjustments to accommodate the connector's limitations. You could also try using Excel Scripts and see if that is an alternative to this vlookup method. You can create an Excel Script and then run it from Power Automate flow.

     

    Another alternative would be to use a Word Document and populate properties from a template. 

  • Davefin Profile Picture
    24 on at

    Thank you. I will look into the delay. as far as the number being inputted there is no ' in it.

  • Davefin Profile Picture
    24 on at
    Wound up having to use MS word premium to fill a template.

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