Unanswered

Create a random number that does not alredy exists in SharePoint list without Flow.

(0) Share

Report

Posted on by Community Power Pla...

Hi Everyone,

I'm building a post-registration form and need to assign a custom, unique ID to each list item using YYYY.<number>.

Initially I built this logic using Flow but since our license results in a 5minute delay I need to figure out another way.

One way to assign a custom ID would be to create a random number on the form (text label) between 0-999999. I however need to check if this value does not already exist in the list and if it does, create a new number.

Is this possible without using Flow?

Thanks!

Categories:

Building Power Apps

I have the same question (0)

All responses (7)

Answers (0)

BCLS776 8,994 Moderator on at

Like (0)

Report
Power Apps, as you've probably figured out, does not have a looping function with an exit condition, which is what you would use to compare generate IDs until a unique one comes up. A couple of ways around this:

I frequently use the Now() function to generate a timestamp to work into a unique ID - that's typically unique enough

You can use an If() statement to have a couple (or more when you use nested If()s) of tries to generate a truly unique random number. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that you'll end up with a duplicated random number that way.

Hope that helps,

Bryan

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
rubin_boer 4,841 Super User 2024 Season 1 on at

Like (0)

Report
hi there @Anonymous simply curious why do you need the unique id to be random? will the ID column in SharePoint not meet your need?

as you do not have a loop function in power apps you could use a timer control with the randbetween function to generate this.

for e.g. (data = {1,2,4,5,9})

Add timer

duration = 100

auto start = true

OnTimerStart = Set(__RandBetweenB, RandBetween(1,10))

Repeat = __RandBetween in data.Value

With the above the timer will be true when the value in data matches a generated number and it will stop when a random number is generated which is not in the data.

When the number is generated, the time is switched off at 6

Hope it helps,

R

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Community Power Pla... on at

Like (0)

Report

Hi Everyone,

My users require(d) a list of unique numbers per year, not over just the complete set. Ideally even with numbering, starting every new year at 1.

Now I tried to fix that with a flow based on the 'item created', but the delay is too long.

Then I opted for the option to combine YYYY with SharePoint's ID in a calculated column, but it turned out that SharePoint calculates the column before giving it an ID, so that didn't work either.

Now I have just made it so that whenever the user opens the form in New mode, a direct Flow is triggered returning a unique ID based on YYYY & random number between 0 and 999999. That's probably the best solution I can come up with to work around the delay and (!) not calculating a number that can be calculated by two users who would work simultaneously.

Thanks for the input though!

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
hemrhk 361 on at

Like (0)

Report

You could have used the timestamp with Date, Text(Now(),"yyyymmddhhmmssfff")

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
CodrutFt 46 on at

Like (1)

Report

Hei, I am not sure if this will solve your problem because you said you might want to reset the numbers every year.
What I found also useful is in generating either a random number or a unique number is that you can work with the previously added item in that sharepoint list.

For example i had to create a 5 digits unique number for every line that will further go in a more complicated project number.
To get a number like that i used Text(Last('yourSPListName').ID)+10000.

I leave this here, because maybe it will be useful for other people.

Cheers.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
chairat 64 on at

Like (0)

Report

Thank you so much.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
chairat 64 on at

Like (0)

Report

Your solution is the best ever. Thank you very much @CodrutFt All the best to you and family.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No