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SharePoint document - copy file - existing to new version

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Posted on by Community Power Pla...

Hello

When copying a document (docx) from one library to another in SharePoint online with Flow:

If a file with a similar name exists, is it possible to add the copy as a new version of the file in the destination library?

I tried using the action 'Copy File' but the possible options 'copy with new name' or 'replace' do not deliver what I want.
I tried retrieving the SharePoint file content and sending an http request to Sharepoint:

_api/Web/getfolderbyserverrelativeurl('LIBRARY1')/files/add(overwrite=true,url='PATHTOFILE')
body of request = File Content

This does create a new version, but the word document becomes corrupt/unreadable.

Thanks

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Building flows

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v-zhos-msft on at

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Hi @Anonymous ,

I have made a test for your idea.

I afraid that there is no way to achieve your needs in Microsoft Flow currently.

You can't store two files with the same name in one floder.

You can choose 'copy with new name' or 'replace' the file content.

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _ Zhongys

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

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danmitchell36 268 on at

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The only solution I could think to accomplish this would be to use a conditional that loops through every document in the library and checks to see if any documents have the same name as the new document. If there is a document with the same name you could update the file content with the file content of the new document.

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Community Power Pla... on at

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Thank you both for taking the time to find a solution.
Eventually i came up with a solution myself and it's as simple as:
Get File Content > Create File
No need for http calls to SharePoint. Using the action 'Create File' has the underlying function to check if there is already a file with a similar name. If so, it automatically adds the content to the existing file as a new major version.

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MortenT 29 on at

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Watch out, though..

"Get File Content" can only have a buffer of 100MB pr. file
/Morten

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mboonie 164 on at

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I wonder if that action has been changed? When I try using Create File with a library that has Versioning enabled (major versions, keep last 500), I get this error:

A file with the name Shared Documents/Forecast and Reporting.xlsx already exists. It was last modified by...

I really need to create a new version of the worksheet (not a new instance) because parts of it are being displayed on a modern page. The File Viewer web part throws an error if the file being displayed is completely replace; it only updates if it's a new version of the file. Otherwise the web part has to be edited and the file reloaded.

Has someone actually used Create File to make a new version lately?

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NPrice99 1,302 on at

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Hi @mboonie

I have hit the same problem.

Repeated calls to Create File now fail with "A file with the name ......already exists".

I have checked the document library and versioning is switched on and I can have 100 versions.

Has there been an update to the SharePoint connector so this has now stopped working ?

Regards

Nigel

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mboonie 164 on at

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Yeah, I ended up having to use a Condition: I try to Get Items with the same name, and if the length() of the value returned is 0 (i.e. there are no files with that name), I use Create Item; otherwise, I use Update Item to make a new version.
I'm sure they must have modified that connector (and, in true Microsoft fashion, left us to discover it on our own, as it's still documented that way on their site.)
Connectors are modified all the time without telling us, it seems. I suppose (and hope!) most changes are harmless, but who knows? For example, I noticed this week that the ID of a list item used as a Workflow trigger has gone from triggerBody()?['ID'] to triggerOutputs()?['body/ID'].
I hope it's for a good reason.

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ekud 3 on at

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Update item works.
thanks for the tip !

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