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Prevent Duplicate in SharePoint using Composite Key when saving from a Powerapps Collection

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Hi Power Automate community:

I have a collection generated within PowerApps and I would like to save the records to SharePoint ensuring there are no duplicates. In the SharePoint list I created a calculated field called "Composite" which consists of 2 fields separated by a pipe "l".

The following is the Automate flow I have been trying generates the following error:

InvalidTemplate. Unable to process template language expressions in action 'Get_items' inputs at line '1' and column '2874': 'The template language expression 'json(decodeBase64(triggerOutputs().headers['X-MS-APIM-Tokens']))['$connections']['shared_sharepointonline']['connectionId']' cannot be evaluated because property 'shared_sharepointonline' doesn't exist, available properties are ''. Please see https://aka.ms/logicexpressions for usage details.'.

The Automate Flow has the following components:

Can someone assist me with correcting this flow please.

Barry

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Using flows

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ChristianAbata 8,951 Most Valuable Professional on at

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To prevent duplicate data in sharepoint you can edit your Column to enforce yes.

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Community Power Pla... on at

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Thank you for your response but I wish to prevent duplicates across two columns in SharePoint. I have created a calculated field that combines the 2 columns but it is impossible to have this calculated field as "Unique" in SharePoint. That is why I am resorting to Flow. If you have a Flow solution for this I would be please to see it. The following is my flow elements that generate the error

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ChristianAbata 8,951 Most Valuable Professional on at

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@Anonymous oh maeby what you want is this
Try with Union(Array,Array) Thats get only the diferent values from array.
See this solution to get more details.
https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/General-Power-Automate/microsoft-flow-get-all-items-with-distinct-Assigned-to-User-and/m-p/114429#M42528

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v-bacao-msft on at

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Hi @Anonymous ,

For InvalidTemplate errors, you could refer to this similar thread:

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/General-Power-Automate/Flow-Error/td-p/352714

Also about Prevent Duplicate in SharePoint, you can refer to the following method.

You can add a parallel branch to handle the two cases of Update item and Create new item.

Update item:

Create item| Use the Filter array to determine if there are already eligible items in the List. Use the length() function to get the number of items filtered by the Filter array. If 0, create a new item.

Replace Title with the field you want to compare.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

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Community Power Pla... on at

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Many thanks for your incisive response _ I will give it a try and advise

Barry

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Community Power Pla... on at

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Also I checked my PowerApps button OnSelect command
SaveAuditCompileToFindings.Run(JSON(AuditInfoComposite))

This command registers an error in PowerApps as follows:
1st Error = Invalid number of arguments - received 1 expected 2
2nd Error = Invocation of unknown or unsupported function

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Community Power Pla... on at

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v-bacao-msft
Hi again,
Perhaps it will be better if I use an auto SharePoint trigger "When a new item is created or modified" rather than a PowerApps button.
If so, I do not know how to setup the Flow for this. Could you help with creating the Flow - Barry

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v-bacao-msft on at

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Hi @Anonymous ,

So, is the condition triggered by Flow that the item is newly created or changed?

If so, you only need to add When an item is created or modified as a trigger in the method mentioned in my last reply.

Please take a try.

Best Regards,

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Community Power Pla... on at

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Hi v-bacao-msft,
Thank you for your continued response - No the Trigger is a button from Powerapps not "item is newly created or changed". It would be better if I could use "When Item is created or change" but I did not know how to compare my powerapps collection with my SharePoint List with "When Item is created or change" trigger. So can demonstrate using the elements of my flow what you have in mind?

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v-bacao-msft on at

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Hi @Anonymous ,

It seems that you only need to add the PowerAPPS button as a trigger to the method I provided.

I follow the method provided by the screenshot of your previous Flow configuration. The configuration on the Parse JSON action should be the same.

To parse the records in the collection and then use the Filter array to filter, you need to replace the Title field with the field you want to compare.

Finally, determine whether to add or change items.

Hope that makes sense.

Best Regards,

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