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Copy calculated column value into another column causes infinity loop

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Posted on by aljazd

Hi,

I'm having a list of transactions with several columns where transactions are recorded in 5 columns. I then have a calculated column to sum all transactions for each line. Because calculated columns don't have totals at the end of the list or group I have then created another column and created a flow, which is supposed to look into the 5 transactions columns to see if they' have changed and then concates the calculated column value to the regular column, used for displaying totals.

For some reason the flow runs into infinity. I suppose it doesn't look into the specified columns but detected change in any column and after it is changed, this triggers another run.

I would like the most if the flow could run after a transaction has been added into one of the 5 transaction columns, so that the column with totals is up to date all the time. An alternative would be to create manually triggered flow that would copy all calculated amounts into the totals column but this is a less desirable option as data integrity is endangered.

Can anyone advise on how to configure the flow?

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Building flows

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v-litu-msft on at

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Hi @aljazd,

You could use Get changes for an item or a file action to get the previous version of the edit item, if the Total column (calculate the five columns) has been changed is false from the previous version, sub the five items, or do nothing.

add(int(triggerOutputs()?['body/{VersionNumber}']),-1)

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Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
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aljazd 17 on at

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Dear @v-litu-msft,

thank you for your effort and reply! I have managed to follow your advice and it seems I got the flow to activate upon the change of an item. I can't however get it to populate or update the "auto sum" column. I thought this can be done by concate "calc sum" into "auto sum" function by this function:

concat(triggerOutputs()?['body/sum_x0020_calc'])

Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance!

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v-litu-msft on at

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Hi @aljazd,

The concat() function combine two or more strings, and return the combined string, it couldn't be used to sum up numbers.

If you want to sum up the three members, you could use add() function.

For example:

add(triggerOutputs()?['column1'],triggerOutputs()?['column2'])

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
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aljazd 17 on at

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@v-litu-msft thank you for your reply!

I am not sure if "concat" or "add" are the best-suited functions for my needs. Also, I couldn't get the flow to run past the condition, because the condition was set to COLUMN CHANGE = FALSE. After changing it to TRUE, and after modifying the "if yes" update action expressions into "add (payment 1,payment 2)", the flow ran properly.

However, the problem I'm actually working on has 5 columns, that are first summed up into the calculated sum column, and I would like the flow to then simply copy this number in a new column, which would then be used for totals at the end of the list, just like on the screenshot below.

Which function/formula would be the best for this?

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v-litu-msft on at

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Hi @aljazd,

The add() function would be better. If the three columns are string type, you should use int() function to convert them into integer before use add() function.

Reference guide for functions in expressions - Azure Logic Apps | Microsoft Docs

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
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aljazd 17 on at

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Hey @v-litu-msft , thank you for a prompt response! All columns are integers, only the name column is a string type, there's no need for int(). Can add()work with more than two columns, something like add(column1, column2, columns3, column4, column5)?

This would mean that I could abandon the sum column because PA would sum up each item's columns and totals at the end of the list/group would also work. The only problem is this doesn't happen instantly, because PA needs a few seconds to trigger and run.

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v-litu-msft on at

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Hi @aljazd,

Add() function only accept two properties, if the SharePoint list has three columns needs to sum, the expression should be:

add(add(column1,column2),column3)

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
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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