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Need help! PVA reply when call action input is invalid?

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Posted on by TomDD

Hi all,

Please bare with me, I am totally clueless. I have no experience with coding or calling functions but i'm trying to get by with the vast amount of knowledge that is available.

Unfortunately I have run into an issue and I can't solve it.
I'm building a chatbot that finds (gets) a row from an excel sheet.
Triggerphrase = Contact details store
Question = Are you looking for the contact details of a store? Please type in the name of the store.
Identifier = User's entire response

Then is followed a power automate call action that finds the string in an excel sheet and outputs the store name, phone number and email address.
Now it all works fine, until the user inputs a store name that is not in the excel sheet. So lets say in my excel there are store names like "Big Shop Town, Lower part side Shop, Shopalicious'. But when I enter a store name thats not there i get a 2003 error and i get a few other error messages.

My problem is: I can't for the life of me figure out how to add a function that recognizes the entry was faulty and the chatbot will ask a question like 'I cant find this store, do you want to search again?'. Because now the bot just kind of crashes and stops.
Here is my PVA flow & PowerAutomate Flow:PVA flowHere is mHHere

Categories:

Calling actions from Copilot Studio

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Pstork1 68,858 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Initialize a string variable at the beginning of the flow and use that variable for your return value.

In the flow you need to create a parallel path where the Run After settings are set to run if there is an error in the Get a Row statement. If that path is taken you can set the variable to a value like "Site Not Found"

In the other side of the parallel path you can set the variable equal to the output from the get a row

Your return value will then always be a valid string, either the information that was requested or an error message.

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TomDD 17 on at

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Hi @Pstork1 Pstork, Thanks!
I can follow point 1 and 3, but i get a bit lost at point two.
After the Get Row statement I need to create two operations in parallel?
What will their functions be respectively? And how can I set a variable exactly to Site Not Found? How does the flow know a site will not be found?

Like I said, i'm a huuge noob but really would love to get this to work.
Thanks a lot!

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Pstork1 68,858 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Both parallel branches are just Set Variable actions that add values to the string variable you create at the top. One runs if the Get Row action is successful. The other runs if it fails. In the one that fails you set the string variable equal to an error message that you want to return to the bot. In the other side you set it like you did in your original return. Then the return just returns that value depending on which parallel branch runs.

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TomDD 17 on at

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Thanks again @Pstork1
But doing this crashed my flow as it is not even giving the contact details.
I've set it up like this, please let me know what is wrong with it, thanks!

It still bothers me that i dont know how the set variable 2 knows if the output was succesful or not. Can you shed some light on this? So much appreciated!

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Pstork1 68,858 Most Valuable Professional on at

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It looks like you are missing the Run After settings on the action that sets the variable to the error message. It needs to be set to run after the List Rows fails. You also need to set the return action to run for both succeeded and skipped, otherwise it will wait to get something from both branches.

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TomDD 17 on at

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@Pstork1 i had the wrong return value title, but now it only works when entering an incorrect entry.
It will say Site Not Found, but when I enter the correct site name i get the error..

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Pstork1 68,858 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Did you also set the Run after setting on the Return action to run if its succeeded or skipped? Can you show me one of the runs when it returns the error?

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TomDD 17 on at

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@Pstork1 yes, im a bit lost now. After I set the Run after setting on variable 2 it stopped working also on the Site Not Found variable.
This is the setup now, by logic i think it should work.
I will try to rebuild it and see what happens.
FOr now all run after settings have been set:

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Pstork1 68,858 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Based on the screenshot you haven't set the Run After setting on the return. It should look like this. If it was set there would be a little i in a circle like there is for the variable 2.

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TomDD 17 on at

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@Pstork1 alright, now it gets interesting. I added the run after setting as per your screenshot. But now, when I enter the correct site name it will output 'Site Not Found' and when I enter a wrong site name it will give an error..

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