Birthday Alert Flow not yielding expected results

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Posted on by Hilda Steyn

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My data is in Dataverse in a table called CLIENTS.

Step 1: Recurrence

Interval: 1,

Frequency: day,

Time Zone UCT+2

no problem here

Step 2: List Rows

Table Name: Clients

Select Columns: cr40f_name, cr40f_dob

Filter Rows: cr40f_activeclient eq true and cr40f_dob ne null

no problem here (I think)

Step 3: Initialize Variable

Name: DOB

Type: String

Value: 01-Jan

Step 4: Apply to each

Select an output from previous steps: body/value

Not sure about this one

Step 5: Set Variable

Name: DOB (variable initialized in step 3)

Value: formatDateTime((items('Apply_to_each')?['cr40f_dob']), 'dd-MMM')

Is this correct???

Step 5: Condition (to check whether birthday is today)

Expression: DOB (variable) is equal to formatDateTime(utcNow(),'dd-MMM')

Is this correct???

If true: send an email to myself.

If not true, no further action.

The flow runs without error, but doesn't send the email and there is a client with a birthday today.

Please help. This is driving me around the bend. It should be so **bleep** simple, but somehow I am missing something.

I wish I could run a flow in debugging mode to see the result of each step!

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Hilda Steyn 265 on at

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Re: Birthday Alert Flow not yielding expected results

I solved my issue. I used compose instead of variables. First compose to get the DOB, second one to format it to dd-MMM only.
Hilda Steyn 265 on at

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Re: Birthday Alert Flow not yielding expected results

Grant you have gone through so much trouble to answer, and I truly appreciate it.
Unfortunately, the table won't suffice. There is a whole lot of other information that will go into the email eventually about the individual client, so it's one email per client.
I suspect my problem is the setting of the variable and the comparison of that to today's date. Somewhere there I am missing something stupid. Would you please have a look at that and give me your thoughts?
grantjenkins 11,059 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at

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Re: Birthday Alert Flow not yielding expected results

This is how I'd build the flow.

For this example, I've used the following Dataverse Table.

Below is the full flow. I'll go into each of the actions.

Recurrence runs daily which is what you already have.

List rows retrieve all the rows that are active and DOB isn't null (as what you already have).

Today is a Compose that gets today's date using the following expression.

formatDateTime(utcNow(), 'dd MMM')

Select extracts out just the fields I want to use. This just makes it easier with the rest of the flow.

Filter array retrieves the Clients with a birthday today using the output from Today and following expression.

formatDateTime(item()?['DOB'], 'dd MMM')

Condition checks to see if the length of our Filter array is greater than 0 (at least one birthday).

length(body('Filter_array'))

If Condition is true it goes into the Yes branch.

Style HTML table is a Compose that contains some CSS for styling the HTML table.

<style> table { border-collapse: collapse; } table td, table th { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left; } table th { background-color: #1C6EA4; color: white; } </style>

Create HTML table uses the output from the Filter array and maps the fields I want to show in my HTML table.

//Name item()?['Name'] //Email item()?['Email']

Send an email uses the output from Today in the Subject and the output from Style HTML table and Create HTML table in the Body.

Below is an example of the email received.
Hilda Steyn 265 on at

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Re: Birthday Alert Flow not yielding expected results

Data type is date only.
grantjenkins 11,059 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at

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Re: Birthday Alert Flow not yielding expected results

What is the datatype for your DOB (cr40f_dob) column in your Dataverse Table? If it's not Date can you show exactly how you are entering the DOB (is it just the month and year, or the actual date of birth including day month and year)?
Hilda Steyn 265 on at

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Re: Birthday Alert Flow not yielding expected results

Check my post. That is exactly what I have in there.
NathanAlvares24 1,673 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at

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Re: Birthday Alert Flow not yielding expected results

Hi @hildasteyn !

Use a compose action before that. Paste the expression of what @ManishSolanki has suggested in that.
Hilda Steyn 265 on at

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Re: Birthday Alert Flow not yielding expected results

How do I check the output?
ManishSolanki 15,085 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at

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Re: Birthday Alert Flow not yielding expected results

Hi @hildasteyn

Pls check the output of step 5 action or expression '"ormatDateTime((items('Apply_to_each')?['cr40f_dob']), 'dd-MMM')" in the last flow run instance. It should be in dd-MMM format.

If this helps & solves your problem, please remember to give a 👍 and accept my solution as it will help others in the future.

Thanks