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xCloud's avatar
xCloud
Copper Contributor
Nov 22, 2019

Need some help, can't even get a proper approval flow for Sharepoint to work

Hi there, 

 

I am trying to set up a Microsoft Flow for users to submit document for approval when they need to publish it. here are the issues I have: 

 

1. There is no trigger for automatically starting workflow when item is in pending status. I have to create a link for user to click to manually launch the workflow.

2. There is no place to check the status of the running workflow in Sharepoint.

3. If a step gets stuck because of user is not available, there is no redirect or push through option for Admin, at least I can't find one. 

4. When the item get approved, we'd like to update some attribute of item by Flow, like approver's comment, published date, etc. But as soon as Flow update an attribute, the item status changes back to Draft. If I update the attribute at the beginning of the workflow, the status changes to draft, and it can't be approved because it's need to be in pending status. 

I understand that this is supposed to happen as the item get updated, but Flow should have an action to set the status to Pending. 

 

Can someone please help me on this? 

Thank you in advance. 

 

 

  • Techresa's avatar
    Techresa
    Brass Contributor

    Hi xCloud,

     

    As for your first item, I am working on something similar. I have versioning and require content approval turned on. When a file is created or modified, it goes into a Draft status. When the file is published it goes into a Pending status. That's when my Flow takes action.

     

    Here's how my Flow is designed.

     

    When a file is created or modified (properties only)

    Get file properties

    Condition

         Content Approval Status is equal to Pending

              If yes

                   Send an email

     

    I leave "if no" blank because I don't want any action taken.

     

    Have you tried this or something similar?

    • xCloud's avatar
      xCloud
      Copper Contributor

      Techresa 

      Hi Theresa, 

       

      Thank you very much, that's a great idea. I've tested it and it works fine. 

       

      Any idea about my other questions? 

       

      Thanks again. 

      • xCloud's avatar
        xCloud
        Copper Contributor

        I now have a situation that users like to track the approval status in the Sharepoint list, list Manager approved, VP approved, etc. I can update the column with the output of the workflow, however, it changes the status to Draft. 

         

        How can I get around this? Can someone please give me some help on this? So frustrated. 

         

        Thanks a .lot

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