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Tony Hignett's avatar
Tony Hignett
Copper Contributor
Mar 24, 2017

SharePoint 365 SPD Workflow Dictionary default date format issue

Hi All,

 

I'm building a SharePoint Designer workflow which uses the Call HTTP Web Service action.

 

I have a list that contains an optional date/time field called 'Deadline'.

I've added this field to a Dictonary using the Value Current Item: Deadline.

 

The action updates a list item.

 

When the Deadline field has been set by a user, the Update request parameters contain the following JSON:

 

"Deadline":"2017-03-30T23:00:00.0000000Z"

 

When the Deadline field has not been set, I can see that the Deadline feild is returned as null using...

 

..._api/web/lists/getbytitle('ListName')/items

 

<d:Deadline m:null="true" />

 

But, when the REST api Update request is built, the parameters Dictionary appears to be setting a default date. It appears thus in the JSON request...

 

"Deadline":"0001-01-01T00:00:00.0000000"

 

This causes the Update request to fail...

 

Response Content: {"error":{"code":"-2130575155, Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldValueException","message":{"lang":"en-US","value":"Cannot complete this action.\u000a\u000aPlease try again."}}}

 

Response Code: BadRequest

 

Can anyone advise a way to mitigate this behaviour?

My attempts to check&react to the status of the Datetime field are unsuccessful.

 

 

Thanks,

Tony

  • Tony Hignett's avatar
    Tony Hignett
    Copper Contributor
    Mar 24, 2017

    Ok, not Ideal but...

     

    If Current Item: Deadline is less than or equal to 01/01/2001 00:00:00
   Build {...} Dictionary(Output to Variable: Update_Parameters)
   ** but don't include the Deadline field as a parameter **
Else
   Build {...} Dictionary(Output to Variable: Update_Parameters) 
   ** but do include the Deadline field as a parameter **

     

    Hope this helps someone.

     

    It's great that you can copy/paste the Build Dictionary actions within SPD.

    It's a shame they empty their contents as thay are copied.

     

    By the way...

    I'm doing this as moving Document Sets with the REST api (...folder/MoveTo(newUrl))turns them into regular folders.

    i.e. they lose their Content Type Id in transit.

     

    Once, I've moved them, I update them with correct Content Type and the properties of the original.

    Which reverts them back to the Documents Set I expect.

     

    Cheers,

    Tony

    • Jason H's avatar
      Jason H
      Copper Contributor
      Dec 10, 2019

      Tony Hignett I've come across this too.  Could have sworn it was working before without requiring the workaround.

       

      As I had multiple date\time fields, I chose to remove all of them from the main dictionary.  Then I created a dictionary per date\time field and ran the REST call inside each IF statement.  Too bad there is no way to dynamically add fields to a Dictionary

      • kraysco's avatar
        kraysco
        Copper Contributor
        Sep 13, 2023

        Jason H 

        Since the Dictionary object is additive, you only need to put a build statement inside each of the if conditional  statements that check whether there is a valid date value, and then run the Rest statement at the end. 

         

        ex. 

        Set tempBool to No

         

        if Current Item: date1 is greater than > Variable: emptyDate

            Build {<add date1>} Dictionary (Output to Variable: dicRequestContentCreateItem)

             set Variable: tempBool to Yes

         

        if Current Item: date2 is greater than > Variable: emptyDate

            Build {<add date2>} Dictionary (Output to Variable: dicRequestContentCreateItem)

            set Variable: tempBool to Yes

         

         

        if Variable: tempBool equals Yes

             Call Variable: rstUrl HTTP web service with Variable: dicRequestContentCreateItem(Response Content ...

         

         

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