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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...
Sharepoint Flow
Techresa's avatar
Techresa
Brass Contributor
Nov 22, 2019

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
    Nov 25, 2019

    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
      Dec 03, 2019

      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

      • Damien_Rosario's avatar
        Damien_Rosario
        Silver Contributor
        Dec 04, 2019

        Hi xCloud 

         

        When you update the Approval output in SharePoint using the action in Flow, try populating the Status field (which will be blank) with the desired status in the same action.

         

        This way both happen at the same time.

         

        Let me know if that works for you or we can explore a bit more if you can show some screens shots of the flow?

         

        Cheers

        Damien

    • Techresa's avatar
      Techresa
      Brass Contributor
      Dec 04, 2019

      xCloud 

       

      Sorry for the delayed response. I had a nice long one typed up, but my browser crashed before I could post it.

       

      2. Check out this post for a way to see the workflow status in SharePoint Online.
      https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/SharePoint/How-to-display-approval-status-from-microsoft-flow-on-Sharepoint/m-p/241870#

       

      4. I recommend you capture the content approval status in a variable. Then add details such as published date to the item. Finally, use the Set Content Approval Status action to set it back to what was captured in the variable. You could do that within a condition for If Content Approval Status equals Pending.

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