Excel file to list flow: date issue

[RobinV86]

I have an excel table that I want to feed into a Sharepoint list.

I am succesful uploading all string data onto sharepoint, but I'm having errors with the dates (Status:400). I believe flow does not know what to do when excel returns an integer DATEVALUE instead of a date like DD/MM/YYYY.

The only workaround I've found so far is to format the date column as text instead of date in excel. This isn't really the solution I'm after, as some of the dates are automatically calculated in excel. Is there another way to get around this issue? 

[RobinV86]

I've found a sloppy workaround which is to add a column in excel which basically converts the date into a viable format

=TEXT([@[Start Date]], "MM/DD/YYYY")

I'd rather do this in flow though...

[v-bacao-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @RobinV86 ,

You could use the Expression to restore Date.

For example, Excel table has a field named Du Date, and the type is Date. In Flow, we can use the following method to convert it as Date.

Expression reference:

addDays('1899-12-31',int(item()['Due Date']),'yyyy-MM-dd')

Please take a try.

Best Regards,

[RobinV86]

This looks very promising. 

Where in the flow would this step be taken? This is what my flow looks like right now:

[v-bacao-msft]

Hi @RobinV86 ,

Configure Expression in External Start Date field, but the second parameter needs to be determined based on Dynamic content you currently populate.

Please see how this field is displayed in Body of List rows present in a table action, and then replace Due Date in Expression I provided.

Regards,

[RobinV86]

Got it to work. The Compose action is the first item in the "apply to each"  section now. Thanks so much; this forum is really great. Awesome!

[RobinV86]

Could there be a time zone issue at play here too? All the dates are literally 1 day later as they are being pulled through.

[v-bacao-msft]

Hi @RobinV86 ,

My mistake, please change"1899-12-31" to "1899-12-30".

Please try again.

Best Regards,

[RobinV86]

Is there a way to modify the code so it doesn't throw an error when the excel field is empty (i.e. a date is not yet entered)? 

Thanks again this is so helpful. I'm completely new at flow and under some pressure to deliver a project. 

[v-bacao-msft]

Hi @RobinV86 ,

You can consider using if() function to exclude null values.

If the value of this field is null, then null is filled in the item; if it is not empty, the previous expression is used.

Like:

if(empty(item()['Due Date']),null,addDays('1899-12-30',int(item()['Due Date']),'yyyy-MM-dd'))

Best Regards,

[JSodergren]

Thank you.

You just saved the nearest wall from having a forehead shaped hole in it.