How to get a flat listing of all files with path for all subfolders

[martinav]

I'm looking to generate a list of full path to file for all subfolders.  I believe current "List Files In Folder" File System action only gets the top level.  Any Ideas that isnt some crazy nested loop scenario hitting all folders individually?

Thanks,
Rod

[Pstork1]

Unfortunately, the only way to do this would be to write the flow to query each sub folder recursively.  There is no action for the on-premises file system that uses a flat view of the files.  Everything is viewed in the context of folders.

[annajhaveri]

@martinav  you can use Get Items to get all files with all subfolders, configure the Get Items as shown in screenshot below. In List Name, specify Document library name by select Custom Value from dropdown, and set Include Nested Items to yes.

Also its a good idea to specify a filter query or top count to get only those items you need to improve performance of the flow.

[Pstork1]

@annajhaveri he's trying to get the list from the File System, not SharePoint.  The same option doesn't exist in the File System connector actions.

[martinav · Accepted solution]

Yea, unfortunately, I ended up having to do what I didn't want too.  Since everything is two layers deep, and consistent, it makes it a little simpler than if it were a mix of different levels.  But, it still takes forever to run it.  Apply to each is horribly slow.  Always was.  It seems wrong, because a recursive list of a folder with its entire sub structure only takes seconds in the old world.

Command line:

ls -lR | FlatList.txt

Flow:

[annajhaveri]

@Pstork1 thanks for pointing out, i overlooked the file system from his question.

[obadiahjohnson]

I've worked out a way to do this. 

You run the List Folder and add that body in to an Array Variable. 

You then use Parse JSON to extract the data and pump those variables into another list folder.

You then have a condition on 'Is Folder' property and handle your files and folders as you need. 

Basically, it's a 'flat' version of a loop but it's no longer limited by the nesting limit in Power Automate. I have a directory 10 subfolders deep that I'm using this on. I hope this helps, I didn't find much when researching this.

[Diederik_H]

Could you explain this in more detail? Im having a hard time following the steps

[obadiahjohnson]

Sure thing. I marked each iteration of the process of a level so you can see how deep into the folder structure you're getting.

First you  create an array for each level you want to go down into a folder structure.  Level 0 would be the root folder, level one the subfolder, level to the subfolder of that subfolder and so on.

This step is where most of the work happens.

Then you point List folder to the root folder, create a condition on whether the file in the current iteration is a folder. If Yes, use the ID of that current file in a new List Folder and append the results to the array variable corresponding to that next level.

For my purposes I was pulling data from the file if it was not a folder (the no column).

For your purposes you'd probably have some method of adding to a variable that tracks the list for each folder and subfolder under but the yes & no columns of the condition so you can list all the files & folders. Or you could have it write the name to a spreadsheet. Lots of options there.

 

Then you use Parse JSON on your array for the next folder level to get the metadata. Then you add the Body of that parse JSON to the next loop and repeat the whole cycle over again. I got this Parse JSON from pulling the output of List folder, clicking Generate from Sample, and pasting it in there. I've pasted my parse JSON below but if, for some reason, you have different information, you can follow the same process to get a customize Parse JSON to use for your directory.

 

This gives you minimal nesting with a linear process to chain together folder information as you go deeper into your folder structure.

 

 

Parse JSON I used:

{

    "type": "array",

    "items": {

        "type": "object",

        "properties": {

            "Id": {

                "type": "string"

            },

            "Name": {

                "type": "string"

            },

            "DisplayName": {

                "type": "string"

            },

            "Path": {

                "type": "string"

            },

            "LastModified": {

                "type": "string"

            },

            "Size": {

                "type": "integer"

            },

            "IsFolder": {

                "type": "boolean"

            }

        },

        "required": [

            "Id",

            "Name",

            "DisplayName",

            "Path",

            "LastModified",

            "Size",

            "IsFolder"

        ]

    }

}

[ResearchCaptain]

Thank you so much for this! I've been searching all over for a solution that avoids excessive nesting

[DAHPower]

If you want to get a flat list of a files in a Sharepoint document library or any specific folder, you can use the action "Get Files (properties only)" add the Filter Query: FSObjType eq 0. Like so: 

This will return an array of all files (including fullPath and Link) in the folder you specify or for the entire document library if you don't specify any folder in "Limit entries to folder".

[martinav]

@DAHPower ,

While true for Sharepoint, the initial request, which was perhaps not clear, was for File System actions, which apply to shared folder lists.

[DAHPower]

@martinav 

Ah my bad. I got it mixed up from the thread, your original post mentions the file system.

[eliotcole]

There may be a way around this using separate flows and then kicking them off like you were using functions in javascript or something.

It would still take a long time, but I affected something similar to get a HUGE amount of files from a Google Drive last year! Still had to bend around large files, but I got very close I think.

Again, though ... hugely inefficient. There's probably better tools out there. Also, if you were to be doing something like this for work, I'd advise perhaps using Logic Apps in conjunction with Data Factory, perhaps. 👍

[martinav]

@eliotcole ,

Yea, I am doing this for my company, but its too small to allow purchasing of other tools.  Thats why I'm actually doing what I'm doing, because we cannot afford a fully developed MRP/ERP system.  Plus other things.  But, what i'm doing is specific for our company so it works very well.

[eliotcole]

Oh totally, sorry, I wasn't dismissing your amazing efforts! 🏆

I ended up using multcloud, who it would appear are running a permanent sale (hi, Sports Direct want their schtick back!) on lifetime licences. Their integrations made it really easy for me to get things done regarding what I needed to do. But I'm not advertising them ... just saying that they helped me over the line after I hyperfocused on trying every which way else. 😅

FWIW, though, for the future, Logic Apps costs run into the micropennies, and are (mostly) charged per action on the consumption plan. This can often vastly undercut doing similar work in Power Automate, even if you bring in the other products that I mentioned.

But ... again ... that's not dismissing you ... just putting it there for future thinks.