'When an item is created or modified' trigger not firing until manually saved

[Anonymous]

I'm running into an odd issue where my Flow will not trigger correctly upon modifying a list item. I have flow set up to copy appended Col1 content to Col2 which can then be listed as an 'updated comment' in my list's default view.

It's the same logic as a SP2013 workflow I've been using, but for whatever reason the flow will not automatically trigger when an item is created/modified in my list - it will only trigger if I go back into the flow and manually save it (the Flow) again. Additionally, if I manually save the Flow a second time, it wipes Col2's existing content.

I am not intimately familiar with any quirks found in the 'When an item is created or modified' SharePoint trigger in Flow, but it's possible I'm missing something obvious.

Below is the logic I'm using.

'Comment Update' MS Flow example

Any help would be much appreciated, I haven't been able to find any posts going over this Flow trigger specifically. It seems like there would either be a very obvious solution to this, or this is a glaring bug with Flow.

Thank you for your time.

[ScottShearer]

@Anonymous:

Could you please provide a little more explaanation of the following:

---

It's the same logic as a SP2013 workflow I've been using, but for whatever reason the flow will not automatically trigger when an item is created/modified in my list - it will only trigger if I go back into the flow and manually save it (the Flow) again. Additionally, if I manually save the Flow a second time, it wipes Col2's existing content.

---

Also, how long have you waited for the Flow to trigger?  A Flow may take a number of minutes to start after an item has been updated.

Scott

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your response. I realize I probably worded that a little oddly, my apologies!

My list's Flow is set up to trigger 'when an item is created or modified'. When I submit a new entry to the list, or modify an existing item, the Flow will not automatically trigger. The only way I have found to force the Flow to trigger for the modified item is to navigate to the Flow's construction dialog and click the 'save' button. Once I do this the recently modified list item is processed through the Flow and Col2 is updated as expected.

If I follow these steps up with saving the Flow an additional (second) time it will remove the data it had previously entered in Col2. I haven't figured out exactly why this is happening yet, as the only logic I'm including in the Flow pertains to updating Col2 if it's a specific match (the previous image example should hopefully explain this better).

In my tests I've waited upwards of two hours prior to manually saving the Flow again. I was not aware that it was supposed to take any noticable amount of extra time to trigger - I assumed they worked the same way as SharePoint workflows in that they were automatically processed once triggered.

If this delay is the expected default behavior for Flows in general, do you know of any workarounds in Flow which would be automatic processed, or is it not really intended for that?

Thank you for your time.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the response. I'll clarify!

Currently, when I add or modify an item in the list my Flow is attached to, it will not automatically trigger. I've waited upwards of two hours for the Flow to copy Col1 to Col2, but it does not seem to be doing it on it's own. While testing, I went into the Flow again to check it out and noticed that if I open the Flow and manually saved it, it would then process the action I previously made with the list. Only by opening the Flow's construction page and manually saving it will it trigger and process copying Col1 to Col2.

Once this is done, if I manually save the Flow a second time it will wipe Col2's data for some reason. I'm not sure if it's an order of operations issue yet, I'm still researching.

I was not aware that Flow's didn't automatically trigger. Do you have a recommendation for circumventing a potential wait period, in the event I need my list to update on the spot?

Thank you very much for your help.

[ScottShearer]

@Anonymous:

Can you do a quick test please...

1. Turn off the problem Flow
2. Create a new simple Flow (just the trigger and on action like initalizing a variable...) with the same trigger.
   1. Does the Flow fire when expected?
3. Create a simple Flow on another list with the same trigger.
   1. Does the Flow firw when expected?

Please let me know.

Scott

[Anonymous]

I am facing a similar problem, has anyone found solution to this?

[MadhuRam]

Same issue here. Any solution from Microsoft?

[ScottShearer]

@MadhuRam 

Was your Flow created from a template?

[Anonymous]

Yes, I created mine using a template. Is the error related to this?

[MadhuRam]

@ScottShearer I dont remember anymore...I will try to create a new one from scratch and see if it still does? Do you know that its related?

[ScottShearer]

@MadhuRam 

I asked because many of the templates are using older connectors and triggers that are no longer available.  My suspicion is that you are using an older trigger.

[Anonymous]

@ScottShearer @MadhuRam  So the only solution as of now is sit back and wait, as this issue resolves on its own.

[Anonymous]

@ScottShearer 

I have question too regarding sharepoint.

- I read the everything above and tried. When made seperatly the flows worked. but in the same flow they do not work.

- My second trigger does not work. Please help me with that. Please reply as soon as possible i have stuck in that for way too long.

- My flow is as follows: 

[ScottShearer]

@Anonymous 

I strongly suggest removing the second trigger from your Flow.  You'll likely need to use two separate Flows.

[Anonymous]

@ScottShearer 

Thanks for that.

- The problem is how to call the attachement from previous made list and send an email?

- Also i want to update the task. How to call the exact task which the flow makes. I know there will be task ID, but it only work for this particular task. I want to automate it, meaning when a new task is created from the first flow,then the second flow should recognise only that task not the old one?

Thanks in advance.  

[Anonymous]

@ScottShearer 

Jut want to add a point 

There are 2 seperate lists: 

- 1st Trigger in figure is for 1st list.

- 2nd trigger in figure is for 2nd list.

So by your suggestion i would start 2nf flow with 2nd list trigger, but after that i want to call attachment from list one and send email + update task. 

Hope this clears a bit more.

[jpenland · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,

I know this is an old thread, but I stumbled upon in while I was trying to solve the same problem.  I wanted to share what resolved it for me in case anyone else comes across this thread like I did.

Scenario:

I have 2 accounts with 2 flows each for a total of 4 flows (that I am aware of) which are all connected to the same list and are using the same "When an item is created or modified" trigger.  3 of the flows trigger at the same time automatically every time an item is created or modified in the source list.  The last flow would not ever trigger automatically.  I had to "edit" the flow and click "save" (even without actually making any edits) in order for the flow to run (and then it would run all the pending instances at once as others have observed).

Solution:

I don't know why this worked, but what I did to resolve the issue was:

1. Save a copy of the bad flow (the one that would not trigger automatically) using the "Save As" button on the flow details page.
2. Turn off the original (bad) flow.
3. Turn on the new copy.

The copy started working right away.  It triggers at the same time the other (good) ones do and runs correctly.

I can't guarantee these steps will resolve the issue for others, but I wanted to share something to try in hopes that it may help someone.

[Anonymous]

This work around works for me! Thanks! @jpenland 

[Jambou]

This worked for me too, not sure why.  Doesn't make sense.

[kudorje]

Let me stress that this product has so many bugs like this lying around which forces so many workarounds. A common pattern we see in answers are related to workarounds which instead should be coming from the underlying feature itself. This solution did work but it is not sustainable with this amount of workarounds.