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Anonymous
Not applicable

addHours produces different date/times

Hi,

I have a Flow that uses this function in two settings:

 

addHours(utcNow(),10)

 

1st setting: used as is to populate a SharePoint Date/Time column

2nd setting: used to build a concatenating text field in SP for audit purposes

 

The issue is that I get 2 different times in my columns, see below

UTC_Now difference.jpg

Here's the flow setup in question:

UTC_Now differenceFLOW.jpg

 

Can anyone explain why this is? Do I just need to drop the addHours() function from the ApprovalDateTime column and just use Now(). This is the column that is giving the incorrect date/time.

 

Thanks

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
Anonymous
Not applicable

@abm 

I checked and it's definitely +10 and not -10 🙂 

 

I tried using a variable set as a string, initialised to addHours(utcNow(),10) and that worked for my string but for my ApprovedDateTime column (which is a Date & Time column) it MINUSED 2 HOURS??!!??

 

Anyway, I've set my ApprovedDateTime expression to simply utcNow() and - for whatever reason - this gives me the correct time ie Dates & Times match, ie

 

Column ApprovedDateTime - expression utcNow() - output = 19/03/2020 1:40 PM

Column ApprovalStages - expression concat(...formatDateTime(...addHours(utcNow(),10) ... ) - output = 19/03/2020 1:40 PM

 

So very strange ... anyway, I'll leave this as is now. Thanks for your input 🙂 

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12 REPLIES 12
abm
Most Valuable Professional
Most Valuable Professional

Hi @Anonymous 

 

Change the expression to

 

formatDateTime(addHours(utcNow(),10),'yyyyMMdd_HH:mm tt')
 
Thanks


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Anonymous
Not applicable

@abm 

Won't that expression convert the date to a string? I want one column to be a date and the other to be part of a string.

 

Just wondering why they are different

abm
Most Valuable Professional
Most Valuable Professional

Hi @Anonymous 

 

In your format you used small hh

 

yyyyMMdd_HH:mm tt

 

Thanks



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Anonymous
Not applicable

@abm 

Can you explain why this matters? 

 

Im not sure I've explained myself properly. 

 

I want column ApprovedDateTime to be a date and time. I use addHours(utcNow(),10) to fill this column.

 

I want the column ApprovalStages to reflect the same date and time as the column ApprovedDateTime. I use addHours(utcNow(),10) in this column but convert it to a string.

 

As you can see, the dates and times don't match yet they are generated at the same time in the same Flow using the same expression, ie addHours(utcNow(),10).

 

Im just trying to find out why there's a mismatch.

abm
Most Valuable Professional
Most Valuable Professional

Hi @Anonymous 

 

You have a specific format

 

formatDateTime(addHours(utcNow(),10),'yyyyMMdd_hh:mm tt')
 
Where as in you other column you are using addHours(utcNow(),10)
 
Of course it will be different with seconds  time difference.
 
If you looking for the same then declare a compose above and use the expression addHours(utcNow(),10) then refer this in your columns.
 
What I noticed is if you using format 'yyyyMMdd_hh:mm tt' and 'yyyyMMdd_HH:mm tt' there are differences in the output.
 
Thanks
 
 


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Anonymous
Not applicable

@abm 

The two values do not differ by seconds, they differ by 10 hours.

 

ie 19/03/2020 1:02 AM vs 18/03/2020 3:02 PM

abm
Most Valuable Professional
Most Valuable Professional

Hi @Anonymous 

 

addHours(utcNow(),10) I got

 

2020-03-18T22:36:17.7650610Z (Correct)

 

formatDateTime(addHours(utcNow(),10),'yyyyMMdd_hh:mm tt') I got
 

20200318_10:36 PM (Correct)

 

formatDateTime(addHours(utcNow(),10),'yyyyMMdd_HH:mm tt') I got

20200318_22:37 PM (Correct - Here 24 hours format)

 

 

 



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Anonymous
Not applicable

@abm 

Ok, if that's the case then why are the date/times different for me and not you (see my picture above)?

 

Could my SharePoint site be doing something weird with the dates or could it be that the formatDateTime expression sits inside a concat() expression? I'm struggling to understand why the two expressions yield a 10hr difference.

abm
Most Valuable Professional
Most Valuable Professional

Hi @Anonymous 

 

19/03/2020 1:02 AM vs 18/03/2020 3:02 PM

 

Not sure which expression you are using to produce these.

 

18/03/2020 3:02pm adding 10 hours in your expression gives 19/03/2020 1:02 AM

which is correct

 

addHours(utcNow(),10)
 
formatDateTime(addHours(utcNow(),10),'yyyyMMdd_hh:mm tt')


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Anonymous
Not applicable

@abm 

19/03/2020 1:02 AM vs 18/03/2020 3:02 PM Comes from the very first picture I posted. The arrows show which columns are filled by my Flow using which expression, maybe have a second look if you are unsure?

 

The expression used to fill ApprovedDateTime is addHours(utcNow(),10)

 

The expression used to fill ApprovalStages is concat(...formatDateTime(... addHours(utcNow(),10)...)

 

So, the way I see it is that addHours(utcNow(),10), is used in both expressions BUT they output 19/03/2020 1:02 AM vs 18/03/2020 3:02 PM respectively. Why?

abm
Most Valuable Professional
Most Valuable Professional

Hi @Anonymous 

 

Yes I didn't looked properly isn't 😀. I tried with concat and it is working as expected for me. I would say check your expression again and make sure it's not addHours(utcNow(), -10)?  You could try splitting that expression into two. One for adding 10 hours in a compose and next compose to do the concat using the previous output. Let me know how it goes.

 

Your SharePoint field must be a string data type so it should be fine.

 

Thanks



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Anonymous
Not applicable

@abm 

I checked and it's definitely +10 and not -10 🙂 

 

I tried using a variable set as a string, initialised to addHours(utcNow(),10) and that worked for my string but for my ApprovedDateTime column (which is a Date & Time column) it MINUSED 2 HOURS??!!??

 

Anyway, I've set my ApprovedDateTime expression to simply utcNow() and - for whatever reason - this gives me the correct time ie Dates & Times match, ie

 

Column ApprovedDateTime - expression utcNow() - output = 19/03/2020 1:40 PM

Column ApprovalStages - expression concat(...formatDateTime(...addHours(utcNow(),10) ... ) - output = 19/03/2020 1:40 PM

 

So very strange ... anyway, I'll leave this as is now. Thanks for your input 🙂 

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