Is it possible to generate a custom UID into a MS Lists column? Also, is there a PowerAutomate that works similar to Smartsheet's Update Requests?

Question

Hello,

I'm fairly new to SharePoint Online and O365, so still learning my feet with its capabilities and possible functionality.

I'm currently in the process of setting up a solution for a team where they want 3rd party suppliers to provide them with programme reporting information, which can then be analysed and reviewed. I've envisaged the solution taking the form of the following:

-A MS SharePoint site that hosts:
-3x MS Lists to store the information (which has)
-3x MS Forms to collect the information from the suppliers (AND uses)
-PowerAutomate to send the information from the forms to the according MS Lists, using an approval workflow AND create an item workflow, if approved. If rejected, it sends the 3rd party supplier a notification with feedback.

The reason for having 3x MS Lists & 3x MS Forms is due to a requirement for the information to be separated due to sensitivities around the information being collated. Also, only certain staff should be able to access the according sections of the information, which is why I thought having 3x MS Lists would be most appropriate, as you can control who has access.

Following a demo of the solution thus far, the team would like a custom UID to be generated for each row, rather than reply upon the system generated column, that just lists each row: 1, 2, 3 etc. I was wondering if this was possible either with the MS List column types OR whether this would only be possible using a formula? Either way, I can't work out how this would be achieved and any advice or guidance would be much appreciated!

I've also been asked by the team whether there is an automation, for situations where the information received wasn't sufficient - wrong information or not enough detail, for example - that would allow the 3rd party supplier to pick up where they left off with the MS Form i.e. not to have to fill out the form again from scratch. OR something similar to what Smartsheet has called an "update request", where you can send a request to someone, asking them to update field(s) in the MS List, without them needing to access the MS List. It works similar to a form, but instead of using a form to create a brand new row, it updates an existing row with new or updated information. I don't think there is this functionality available currently, however, I thought I would ask anyway.

Thank you kindly in advance for any guidance and pointers you can provide!

Answer 1

Hi @Stephen Cox ,

Welcome to Q&A Forum!

Please follow the steps:

1.Create the Microsoft Form

2.Create a SharePoint list and add corresponding columns in the list.

• [3rd party Supplier]: Single line of text
• [Question Title]: Single line of text
• [Question Body]: Multiple lines of text
• [Tags]: Choice
• [Created Data]: Date and time
• [Form UID]: Calculated

3.Use the below Formula for [Form UID]

=CONCATENATE([ 3rd party Supplier]," - ",[Question Title]," - ",TEXT([Created Data],"yyyymmdd"))  

4.Set the below List Settings:

a. List settings >> Advanced settings >> enable "Allow management of content types" option

b. Go back List Settings page, scroll to Content Types section and click "Item" link

c. On the List Content Type page, and click "Title" link

d. On the Change Content Type Column page, and select "Hidden" option under the Column Settings

5.Create the below Microsoft Flow

6.Here is my test:

Thanks,
Echo Du

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Answer 2

Thank you kindly for coming back to me on this. This is really useful to know it can be done.

Would it be possible to change the parameters on how the custom UID appears? It should hopefully make it easier somewhat.

The team would like the UID to be in the following format:
A prefix of either D&I, RaW and/or ES for each of the 3 forms/lists.
Then having five zeros before having the usual 1,2,3,4 on the end for each new item that is created.

For example, on the D&I list they would like the first entry to appear as: D&I-000001; on the RaW list they would like the fifth entry to appear as: RaW-000005; on the ES list they would like the tenth entry to appear as: ES-0000010.

The only other thing they would like to know is whether there is an automation, for situations where the information received wasn't sufficient - wrong information or not enough detail, for example - that would allow the 3rd party supplier to pick up where they left off with the MS Form i.e. not to have to fill out the form again from scratch. OR something similar to what Smartsheet has called an "update request", where you can send a request to someone, asking them to update field(s) in the MS List, without them needing to access the MS List. It works similar to a form, but instead of using a form to create a brand new row, it updates an existing row with new or updated information. I don't think there is this functionality available currently, however, I thought I would ask anyway.

Answer 3

Hello I'm just wondering if there's any guidance you can provide on my latest comments above?