Save List Attachments to SharePoint Document Library

Is it possible to save list item attachments to the document library? The short answer is yes.

This question is really common, and as you might know, there isn’t an OOTB way to do it. Still, I do understand this need because having the attachment documents in the SharePoint document library brings many benefits; search and filtering, metadata, collaboration, etc. I remember, when I was looking for a solution for this, I did find many blogs about how to upload images to the SharePoint document library with Power App.

At the end of the day, the solution for this comes to the point I had in my Tech Days 2020 session ‘The Right Tool for the Job – Combine Power Platform and SharePoint.’ Know your tools and use the right tool for the job. There is no need to read the attachment blobs in Power App and then upload the data somehow. Everything can be done with Power Automate, SharePoint, and some smart additions to extend user experience with UI only customizations.

Prepare the Library

There isn’t anything special you will need to the list that has the attachments. For the document library, I like to add a field to link the documents and the item in the referring list. So, add a column called ParentID as metadata to the document library where you want to save the document. Later, we will use this column to give the users more accessible access to the documents.

Copy the Attachments

In this example, I have a simple list with few columns and a Canvas Power App with a simple. The Save button is using the basic SubmitForm to save the given details. The attachment handling is done so that the end-user uses the default attachment field functionality to save the attachment document to the list. Then we will use a Power Automate flow to move them to the document library. There are few ways to build the necessary Power Automation.

1. You can build a flow that is triggered on SharePoint When an item is created.
   1. In this method, the user, who is using the form, will need edit permission to the list
   2. If needed, the end-user doesn’t need permission to the document library because that connection is handled with the account that is used to create the flow
   3. But in many cases, we want the end-users to have access both on the list and document library
2. You can initialize the flow from the Power App
   1. In this case, the user will need permission both in the list and the document library

Let’s use the option two here and initialize the flow straight from the Power App. From the ribbon in the Power Apps studio, select Action -> Power Automate -> Create a new flow. This will open a new Power Automate for you that is triggered by a Power App.

1. Add an Initialize variable action in the beginning
   1. Name can be, for example, ListItemID
   2. Type is Integer
   3. For the value, open the dynamic value panel and select Ask in PowerApps
   4. I also like to rename the action for easier recognition in later steps
2. Then we can select a SharePoint action related to attachments
   1. There are multiply available, and we need to use the Get attachments one
   2. Connect the action to the correct SharePoint list
   3. The id parameter is coming from the variable initialized in the beginning

1. Next, add Apply to each action under the Control category
   1. For the output, select the Body from the Get attachment step
2. Then add a Create file action under the SharePoint category
   1. Connect the step to the correct document library
   2. Set File name from the dynamic value panel and select the DisplayName coming from the Get attachments step
   3. File Content can also be set from the dynamic values, and you can use the AbsoluteUri parameter from the Get attachments step

Finally, remember to give a name to the flow and save it. I used the name ‘Save Attachments Demo.’ After this, we can go back to the Power App and connect the flow to the application. First, select the Save button and open the OnSelect property. Then from the ribbon, select Action -> Power Automate -> select the flow we just created. If you had something in the OnSelect property, you might lose the written function, but with undo, you can get them back.

We need to modify the OnSelect property of the button with the following functions.

SubmitForm(frmMyReport);

SaveAttachmentsDemo.Run(frmMyReport.LastSubmit.ID);

• submit form is used to send the form details to the SharePoint list
• Then we call the flow and give the necessary details to copy the attachments

The forms in Power Apps have some data state-related properties (LastSubmited, Unsaved, Updates) we can use in the process. LastSubmited property holds all the fields and their values of the last submitted form. We will send the list item ID parameter to the Power Automate. This id is then saved in the ListItemID variable at the beginning of the flow. Test the form with few attachments, and after the submission, the flow should copy the list attachments to the document library.

Finetuning

At this point, we can copy the attachments to the document library, but this leaves us two copies in different places, which is not ideal. Let us make some additions to the flow to overcome this.

The next step is to add the list item id as metadata to the document. This can be done with Update file properties action. The correct file is found with dynamic id fetch from the Create file action. Set the ParentID with the value in the ListItemID variable.

In the final step, we will delete the attachment from the list item. This can be done with Delete attachment action. Point the action to the list and get the item based on the ListItemID variable. The File Identifier id is fetched from the Get Attachment action.

Save the flow and make a test run with the app. Now we have a solution where the user can give list details and documents with Power Apps form. The form details are saved in the SharePoint list, and the documents are saved in a document library.

Linking the Details

So, what is the benefit of saving the id of the list item as metadata for the documents? With the id, we can build an easy functionality where users can access the desired documents straight from the list.

1. Add a new text column to the list
   1. I like to name the column as Link to Documents
2. Go to the document library, filter the list based on the ParentID field.
3. Next, open the column formatting setting of the Link to Documents field

   

4. Paste the following JSON to the column formatting field.

{
"$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/sp/column-formatting.schema.json",
"elmType": "a",
"txtContent": "Show Documents",
"attributes": {
"target": "_blank",
"href": "='LINK TO YOUR LIBRARY/Forms/AllItems.aspx?FilterField1=ParentID&FilterValue1=' + [$ID]"
},
"style": {
"border": "none",
"background-color": "transparent",
"cursor": "pointer",
"color": "Blue"
}
}

5. Replace the ‘LINK TO YOUR LIBRARY’ with an URL pointing to your document library.
   1. This link in the JSON is pointing to a filtered view in the document library
   2. The FilterValue1 is set dynamically based on the ID of each list row ([$ID])
6. Save the formatting and close the formatting panel

Now we have an easy way to navigate to the document straight from the list. When you click the Show Document link in the list, you will be directed to the documents library, and you will see only the documents related to the list item. More information on column formatting, like using the icons, can be found here: https://github.com/SharePoint/sp-dev-list-formatting