Identify duplicate before inserting a record using SPD workflow

[beansmom]

I have a SP list called Advisors that holds council member information. The unique identifier is the ID created by the list. I have SPD workflow that runs when the Advisors form is edited and the mentorship field is set to active. The workflow copies over the ID and member name to the Mentors list. The problem arises when the form is edited more than once. The workflow will continue to send the record that has the mentorship field set to active over and over again to the Mentors list. This causes duplicates. I am looking for a way to compare the Advisors ID field and the Advisor ID in the Mentors list, and if they match, cancel the creation of the new record in the Mentors list.

Thanks for any assistance.

 

[ehaze]

high level idea.

query the other list.
if item does not exist, do some action.

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create workflow variable,
click on value.
change the data source to your Mentor list.
Populate the remaining fields.

then do an If statement.
If Variable is empty
--> do action

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you can also do the same thing above in a single If Condition:
If Value equals any value

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