How to check if something already exists in the database

[Buddha]

Hi

Please I am trying to search the database to check if a value already exists, but I don’t know how to set this up in a workflow.

I am a newbie.

Thanks.

[mikeloc]

Hi there, @Buddha… if you share some screenshots of your setup, you will likely get a more specific answer. But, in general, you can do a search of a data type for a thing that matches the thing you are looking for, and you can add :count > 0 to the end of the expression.

Best…
Mike

[jonah.deleseleuc]

You can also use the is not in or does not contain ! (I forget which one it is, but the concept is the same)

[mikeloc]

I believe you can also use is not empty, too… no shortage of ways to go about it.

[Buddha]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your swift response.

So I subscribed to plugin that uniquely identifies each user by giving them an unique id, even when they are not logged in.

My goal is to prevent users from signing up for multiple free-trial accounts using different email addresses.

I created a data type called Fingerprint Data, where I store these IDs.

When a user logs in, I want to check if this is the first account they are creating or not. However I don’t know how to go about it.

Thanks again for your assistance!

[mikeloc]

@Buddha

My goal is to prevent users from signing up for multiple free-trial accounts using different email addresses.

Well, first, good luck with that because that juice isn’t going to be worth the squeeze, in my opinion.

Second, I obviously don’t know what the plugin is doing and/or exactly how you are using it, but it sounds like you are simply trying to search the Fingerprint Data data type to see if the unique ID associated with the user who is signing up is the same as an ID that is already stored in the data type. If that is correct, put a condition on your sign up that doesn’t allow the sign up to happen when the count of things in the Fingerprint Data data type with a unique ID that matches the current user’s unique ID is greater than 0. Oh, and make sure any privacy rules you have in place don’t get in the way of the search.

[Buddha]

but it sounds like you are simply trying to search the Fingerprint Data data type to see if the unique ID associated with the user who is signing up is the same as an ID that is already stored in the data type. If that is correct, put a condition on your sign up that doesn’t allow the sign up to happen when the count of things in the Fingerprint Data data type with a unique ID that matches the current user’s unique ID is greater than 0. Oh, and make sure any privacy rules you have in place don’t get in the way of the search.

Yes, you are correct. This is what I am trying to do.

However, I don’t see how to access this data type named FingerprintJS Data from the “Only When” condition. Screen recording: Loom | Free Screen & Video Recording Software | Loom

Well, first, good luck with that because that juice isn’t going to be worth the squeeze, in my opinion.

Second, I obviously don’t know what the plugin is doing and/or exactly how you are using it

1. Needs to be implemented because free users use an API that has a cost to it for each time it is called.

2. The plugin uses a Javascript library that uniquely identifies the browser: GitHub - fingerprintjs/fingerprintjs: Browser fingerprinting library. Accuracy of this version is 40-60%, accuracy of the commercial Fingerprint Identification is 99.5%. V4 of this library is BSL licensed.

Not very technical myself. Just aware that’s what it does.

Thanks again for being of assistance. Greatly appreciated.

[mikeloc]

Select Do a search for and then you will be able to search the fingerprint data type.

[Buddha]

Thanks

[Buddha]

@mikeloc

put a condition on your sign up that doesn’t allow the sign up to happen when the count of things in the Fingerprint Data data type with a unique ID that matches the current user’s unique ID is greater than 0.

I’ve tried for a while and couldn’t quite figure out how to setup this condition.

Please could you kindly show me with a video or screenshot.

[mikeloc]

Something like this on the sign up event would allow the sign up to happen…

You could have another sign up event with the same condition where the count is greater than 0, and you could have an action in that event that displays an alert or something to let the user know they can’t sign up again.

[alexandre10]

Hi mikeloc! I have been trying to use this method that you suggested above, but I have received complaints from some users that the bubble indicates the existence of a record, even if it does not exist, returning the count with a value greater than zero, when in fact the condition for registration does not exist stored! This has already happened to me in two different implementations, where I needed to check the first element if it was empty in some field.