formatting issue with "Update record" automation

[kb]

I'm running into a formatting issue when I try to update a text field by populating it with form responses.

I have a form that collects a user's name, a text field for "Troubleshooting Notes," and a timestamp for when the form is submitted. An automation sends these results to a text field on another table. The automation has conditional actions to see if the destination text field is empty or not. If the field isn't empty, then it preserves the existing text, and just adds the new data below. I've attached screenshots of the automation actions.

The automation works...mostly. However, if the destination text field is empty to begin with, then the automation adds three line breaks before pasting the form results. So, the text field looks empty unless you expand it and see the text hidden at the bottom. Does anyone know what is causing this formatting issue? It doesn't seem to happen if I remove the conditional statements, but those are necessary parts of my automation.

[TheTimeSavingCo]

Hm, how certain are we that the "Troubleshooting is Empty" condition ever triggers? Given the output, it feels like every time the automation runs it's doing "Otherwise"

[kb]

Thank you, Adam, I believe you might be correct. I tried testing the conditional action on a record that I believed should have passed because it was looking at an empty text field, but the condition failed. Do you know why this might be happening?

My intention is for the automation to look at the Troubleshooting field in the selected record, and if nothing is written there, the conditional action will be triggered.

[TheTimeSavingCo]

Hm, it might be to do with the results of the "Find Record" action.  I assume you're making a list of the "Troubleshooting" field and checking if it's empty, right?

Perhaps instead of "is empty" you could use "contains" and search for a character that you know will be in that field if it's populated, like the "-" between the date and the username?

[kb]

Thank you for your continued feedback, Adam. Your assumption is correct, and that is a good idea for a workaround. It's strange to me that the "is empty" condition doesn't work in this way.

[TheTimeSavingCo]

> It's strange to me that the "is empty" condition doesn't work in this way.
Agreed, I didn't expect that to happen either