Identify Common Power Automate Components

February 20, 2023 ~ Renjith ~ Leave a comment

Microsoft Power Automate is a cloud-based platform that helps automate business processes. It provides several components to help you automate workflows, manage data, and integrate systems. The main components in Power Automate are:

Flows: A flow is a series of steps that automate repetitive tasks, like sending an email, copying data from one place to another, or updating records.
Connectors: Connectors are pre-built integrations that help you connect to various services and data sources, such as SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Dynamics 365, and more.
Triggers: Triggers are events that initiate a flow. They can be manual or automatic and can be based on specific conditions, like a new email or a change in a data source.
Actions: Actions are the steps that you want to perform in a flow. You can choose from a wide range of actions to perform operations like sending an email, creating a record, or updating data.
Conditions: Conditions are logical statements that determine whether a specific action should be performed or not. You can use conditions to control the flow of your automation based on certain conditions.
Variables: Variables are a way to store values that can be used throughout a flow. They allow you to pass values from one step to another and use them in conditions or actions.
Scopes: Scopes allow you to group together related steps into a single unit, making it easier to manage and organize your flows.

Identify Flow Types

Microsoft Power Automate has three main flow types: cloud flows, desktop flows, and business process flows.

Cloud Flows: These flows are designed to run in the cloud and are created and managed through the Power Automate portal. They are best suited for automating simple, repeatable tasks that don’t require user interaction.
Desktop Flows: Desktop flows are designed to run on a desktop or laptop computer and require the Power Automate desktop client to be installed. They are best suited for automating tasks that require user interaction, such as sending emails or creating tasks on a to-do list.
Business Process Flows: Business process flows are a type of model-driven flow that allows you to automate a specific business process. They are best suited for automating complex processes that involve multiple steps and the involvement of multiple users. Business process flows are created and managed through the Power Platform admin center.

Based on the trigger type and set of available actions flows can be classified as different types. The flow types are:

Automated flow: Triggered by a specific event or data change, it performs a set of actions in response.
Scheduled flow: Triggered by a specific time, it performs a set of actions on a recurring schedule.
Button flow: Triggered by a manual trigger, it performs a set of actions when a user presses a button in Power Apps.
Instant flow: Triggered by a manual trigger, it performs a set of actions when a user initiates the flow.
Business process flow: Triggered by a change in a record, it guides users through a sequence of steps.
UI flow: Triggered by a manual trigger, it automates manual tasks performed in legacy desktop applications or web browsers.
API flow: Triggered by an API request, it performs a set of actions in response to a specific API request.

Use case for Flows

Microsoft Power Automate, formerly known as Microsoft Flow, has a wide range of use cases, including:

Automating repetitive manual tasks such as data entry or updating records in different systems.
Integrating different applications and services, such as SharePoint, OneDrive, and Dynamics 365.
Sending email notifications and alerts based on specific triggers or events.
Creating approval workflows for documents, expenses, or leave requests.
Automating file or data transfer between different systems or applications.

Available flow templates are pre-built flows that can be used as-is or customized to meet specific needs. These templates provide a starting point and save time in creating flows. Some examples of available templates include:

Copy files from one location to another.
Create and send an approval email for a new item in a list.
Automatically save email attachments to OneDrive.
Send a daily email digest of new items in a list.
Automatically save tweets that mention a specific hashtag to a SharePoint list.

These templates provide a quick and easy way to create flows and automate processes, and they can be used as-is or adapted to meet specific requirements.

How Power Automate uses Connector, Triggers, and Actions

Power Automate uses connectors to connect with other apps and services, such as Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Twitter. Connectors provide both triggers and actions that can be used to automate tasks between different apps.

Triggers are events or conditions that start a flow. When a trigger condition is met, a flow is started and can execute one or more actions. For example, a new email in your inbox can be a trigger that starts a flow to send a push notification to your phone.

Actions are the individual steps or tasks that make up a flow. Each connector provides a set of actions that can be used to interact with the app or service. For example, actions in the Microsoft 365 Outlook connector can be used to send an email, create a calendar event, or get a list of emails from a specific folder.

Power Automate also allows users to create custom connectors to connect with custom APIs, web services, or other services that do not have a built-in connector. Custom connectors can be used to provide additional triggers and actions for a specific service or to simplify the process of working with an existing API.

Loops and conditions including switch, do until, and apply to each

In Power Automate, loops, and conditions are used to control the flow of a workflow.

The “Switch” control is used to evaluate multiple conditions and execute the appropriate actions for each condition. It’s useful when you want to perform a different set of actions based on a single condition.
The “Do Until” control is used to loop through a set of actions until a specified condition is met. It’s useful when you want to repeat a set of actions until a specific condition is satisfied.
The “Apply to each” control is used to iterate over a collection of items and execute the same set of actions for each item. It’s useful when you want to perform a set of actions on each item in a collection.

These controls can be combined to create more complex workflows that perform a sequence of actions based on various conditions.

Expressions

Expressions in Power Automate are a type of code that allows you to manipulate and work with data in different ways. They allow you to customize and extend the functionality of your flows by enabling you to create dynamic expressions that can be used to manipulate values, parse strings, calculate numbers, and more.

Expressions can be used in various parts of Power Automate, including actions, triggers, and conditions. They use a syntax that is similar to programming languages and can be written using functions, operators, and operands.

For example, you can use expressions to format dates, extract values from JSON objects, or calculate the difference between two dates. The expression language is designed to be simple and intuitive, and there are many resources available to help you learn how to use expressions in Power Automate.

Use case for approvals

Power Automate offers approval actions that enable users to automate the process of approving requests or documents, and thereby streamline their business processes.

Some of the use cases for approvals in Power Automate are:

Request approvals for time off, travel, expenses, and other business processes, and get notified when the request is approved or rejected.
Route documents or invoices for approval to specific people or groups, and set up reminders for overdue approvals.
Use approvals to trigger follow-up actions, such as sending notifications, updating records, or creating new documents.
Create custom approval workflows for your business processes, and tailor the approval criteria, routing rules, and notifications to your specific needs.
Monitor and track the status of approvals in real-time, and generate reports and analytics to identify bottlenecks and optimize your workflows.
Combine approvals with other actions, such as sending emails, updating spreadsheets, or creating tasks, to create end-to-end solutions for your business.

Overall, approvals in Power Automate offer a flexible and scalable way to automate your approval workflows and can help you save time, reduce errors, and increase efficiency.

Power Automate Desktop, Power Automate Mobile, and Power Automate Portal

Power Automate is a workflow automation platform that allows users to create automated workflows between different applications and services. There are several different Power Automate apps, including:

Power Automate Desktop: A Windows desktop application that allows users to automate tasks on their local computer or across multiple applications and services.
Power Automate Mobile: A mobile app that allows users to create and manage workflows on the go. Users can create new workflows, view and manage existing workflows, and receive notifications when a workflow is triggered.
Power Automate Portal: A web portal that allows users to create and manage workflows for external users. This app is designed for businesses that need to automate workflows for external customers, partners, or vendors.

Each of these Power Automate apps has a different use case and target audience, but they all share the same underlying technology and functionality. Users can create workflows and automate tasks using a variety of triggers and actions and can customize their workflows using advanced features like loops, conditions, and expressions.

Build a Model-Driven App

February 17, 2023 ~ Renjith ~ Leave a comment

A model-driven app is a type of app in the Microsoft Power Platform that is built using the Common Data Service (CDS) and the Power Apps Maker experience. Model-driven apps are designed to support business process automation and provide a form-based interface for users to interact with data stored in the Common Data Service.

To build a model-driven app, you need to first create an entity, which is a database table that stores data in the Common Data Service. Then, you can define relationships between entities, set up security roles, and create custom forms, views, and dashboards.

Once you have created the entities and defined the relationships, you can use the Power Apps Maker experience to create a model-driven app. This involves selecting the entities you want to include in the app, creating custom forms to enter and view data, and creating custom views and dashboards to display data.

You can also extend the functionality of a model-driven app by using Power Automate flows, Power BI reports, and custom code. This allows you to automate business processes and integrate data from other sources, as well as to create custom experiences for your users.

Once you have built your model-driven app, you can publish it and make it available to users through the Power Apps portal, Microsoft Teams, or SharePoint.

Create Model-Driven App from tables

To create a model-driven app from tables in Power Platform, follow these steps:

Go to the Power Platform Admin Center and select “Make a custom app”.
Choose “Model-driven app” and select “Create”.
Provide a name for your app and select the environment you want to create the app in.
Choose the entities (tables) you want to include in the app. You can create new entities or select from existing ones.
Configure the entities, including field types, relationships, and forms.
Select the design for the app and customize it as needed. You can add components like dashboards, charts, and forms to your app.
Preview the app and make any final changes.
Publish the app.

With these steps, you can create a model-driven app that provides a centralized location for storing and accessing data in Power Platform. You can also create a user-friendly experience for accessing and manipulating data in your app.

Modify Forms

In a model-driven app, forms play a crucial role in presenting data to the users and allowing them to interact with it. The forms can be modified to match the specific needs of an organization and can be customized in various ways. This includes adjusting the layout and controls, adding or removing fields, changing the form’s behavior and appearance, and adding rules and validation to the fields.

The modifications can be done using the form editor in the Power Apps Maker portal. The form editor provides a drag-and-drop interface for adding and arranging controls on the form. It also provides options for customizing the appearance of the form, such as changing the background color, adding images and other media, and adjusting the font and size of the text.

Additionally, the form editor supports the use of conditional formatting, which allows certain fields to be displayed or hidden based on the value of other fields. This is particularly useful for creating forms that are dynamic and adapt to the context in which they are used.

Once the modifications have been made, the form can be saved and published to make it available to the users. It is important to thoroughly test the form before publishing it to ensure that it functions as expected and meets the requirements of the organization.

Modifying forms in a model-driven app can be done through the Forms section of the app design. There you can create and edit the different forms associated with each entity. You can add and remove fields, control their order, and choose the layout of the form. Additionally, you can add sections, tabs, and business rules to enhance the user experience and enforce business logic. The changes made to the forms are automatically reflected in the user interface of the app.

Create and modify Views

In a model-driven app, views are used to represent data from entities in a specific format on a form, dashboard, or a list. The creation and updation of views are important steps to customize the user experience.

To create a view, you can follow these steps:

Go to the Model-driven app builder.
Select the entity for which you want to create a view.
Click on the Views option.
Click on the “New” button to create a new view.
Select the type of view you want to create (e.g. basic list view, card view, calendar view, etc.)
Configure the view settings such as columns, filters, sorting, etc.
Save the view.

To update a view, you can follow these steps:

Go to the Model-driven app builder.
Select the entity for which you want to modify the view.
Click on the Views option.
Click on the view you want to modify.
Make the necessary changes to the view.
Save the changes.

It’s also possible to apply customizations to views through the use of Power Apps Component Framework (PCF) or by using custom code.

Publish and Share an App

To publish and share a model-driven app, you need to first create the app and make sure that it meets your requirements and needs. Once you have confirmed that the app is ready, you can follow these steps to publish and share it:

Go to the environment where you have created the app.
From the app settings, click on ‘Publish’.
The app will be published and made available to your organization.
To share the app with other users, you can grant access to specific users or security groups. This can be done through the app settings in the Power Platform admin center or Microsoft 365 admin center.
Users who have access to the app can now use it in their environment.

It is important to keep in mind that users must have a Power Apps or Power Apps Plan 2 license in order to use the app. Additionally, sharing and publishing of model-driven apps can be governed by the organization’s policies and guidelines for data security and privacy.

Build a basic Canvas App

February 16, 2023 ~ Renjith ~ Leave a comment

To build a basic canvas app in Power Apps, you can follow these steps:

Start Power Apps Studio or go to powerapps.microsoft.com.
Select ‘Canvas App’ and choose a blank app template.
Choose the ‘Phone’ or ‘Tablet’ layout depending on the target device.
In the right-side panel, add controls like text boxes, dropdowns, buttons, and other components as required.
Connect the app to a data source like SharePoint, Excel, or a custom API.
Set up formula-based logic for controls and buttons using the formula bar.
Test the app by previewing it in the app simulator.
Publish the app to share it with others or integrate it into other solutions.

Types of Data sources

Canvas apps in Microsoft Power Platform can connect to a variety of data sources including:

Common data service (CDS) or dataverse
SharePoint lists and libraries
OneDrive for Business
SQL Server databases
Excel files
Dynamics 365 apps
Other cloud services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and Salesforce.

These data sources can be used to retrieve, create, update, and delete data within the canvas app.

Connecting data using Connectors

Canvas apps in Power Apps can connect to various data sources to fetch data and display it in the app. The types of connectors available in Power Apps include:

Common Data Service (CDS) Connector: This connector provides access to data stored in the Common Data Service, which is a cloud-based data platform that enables app building and data management.
SharePoint Connector: This connector provides access to SharePoint data and allows you to retrieve data from SharePoint lists, files, and other data types.
Excel Connector: This connector allows you to connect to an Excel workbook stored on OneDrive or SharePoint and retrieve data from the workbook.
SQL Connector: This connector provides access to data stored in SQL Server and allows you to fetch data from SQL Server databases.
Salesforce Connector: This connector provides access to data stored in Salesforce and allows you to fetch data from Salesforce objects such as contacts, leads, and opportunities.
OneDrive Connector: This connector provides access to data stored in OneDrive and allows you to fetch data from OneDrive files such as Excel workbooks, Word documents, and images.

There are many other connectors available in Power Apps, each with specific capabilities and use cases. These connectors allow you to fetch data from different data sources, which can then be used in your canvas app to create dynamic, data-driven experiences.

Create an app from data

A canvas app in Power Apps can be created from data by connecting to a data source, such as Excel, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, or other sources. The steps to create a canvas app from data are as follows:

Choose the data source: The first step is to choose the data source you want to use for the canvas app. You can use various data sources, such as Excel, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, or other sources.
Connect to the data source: After choosing the data source, you can connect to it using the relevant connector. You can connect to the data source by entering the connection details, such as the URL and credentials.
Create the app: Once you have connected to the data source, you can create the canvas app. You can choose the app layout, and add controls, such as text boxes, drop-down lists, and checkboxes, to capture user input.
Bind data to controls: You can bind the data from the data source to the controls in the canvas app. This will allow the app to display data and provide the ability to update or add data to the data source.
Preview and publish: Once the app is created and data is bound to the controls, you can preview the app to ensure it works as expected. If everything is working as expected, you can publish the app for others to use.

By using a canvas app, you can quickly create an app that provides a user-friendly interface for accessing data from a data source and enables users to update or add data to the data source.

Use controls to design user experience

Controls in Power Apps are used to design the user interface and experience of a canvas app. There are different types of controls available, including text input controls, sliders, drop-down lists, checkboxes, buttons, images, and more. Controls can be customized to suit specific design requirements, such as adjusting font size, color, and formatting. When building a canvas app, it’s important to choose the right control for the right purpose and to ensure that the controls are arranged in a logical and intuitive manner. The selection and arrangement of controls affect the overall look and feel of the app, as well as the ease of use for the end user.

Publish and share an app

Publishing and sharing a canvas app can be done in the following steps:

From the Power Apps studio, go to File > Share > Sharepoint or Teams.
Choose the desired option for sharing: Publish to the organization or Share as a custom app.
Fill out the necessary information, such as the app name and description, and click on Publish.
For sharing as a custom app, invite users or groups by entering their email addresses, and selecting the desired access level: edit or run.
The published or shared app can now be accessed by others through SharePoint or Teams and can be added as a tab in Teams or embedded in a SharePoint page.

Note: It is important to have the proper licensing and access to the environments used for sharing and publishing. The level of access for users can also be managed and updated as needed.