Learning Microsoft Power Automate

Learning Microsoft Power Automate

by Paul Papanek Stork
Released September 2023
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781098136369

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Book description

Processing information efficiently is critical to the successful operation of modern organizations. One particularly helpful tool is Microsoft Power Automate, a low-code/no-code development platform designed to help tech-savvy users create and implement workflows. This practical book explains how small-business and enterprise users can replace manual work that takes days with an automated process you can set up in a few hours using Power Automate.

Paul Papanek Stork, principal architect at Don't Pa..Panic Consulting, provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of the foundational skills required to understand and work with Power Automate. You'll learn how to use these workflows, or flows, to automate repetitive tasks or complete business processes without manual intervention.

Whether you're transferring form responses to a list, managing document approvals, sending automatic reminders for overdue tasks, or archiving emails and attachments, these skills will help you:

  • Design and build flows with templates or from scratch
  • Select triggers and actions to automate a process
  • Add actions to a flow to retrieve and process information
  • Use functions to transform information
  • Control the logic of a process using conditional actions, loops, or parallel branches
  • Implement error checking to avoid potential problems

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Table of contents

  1. Preface
    1. Who Should Read This Book
    2. Why I Wrote This Book
    3. Navigating This Book
      1. Chapter 1: What Is Microsoft Power Automate?
      2. Chapter 2: Getting Started: What You Need to Know
      3. Chapter 3: Building Your First Flow
      4. Chapter 4: Working with Triggers and Actions
      5. Chapter 5: Implementing Logic
      6. Chapter 6: Integrating with Other Power Platform Applications
      7. Chapter 7: Troubleshooting Tips
      8. Chapter 8: Desktop Flows
      9. Chapter 9: Business Process Flows
    4. Conventions Used in This Book
    5. O’Reilly Online Learning
    6. How to Contact Us
    7. Acknowledgments
  2. 1. What Is Microsoft Power Automate?
    1. Why Use Power Automate?
    2. Who Are Citizen Developers?
    3. Migrating from SharePoint Designer to Power Automate
      1. Why Not Use SPD Workflows?
      2. Power Automate Limitations and Workarounds
    4. How This Book Will Teach Power Automate
    5. Summary
  3. 2. Getting Started: What You Need to Know
    1. Key Licensing Terms
    2. Licensing Options
      1. Power Automate Free
      2. Microsoft 365 Licensing
      3. Dynamics 365 Licensing
      4. Power Apps Licensing
      5. Power Automate Standalone Plans
      6. Pay-as-You-Go Licensing
    3. Special Case Licenses
      1. Copilot Studio (Power Virtual Agents) License
      2. Power Automate Trial License
      3. Power Apps Developer Plan
      4. Windows Licensing
    4. Anatomy of a Flow
      1. Triggers
      2. Actions
      3. Connectors
    5. Types of Flows
      1. Automated Cloud Flows
      2. Instant Cloud Flows
      3. Scheduled Cloud Flows
      4. Desktop Flows
      5. Business Process Flows
    6. Accessing Power Automate
      1. Power Automate Trial
      2. Power Apps Developer Plan
    7. Summary
  4. 3. Building Your First Flow
    1. How to Use Templates
      1. Using Flow Templates
      2. Using Templates as a Learning Experience
    2. Creating a New Cloud Flow
      1. Starting with a Blank Flow
      2. Creating a Flow from a Description
    3. Design a Flow with Visio
      1. Prerequisites
      2. Design a Workflow in Visio
    4. Summary
  5. 4. Working with Triggers and Actions
    1. Triggers, Actions, and Connectors
      1. Finding the Right Connector
      2. Choosing a Trigger
      3. Adding Actions
    2. Adding Dynamic Content
      1. Selecting Dynamic Content to Add
      2. Where Is My Dynamic Content?
    3. Using JSON
      1. Understanding JSON Syntax
      2. Looking Up JSON Syntax
      3. Parsing JSON
    4. Working with Expressions
      1. Understanding Function Syntax
      2. Adding Dynamic Content to an Expression
      3. Format Data by Examples
    5. Using the Action Ellipsis (…) Menu
      1. Copying Actions
      2. Renaming Actions and Triggers
      3. Adding Comments
      4. Adding Notes
      5. Adding a New Connection
    6. Changing Action Settings
      1. Pagination
      2. Secure Inputs and Secure Outputs
      3. Asynchronous Pattern
      4. Automatic Decompression
      5. Timeout
      6. Retry Policy
      7. Tracked Properties
    7. Trigger Settings
      1. Split On
      2. Custom Tracking ID
      3. Controlling Concurrency
      4. Implementing Trigger Conditions
    8. Summary
  6. 5. Implementing Logic
    1. The Control Connector
      1. Controlling Actions with Conditions
      2. Using Switches
      3. Calling Child Flows
      4. Processing Arrays with “Apply to each” Loops
      5. Using “Do until” Loops
    2. Adding Parallel Branches
    3. Summary
  7. 6. Integrating with Other Power Platform Applications
    1. Using Solutions
      1. Creating a New Solution
      2. Connection References
      3. Environment Variables
      4. Managed Versus Unmanaged Solutions
    2. Power Apps
      1. Invoking a Flow from a Power App
      2. Passing Input Parameters
      3. Returning Values
    3. Copilot Studio (Power Virtual Agents)
      1. Invoking a Flow from a Chatbot
      2. Returning a Formatted Table of Results
    4. Power BI
    5. Power Pages
      1. Invoking a Flow from a Power Page
    6. Summary
  8. 7. Troubleshooting Tips
    1. Reviewing Run History
      1. Filtering the All Runs View
      2. Read the Error Message
    2. Common Errors
      1. Authentication Failures
      2. Action Configuration Errors
      3. Data Errors
      4. Logic Errors
    3. Monitoring and Tracking Cloud Flows
      1. Email Notifications
      2. Monitoring Cloud Flow Activity
      3. View Analytics for Cloud Flows
      4. Improving Performance with Process Mining
    4. Fixing Flow Errors
      1. Using the Flow Checker
      2. Using Compose Actions to Check Values
      3. Streamlining Testing
      4. Adjusting Run After Settings
      5. Using the Terminate Action
      6. Using Scope Actions with Run After
      7. Resubmitting Flows
      8. Canceling Running Flows
    5. Summary
  9. 8. Desktop Flows
    1. What Is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
      1. Prerequisites for Power Automate Desktop
      2. Installing Power Automate Desktop
      3. Machine Settings
      4. Licensing Requirements
    2. Creating a Desktop Flow
      1. Exploring the Desktop Flow Design Surface
      2. Learning from Desktop Flow Examples
      3. Recording User Interactions
      4. Adding and Editing Actions
      5. Working with Variables
      6. Handling Errors
    3. Calling a Desktop Flow from a Cloud Flow
      1. Attended Versus Unattended RPA
      2. Passing Parameters to and from a Desktop Flow
    4. Summary
  10. 9. Business Process Flows
    1. What Is a Business Process Flow?
    2. Creating a Business Process Flow
      1. Prerequisites
      2. Limitations
      3. Adding Stages and Steps
      4. Managing Security Roles
      5. Validating and Activating a BPF
      6. Example Introduction: Creating a BPF
    3. Summary
  11. Conclusion
    1. Where Can I Learn More?
      1. Power Automate Documentation
      2. Microsoft Learning Website
      3. Additional Resources
      4. Additional Help
    2. Finally
  12. Index
  13. About the Author

Product information

  • Title: Learning Microsoft Power Automate
  • Author(s): Paul Papanek Stork
  • Release date: September 2023
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781098136369