Power Automate - part 2

Power Automate Flows

• Compose: Creates an array that can be referenced later in the flow.
• Apply to each: A loop that processes each record in a set of data in turn.
• Condition: Used for if…then…else logic to control actions in a flow.
• Switch: Performs different actions based on a value in the flow.

Approvals and Flow Types

• Microsoft Teams: Has an Approvals app that displays approvals and their status.
• Power Automate portal: Displays approvals and their status under the Action Items menu.
• Business process flows: Used in model-driven apps to guide users through stages and steps of a business process, but do not show approvals.
• Canvas app: Can start an approval process using the Approvals connector, but cannot display approvals or monitor their status.
• Instant flows: Can be triggered by a button in the Power Automate mobile app, but do not have a specific schedule.
• Scheduled flows: Run at a particular day and time with a specific frequency, and can include actions that identify and update multiple records at a time.
• Automated flows: Run after a particular event happens in another system, or when a record is updated or created.

AI Builder and Connectors

• AI Builder: Includes a document processing model that can extract information from a document, and can be called from a Power Automate cloud flow.
• Connectors: Define the actions that can be performed in a service, and define how events in the service can trigger a Power Automate cloud flow.
• Postman collection: Can be used to create a custom connector, but does not define the components for an out-of-the-box connector.

Power Automate Capabilities

• Power Apps: Used to create graphical forms, but not required in this scenario.
• Power BI: Used for visualizing data and providing users with reports and dashboards, but not required in this scenario.
• Power Virtual Agents: Used for allowing users to interact with underlying data using natural language and chatbots, but not required in this scenario.
• Desktop flows: Used for robotic process automation (RPA), and perform actions on legacy applications that do not have an API.
• Cloud flows: Used to automate modern applications that include modern APIs, and cannot be used with applications that do not have an API.

Flow Triggers and Schedules

• Scheduled flows: Run on an interval, and can be set to run once a day.
• Instant flows: Usually triggered with manual action, but can be triggered daily.
• Automated flows: Triggered when a particular event takes place, and can be triggered at a designated time each day.### Power Automate Concepts
• Compose creates an array that can be referenced later in the flow.
• Apply to each is a loop that processes each record in a set of data in turn.
• Condition is used for if…then…else logic to control the actions taken in a flow.
• Switch action is used to perform different actions depending on a value in the flow.

Approvals

• Microsoft Teams has an Approvals app that displays approvals and their status.
• The Power Automate portal displays approvals and their status under the Action Items menu.
• Business process flows are used in model-driven apps to guide a user through the stages and steps of a business process, but do not show approvals.
• Canvas apps can start an approval process using the Approvals connector but cannot display approvals or monitor their status.
• The maker portal can build flows but does not contain the capability to display action items to monitor approvals.

Flow Types

• Instant flows can be triggered by a button in the Power Automate mobile app.
• Scheduled flows run at a particular day and time with a specific frequency.
• Automated flows run after a particular event happens in another system.

Flow Actions

• The Apply to each action allows looping through items in a collection.
• Do until allows looping through items until a specified condition is met.
• Switch allows taking an input parameter and performing different steps based on the input's value.
• Condition action allows setting up a conditional statement and then performing an action based on whether the condition is true or false.

Approvals and Email

• Emails sent by approvals contain the file attached.
• Approvals listed inside the Power Automate portal show the file attached.
• The Approvals app inside Microsoft Teams shows the file attached.
• Power Automate Desktop does not support approvals.
• Power Automate Mobile app does not show the file attached inside the approvals.

AI Builder and Power Automate

• AI Builder includes a document processing model that can extract information from a document.
• The AI Builder model can be called from a Power Automate cloud flow, which is triggered by the receipt of an email.
• The cloud flow uses AI Builder to extract the information from the document and process it with further cloud actions.

Connectors and Power Automate

• A connector defines the actions that can be performed in the service using the connector.
• A connector defines how events in the service can trigger a Power Automate cloud flow.
• The connector defines the operations that can be performed on the service the connector is defined for.
• When you add a connector to a flow, you supply the credentials required for the service.

Power Automate and Microsoft Services

• Power Automate can be used with Microsoft Exchange Online.
• SharePoint Online connector can be used to create an automatic trigger.
• Power Apps are used to create graphical forms.
• Power BI provides the ability to generate visual graphics to users representing underlying data.
• Power Virtual Agents are used for allowing users to interact with underlying data using natural language and chatbots.

Test your knowledge on key features in Power Automate and Microsoft Teams workflows, including arrays, Apply to each loops, conditions, and using the Approvals app. Learn about managing approvals and status updates in the Power Automate portal.