Advanced Power Automate

In this module, Jonathon introduces the foundational aspects of Power Automate, emphasizing its three main components: the Power Automate Cloud Portal, the mobile application, and Power Automate for desktop. He explains how these tools enable users to automate processes using cloud-based applications, mobile devices, and desktop actions, respectively.

In this module, Jonathan will guide you through advanced expressions in Power Automate, equipping you with essential skills to enhance your workflow automation. You’ll explore key expressions such as empty and length to check for null values, determine the size of strings or arrays, and ensure accurate data processing. Building on this foundation, Jonathan dives into advanced functions like addDays, dayOfWeek, workflow, and coalesce, showing you how to manipulate date and time values, analyze flow runs, and handle null values effectively. Through practical examples using tools like Excel, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how these expressions work together to automate complex workflows and improve error handling in Power Automate.

In this module, Jonathon will guide you through the effective use of variables in Power Automate, focusing on both string and array operations. You’ll start by learning how to append string variables, with a step-by-step demonstration of initializing variables, filtering and counting incomplete orders from a SharePoint list, and compiling a summary message using the "append to string" action. Building on these skills, Jonathon explores the "append to array" variable, highlighting the importance of proper initialization before appending values. He walks you through creating a flow that generates unique IDs for a list of items by looping over a range of numbers and formatting each item with a specific sequence. By the end of this module, you’ll have the tools to manage variables efficiently and streamline your automation processes.

In this segment, Jonathon introduces advanced controls in Power Automate, specifically focusing on the "scope" and "terminate" controls. He explains how the "scope" control groups actions together for better management and error handling, while the "terminate" control is used to end a flow immediately when an error occurs. Jonathon demonstrates how to use these controls to create a workflow that sends an immediate notification upon failure, emphasizing the importance of the "run after" configuration for accurate error handling.

In this module, Jonathon dives into advanced data operations in Power Automate, providing a comprehensive guide to mastering key tools for efficient workflow automation. You’ll learn how to use the Join operation to combine data, such as merging email addresses from an Excel table into a single string for streamlined group communications. Building on this, Jonathon demonstrates how to create customized HTML tables from a SharePoint list, applying CSS for styling and formatting before seamlessly sending the table via email. The module also covers the Parse JSON operation, where you’ll gain a deep understanding of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), learning how to unpack and manipulate dynamic content with schema generation for effective data handling. Finally, Jonathon explores the Select operation, showing you how to transform the shape of objects in an array by filtering and redefining name-value pairs. This is particularly useful for scenarios like managing multiple-choice values and integrating Microsoft Forms with SharePoint lists. By the end of this module, you’ll have the skills to harness the full potential of Power Automate’s data operations to simplify and elevate your workflows.

In this video, Jonathon delves into the complexities of using ODATA filter queries within Power Automate, emphasizing their importance in efficiently handling large datasets. He explains how these queries can filter down rows in actions like "Get items" in SharePoint or "List rows" in SQL Server, thereby improving performance by avoiding the iteration over millions of rows. Key terms to remember include operators like EQ (equal to), GT (greater than), and the necessity of using the exact logical name of columns from data sources such as SharePoint lists.

In this module, Jonathon introduces advanced design patterns in Power Automate, focusing on optimizing workflow efficiency and organization. You’ll begin by learning how to use trigger conditions to embed conditional logic directly into flow triggers, reducing unnecessary API calls, managing licensing limits, and improving overall performance. Building on this foundation, Jonathon demonstrates how to streamline complex workflows by organizing them into parent and child flows. He walks you through creating a solution to store these flows, emphasizing the importance of building them within the same solution to ensure seamless integration and interaction. By the end of this module, you’ll have the tools to design efficient, scalable workflows in Power Automate.

In this module, Jonathon explores advanced integrations across the Power Platform, showcasing how to enhance automation and interactivity through seamless connections between Power Automate, Power BI, Canvas Apps, and AI Builder. You’ll begin with Power BI integrations, learning how to use the Power Automate visual within reports to trigger workflows, such as refreshing datasets, directly from the report interface. Additionally, Jonathon demonstrates how to leverage Power BI actions within Power Automate to update service elements, run DAX queries, and automate data-driven emails, enabling dynamic and scheduled reporting. Next, you’ll dive into integrating Power Automate with Canvas Apps, creating workflows that trigger from button clicks to interact with SharePoint lists and send targeted emails or Teams messages. Finally, Jonathon introduces AI Builder, explaining how to train custom AI models for tailored data extraction from documents and integrate them into workflows for automated processing. By the end of this module, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of how to connect and utilize these powerful tools to elevate your automation capabilities across the Power Platform.

In this module, Jonathon explores advanced Power Automate features and integrations, highlighting premium tools and external data connections to elevate your automation capabilities. You’ll start by learning about premium connectors that require a Power Automate premium license, with a demonstration of creating a model-driven app in Power Apps to interact with Dataverse and automate notifications via Microsoft Teams when new data is added. Next, Jonathon delves into automating data workflows with SQL Server, guiding you through setting up a scheduled cloud flow to extract, transform, and store data as a CSV file in OneDrive using Power Query. Finally, you’ll discover how to use the HTTP request action in Power Automate to connect with external APIs, including making GET requests to retrieve data, parsing JSON objects, and extracting key fields for seamless integration with your workflows. By the end of this module, you’ll have the knowledge to leverage premium features and external data sources to build robust, dynamic automation solutions.

In this advanced Power Automate module, Jonathon delves into the critical administrative and organizational tools that ensure efficient management and lifecycle control within the Power Platform. You’ll begin by exploring administrative actions in Power Automate, learning how to manage flows through tasks like canceling, creating, deleting, resubmitting, and listing connectors and owners. Jonathon then highlights the importance of organizing objects within the Power Platform using environments and solutions, demonstrating how to separate development, test, and production environments for streamlined application lifecycle management. Key concepts include the role of Dataverse in providing environment-specific storage and how solutions package and organize apps, flows, and other components for seamless transfer between environments. By the end of this module, you’ll have the skills to effectively manage and organize your Power Automate workflows and Power Platform assets.

Congratulations on successfully completing the Power Automate Advanced course! Your dedication to understanding the intricacies of Microsoft Power Automate in the cloud and enhancing your workflow setup is commendable. By mastering these advanced features, you are now equipped to create workflows that consistently deliver the desired results. Well done, and best of luck in applying these skills to future projects!