Manage Users using the Graph API in Power Automate
When you manage user accounts within Power Automate, you can user the Office 365 Users connector, but sometimes the Graph API can give you more possibilities. Office 365 Users Connector The Office 365 Users connector gives some help with user management with the following actions: Get relevant people Get trending documents Get user photo Get user photo metadata Get user profile Search for user Update my profile Update my profile photo...
Microsoft Graph API and the Power Platform
This is going to be a large series of posts about the Microsoft Graph API and the Power Platform. Introduction to the Graph API I often get asked questions about the Graph API when using Power Automate. It can be difficult to get the configuration right. It only takes one character being wrong and the Power Automate might give you some unclear error message that takes you days to debug. What is the Microsoft Graph API? Well it is an...
A form with a multi-select dropdown with additional information collected for each selected option in Power Apps
Yesterday I was asked on the chat here, if it is possible to use a multi-select dropdown in a form and then ask for each selected option some additional information. In this post the pattern that you could follow. Use case In my example I will have a form where I’m asking for working days and then for each working day I will ask for a range of working hours. The development of the solution all starts with data. In this case...
Quickly find the parent from the child flow in Power Automate
When you have used child flows and attempted to debug issues you will have come across the issue where you want to find the parent flow for the failing child flow. Parent – Child flows In this example I’ve created a simple set of flows. There is one parent flow and there is a child flow. The parent flow calls my child flow using the Run a child flow action. Then the Child flow has a manual trigger and does something before...
Create multi user real time apps in Power Apps
When multiple users edit data and you want your app to show real time data, you will need a multi user real time app. It isn’t a good idea to reload all your data every time someone might have updated data. The data setup I’m going to use SharePoint as my data store within this post, however the pattern could be applied to any database, such as SQL or Dataverse. First of all I’m creating a list that will hold my data...
Sort by Title in your Highlighted Content web part in SharePoint
Yesterday I was asked about how to sort Documents in the Highlighted Content web part by the Title property. To sort by Title you will have to go through some extra steps. SharePoint Search web parts First I would like to take you through some history. In the year 2016, I wrote a blog post about making the Title field sortable in the classic SharePoint search web parts. And for the Highlighted content web part we have to roughly go...
Copy large files from SharePoint to Azure Blob Storage using Power Automate
When you try to copy large files from SharePoint to Azure Bob Storage with Power Automate, you will find that you have a few options. But quite a few of them fail straight away. In this post the solution. Failed attempts I’m going to include my failed attempts first. In my situation I would like to take a file in SharePoint, get its content and then upload it to Azure Blob Storage. Attempt 1 – Get file content failure I...
Sort an array by dates in Power Automate
When we use the Sort function to sort arrays in Power Automate, it is soo much easier than the 3 step approach that we had before. But there are a few potential issues when you really start to use this function. Sort Dates When we sort dates in Power Automate we really want to to work with dates like this: We have some dates generated by for example a get items action in SharePoint. Or anything else that generates the dates and all...
New! Format data by examples in Power Automate
This feature “Format data by examples” will kill one of my most popular posts! How to format dates using formatDateTime. Using the Format data by example Although this feature is easy to use, it is worth writing a quick blog post about this. You can find this new feature in the expression editor. It has even been given a blue icon to jump out at you. Just click on it and then you will see a pane sliding in where you can...
Named formulas in Power Apps using App.Formulas
Do you use the App onstart to set a lot of variables? And then do you repeat this same within other places of the app to keep things up to date? The new named formulas in App.Formula might be a better option. Enable Named Formulas To enable Named functions you can go to the Settings in your app. Then switch on the Named formula feature. Notice that this feature is still experimental, but it is a great feature to try out ( in non...
Introduction to the PDF function in Power Apps
Have you ever wanted to create a PDF from your Power Apps Screens? Now you can using a the new PDF function in Power Apps Enabling the PDF Function To enable this new experimental feature all you have to do is look for the PDF function feature in the Experimental tab and enable it. Using the PDF function Now straight away you will be able to use the PDF function as shown below. <img loading=”lazy”...
Do Power Platform updates come as a surprise?
How often does it happen that you are working in Power Automate or Power Apps and suddenly on of those new Power Platform Updates features appears. Released Versions It can be hard to keep up with all the changes within the Power Platform. There are so many releases and so many new features arriving all the time. You can find these releases using the following URL: Released Versions – Release Notes Power Platform Released...
Use ParseJSON in PowerApps to retrieve data from Power Automate
Recently a new ParseJSON feature was added to Power Apps. ParseJSON is possibly one of the most complex functions available in Power Apps. in this post some help! ParseJSON Introduction Imagine that we have a flow that sends data back to a Power App using a text property in the Respond to a PowerApp or flow action. But rather than creating multiple fields we return everything as a single text property. Now the app will receive a text...
1 step to update an item in an array in Power Automate
What do you do when you have an array of data in Power Automate and you want to update just one item? Generate an array In this example I will generate an array of numbers using the following expression: range(1,10) This will now generate the array when I run the flow. So how about updating item 7 to 17? I could imagine using Pieter’s method but there is an easier option. Just 10 minutes ago I was asked on the chat how I would...
Failed to load in Azure Synapse Workspace
After last week’s post about how to configure Azure Synapse Link to export data from Dataverse into SQL Server, today a post about some issues. How do you deal witht he failed to load messages that users might get when accessing the data. Failed to load When users try to access the data, they may get the failed to load message. The supporting details of the error may say something like Failed to load one or more resources due to...
Buckinghamshire & Northamptonshire Power Platform User Group launch
Have you been waiting for a new face to face Power Platform User Group in Buckinghamshire & Northamptonshire? First Power Platform User Group session Register now Our first evening will be on 28 September 7pm – 9 pm in the following location: Building 3, Royal Ordnance Depot, Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, NN7 4PS, United Kingdom Will have the following amazing sessions to kick off this user group: Laura Graham-Brown –...
Configure Dataverse exports using Azure Synapse Links for Azure SQL Databases
In this post I’m looking at the Azure SQL databases option that is part of the Azure Synapse link configuration. A bit of background Azure Synapse Links let you configure Dataverse exports to Azure. Quite often this results in a file structure in azure storage that holds csv files. These csv files are organised in such a way that the year (or month) of the records creation in Dataverse decide where your exported data will end...
5 steps to implement word based search in Power Apps
A common requirement in Power Apps is to create a word based search on data in galleries. Step 1 – Basic search in Power Apps First of all I would like to have a look at some basic (not working so well) search on data in galleries. In my example here I’m using a SharePoint list as my data source, but there is no real difference between SharePoint and Dataverse or SQL in this case. Imagine I have an app as shown below with...
900th post on SharePains.com, it is a time to celebrate and win!
This is the 900th post on SharePains.com and I thought this would be a good moment to celebrate that milestone. Ok, it is not the 1000th post but 900 is still quite a lot. The 900th Post Quiz With posts about many of the Microsoft Technologies, SharePains has grown from just a few posts in the beginning to multiple posts per week in the recent years. SharePains has helped with user pains related to SharePoint, Power Platform, Azure,...
Resolved – Avoid variables in Apply To Each steps in Power Automate
Yesterday I was asked about how to avoid variables when you want an index number of the item processed by an apply to each step. Variables or Compose? The variables or compose question is quite an old question in the Power Automate world. The main issue with variables is that inside an apply to each variables lock the processing of items by the Apply to each. This disables the possibility to run the processing in parallel using the...
Debug Compose actions and Conditions in Power Automate
Debug compose actions and condition steps can be difficult as flow runs will only show the output of your expressions. In this post a workaround, to make this easier. Try-Catch-Finally Before I go into the solution, it will be useful to reintroduce the Try Catch Finally pattern used within this post. It has been a while since I wrote my first Try catch pattern post, 4 year ago, and since then it has been accepted as general best...
What can I do with my Power Automate Licenses?
Do you know what you can do when you purchased Power Automate licenses? Or what does that Trial that you enabled give you? Power Apps Plan(s) In Power Apps the option to see which licenses you have has been available for a little while in the Settings menu under Plan(s). This then gives me the underwhelming overview of my licenses. But if you want to know more you will need to go to Power Automate. Power Automate Licenses Today I...
Azure Application Insights and Error Handling in Power Apps
This post is all about error handling in Power Apps with Azure Application Insight. Logging all events in your app (wanted and unwanted) within an easy to use log. Enable the Application Insight feature To enable the Azure Application Insights integration we will first need to enable to Pass errors to Azure Application Insights. If however you want to also catch any erroring code you will also need to enable the Formula-level error...
Boolean logic in Power Apps
This post is all about Boolean logic in Power Apps. So that is all the true/false stuff within your app. true and false In short we have two values that are important in Boolean logic. And we actually have 3 values that are relevant: truefalsenull/empty/nothing/undefined ( or whatever you would like to call this) In Power Apps we can now use this true and false to check if something is true or if it is false (yes this sounds indeed...
Secure your SharePoint data in Power Apps using Power Automate
Although Dataverse is available many of us still use SharePoint to store their data. But how do you secure your SharePoint data? Or are you just happy for people to edit your data outside your app? SharePoint is not a database!? I often hear that SharePoint is not a database. Our friends from Oracle use the following definition of a database: A database is an organized collection of structured information, or data, typically stored...
Application Lifecycle Management and Power Pages
In my recent posts about Power Pages, I’ve looked at development of pages, but I’ve not considered Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) yet. Application Lifecycle Management In general I would recommend to have at least 3 environments for any development work. These environments should include: DevelopmentTestProduction But they could also include environments like training, UAT and quite a few more depending on your ALM...
Get started with Liquid in Power Pages
In this post I’m going to introduce some code into my Power Pages ultimate user guide, by introducing Liquid. Find your liquid in Power Pages In one of my recent posts I talked about editing pages in Power Pages. Using the most left icon of the above four, you can open the page editor. As you open the editor you will notice some html code and some code that sits within {% and %} or {{ and }}. The stuff sitting between these...
User relevant Power BI components in Power Pages
Do you want to have a different Power BI component configuration in Power Pages depending on who is logged in, making the data user relevant? Some background How about creating a page in Power Pages that lets you display Power BI reports depending on the user that is logged in? So depending on which company a user works at, they get a different report shown? So for different companies I have a different Power BI report to be...
5 years of Microsoft MVP-ness
Today I received an email confirming my 5th Microsoft MVP award. Time has flown since those first nomination emails in 2017. The Microsoft MVP Award For anybody reading this post I thought that it might be useful to explain what the MVP Award stands for. When do you get the MVP Award? And what do you need to do get get an MVP Award and become part of the Microsoft MVP program. The Microsoft MVP award is given to community leaders who...
Error when trying to retrieve data from the network
Today I got the error: Error when trying to retrieve data from the network What is causing the Error when trying to retrieve data from the network error? The first step is to identify which line of code is generating the error. Quite quickly I identified that the following code caused the problem. ClearCollect( colAllDocuments, ‘Documents’ ); The above line of code is reading document details form a document library and in...
Return Arrays from Power Automate to Power Apps without a premium licence
When you want to return arrays from a flow in Power Automate to an app in Power Apps you could use the Response action, however this requires a premium connector Avoiding the premium licences First of all if your flow really uses premium features then just get that premium licence in place, but if you don’t use any other premium features then you might want to use the method described in this post to avoid the costs of a premium...
Display the environment name in your Canvas App in Power Apps
So you start using environments and you deploy the app across multiple environment. How do users know which environment they are in? Get the environment name There are two easy options to get the environment name while running an app. Use an environment variable that you set during deploymentCreate a flow that finds the environment name The first option is easy, just set a text environment variable to the right value and your done....
Create custom content instead of components in Power Pages
After yesterday’s post about components today I’m looking at a bit more detail and how we can create custom content on our pages. Finding the technical bits To find out how the Power Pages really work, there is a model driven app available. This model driven app can be accessed through the Portal Management option the Power Pages menu . I’ve created a page in Power Pages And when I look in the Portal Management app I...
Style your Power Pages, the easy way
When you try out Power Pages, and you have created some pages, you might want to adjust the styling of the page. In this post the options. Style your pages with a Theme Once you have opened your Power Pages site, you can select the styling option on the left hand side to change the Theme used by your pages. This way you can change a page that looks like this: To a page that looks like this: The above change you can make with just a...
1 Client ID, 1 Secret and a Bearer token in Power BI
Connecting to data sources in Power BI can be very easy. But when you need to call three end points to get to your data with Secrets, Client IDs and Bearer tokens it can be a bit harder to get your data. Background on the API Sometimes APIS are nice and easy to use and sometimes APIs are just a pain. If all you have to do is connect to your data source by clicking a few button, it would be no fun. In this post I will look at one of...
Create custom content instead of components in Power Portals
After yesterday’s post about components today I’m looking at a bit more detail and how we can create custom content on our pages. Finding the technical bits To find out how the Power Pages really work, there is a model driven app available. This model driven app can be accessed through the Portal Management option the Power Pages menu . I’ve created a page in Power Pages And when I look in the Portal Management app I...
Components in Power Pages, a quick overview
As we saw in my most recent post about Power Pages, content of pages are made up of components. In this post I will go through the existing Power Pages components Available components The following components are available in Power Pages TextButtonImage, VideoSpacerPower BIListFormiFrame The Text component The text component might look like the simplest of components, but it is actually even simpler than you think. In the below...
Edit Pages in Power Pages, a quick overview
So you got started with Power Pages, and now you’re ready to edit pages in Power Pages. This post will guide you through the first steps. Power Pages Studio vs Site Preview Our site is ready and now we want to make some customizations to the site. Before we edit pages in Power Pages, I will walk through the options by clicking on the Edit button. First of all it is important to understand the differences between the Power Pages...
Get started with Power Pages super quickly in 5 minutes
In this post I will look at how to get started with Power Pages. In this post I will guide you through the first steps that you can take with this amazing platform. The first steps You might ask, What is Microsoft Power pages? Well Power Pages is the new platform that Microsoft have recently launched that will help you set up your own website. Complete with option to let your clients or user login to your site. Time to dive into the...
Runtime error when running tests: TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading ‘errorMessage’)
How do you deal with Runtime error when running tests: TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading ‘errorMessage’) in your Power Apps Test Studio? Automated tests Automated testing in Power Apps can reduce the time to test your app dramatically. First of all the automated testing in Power Apps is still in preview. About 2 years ago I wrote a post about it, and as the automate testing depends on a preview feature...
Create an app using the new image import in Power Apps
Earlier this week a new feature was released in preview. Take any image of a form and turn it into an app. All using the standard out of the box Power Apps editing experience. Create an image I’ve seen a few people testing this new feature with nice looking images. But I’m not good at drawing, so I used paint.net and my finger to drop an interesting form. Ok, nothing complicated here. As you can see my boxes are far from...
3 steps to implementing a better date picker in Power Apps
One of the biggest annoyances of Canvas Apps in Power apps is the date picker. It just doesn’t feel right. Some improvements needed There are quite a few improvements that you might want to make to the date picker, that aren’t easily possible. Having to press the OK button after you selected a dateDisplay the last days from the previous month or the first days of the next monthBranding the date picker And so much more. In...
Power Automate Flow run failed: Connection not configured for this service
Today I was battling with the Connection not configured for this service error. Background Iv’e got an app in Power Apps that manages documents. And the different levels of access to the documents I’m controlling using AD groups. One of my flows is run while the app is starting, and this flow will get the groups that the logged in user is part of. Iv’e got 3 versions of the app. One app in a Development environment,...
Open Word documents in the desktop app from Power Apps
When you open Word documents from Power Apps you might have noticed that Word Online is used, but can we open documents in the Word Desktop app instead? Displaying Word documents In my app I have created a gallery that displays the icons and the name of the documents. Now there is a property available ThisItem.’Link to item’ to open a document. And Using the Launch function. We can open the document....
Introducing Portal Apps in Power Apps
Power Apps has three types of apps. One of them is the Portal app. In this post a how to get started with these websites that present data from Dataverse. First steps to building a Portal app The first steps to take are to decide what you want to present to which users. Or maybe we should even identify who these users are. There is quite a bit more to it all, but I will not focus on that in this post. Once we know what we want we can...
NEVER give your SharePoint fields the displayname of Value!
After an hour of banging my head against a brick wall when my Patch command failed I found the issue with a field named Value. Value It is not uncommon to call a field Value inn SharePoint. For example when you want to keep track of the Value of products you might think that Value is a good name. But it is not if you use Power Apps in combination with SharePoint. The word Value is a reserved word in Power Apps as you might have found...
Collect flow runs of your failed child flows
When you use child flows, you might need to collect the flow runs of your failed child flows to identify any issues. In this post some error handling tips. Introduction into error handling We all know (or should know) how to do basic error handling in flows. And then a while back I also wrote about error handling in child flows. And I’ve explained that the following expression can give you the url to your flow run:...
Cancel Flow Run instead of Terminate in the middle of an apply to each in Power Automate
Have you tried using terminate in the middle of an apply to each? Did you get The operation terminate cannot be used inside a for each? Terminate The terminate action is so often misused. As I mentioned a while back the terminate action should really not be used. But if you are inside an apply to each processing 1000s of records then cancelling out might be something that you want to do. Cancel flow runs There is now an option to...
Copy SharePoint files from one tenant to another using Power Automate
Have you ever tried copying files from one tenant to another using Power Automate? Create a file in another tenant Well, the copy file action isn’t going to work in this case. So we will need an alternative When you try to connect into another tenant using Power Automate you migth ghetting error message like the one below: We are unable to find the site address. Please try selecting a site address from the dropdown So if the...
Create vibrating icons in Power Apps
Last week I got a strange question about how to make vibrating icons. So this post is to show you how to make icons vibrate so that you can point them in the right direction. Icons in Power Apps Icons have X and Y locations to make my icon vibrate. In this post I will adjust the X only but of course if you wanted to vibrate your icons by adjusting the Y then that would be fairly similar. I’m creating an app that has the...