Power Platform

App in a Day
Module 4: Power Automate
Hands-on Lab Step-by-Step

October 2022
Contents
Power Automate ........................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Lab Prerequisites ................................................................................................................................................................................................................1

Exercise 1: Create Approval Request Flow .................................................................................................................................................................2

Exercise 2: Conditional Logic ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Exercise 3: Test the cloud flow .................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Exercise 4: Update the Flow ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 22

Exercise 4: (Optional) Add a Teams Notification ................................................................................................................................................. 31

References.................................................................................................................................................................................... 37

Copyright ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 38
 Power Platform App in a Day Module 4: Power Automate

Power Automate
Lab Prerequisites
This is the fourth lab in a series covering Power Apps, Microsoft Dataverse, and Power Automate. The assumption is that
you have successfully completed the first three modules, or at least the initial part of setting up an environment as
described in the overview – “00-AppInADay Lab Overview.pdf”.

If you have not completed the previous modules, you can use the partially completed version of the lab package in the
“\Completed\Module3” folder. Follow the instructions in the document “Importing Module 3 Completed” before
proceeding with this module, which will provision the app and the Microsoft Dataverse table into your environment.

Integrating a Power Apps App with Power Automate

In this lab, you will create a flow that uses the Modern Approvals service to automate the approval workflow – it will send
an email to the selected approver and take an action based on their response.

You should already have an app with these two screens:

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Exercise 1: Create Approval Request Flow

The flow will trigger when a new item is added to the Machine Order table in Microsoft Dataverse.

• It will use the Approvals Service to send an approval request.

• The approver will receive an email with options to Approve or Rejects and add comments.
• Once the approver responds, the record in the Machine Order table will be updated with the appropriate approval
status and comments.
• An email will be sent to the requester informing them whether the machine was approved or rejected.

There are two ways to create a flow – from blank or from a template. In this lab, we will create the approval flow
starting with a blank flow.

Task 1: Login on Power Apps website and create a flow

1. Navigate to Make Power Apps and make sure you are in the correct environment.

2. Select Solutions from the menu pane to the left of the screen and select the Contoso Coffee solution.
3. Select the + New drop-down from the ribbon at the top of the screen and hover over Automation. Then, hover
over Cloud flow, and then select Automated

Note: A dialog box may appear that welcomes you to Power Automate. If so, it will ask what country/region you
are in. Enter in your information and select Get started.

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Task 2: Configure the trigger

The first thing you will need to configure is the trigger, i.e., when should this flow run. A flow can be triggered:

a. manually from a Power Apps app,

b. manually from a flow button,
c. on a fixed schedule, or
d. when an event occurs, such as a new item being added to a table, a new email arriving in a user’s inbox, a
new tweet being posted that meets certain conditions, etc.

In this scenario, we will configure the flow to trigger when a new item is added to the Machine Order table in Microsoft
Dataverse

1. In the Build an automated cloud flow dialog box, enter the name New machine approval request for the Flow
name.
2. In the Choose your flow’s trigger box, search for when a row is added and select When a row is added
modified, or deleted (Microsoft Dataverse) from the list of options that filter after the search.
3. Then, select the Create button from the bottom of the dialog box.

4. Within the When a row is added, modified or deleted dialog box, select the drop-down for Change type. From
the drop-down list, select Added for Change type.
5. Select the drop-down for Table name. From the drop-down list, select Machine Orders.
6. Select the drop-down for Scope. From the drop-down list, select Organization.

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7. Then, select the + New Step button below the dialog box.

Task 3: Add action to send an approval request

1. Next, within the Choose an operation dialog, search for Approvals. From the list of actions, select Start and wait
for an approval.

This will use the approval service. For more information see Get started with approvals.

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2. You will now see the Start and wait for an approval dialog box. In the Approval type drop-down, select
Approve/Reject - First to Respond.

3. You will now notice that the dialog has extended and more data entries are available.
4. For Title, we will add some text and one variable. This variable will contain the Machine Name of the machine
order request. Enter New machine request for in the Title text box.
5. While typing the title within the text box, another dialog pop-up appears to the right. Within the new dialog,
select Machine Name for the Dynamic content.

Note: if the Dynamic content box is not visible, select the Add dynamic content button below the Title text box -

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6. Next, select the Assigned to text box, and from the dialog that appears to the right, select Approver. Below the
text box, select the Add dynamic content button to show/hide the dynamic content pane.

Note: Recall from the earlier lab that this will be the approver’s email address.

7. At the bottom of the Start and wait for an approval dialog, select Show Advanced Options.

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8. Select the Requestor text box and select Requested By from the Dynamic content list of the dialog that appears
to the right of the screen. You may need to scroll through the list of Dynamic content to find the Requested By
option.

9. In the Details text box, type A new machine has been requested and hit Enter on your keyboard.
10. Select Machine Name from the Dynamic content pane to add it below the text you just entered within the Details
text box. .

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11. While still in the Details text box, after the Machine Name we just entered, type , $ and select Price from the list
within the Dynamic content pane. You may need scroll through the list within the Dynamic content to find the
Price option.

12. While still in the Details text box, hit Enter on your keyboard and type Department Contribution: $

13. Then, select Department Contribution from the Dynamic content pane.

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14. Next, while still in the Details text box, type Comments: and select Comments from the list within the Dynamic
content pane.

15. Your Flow will now look like the figure below:

16. Select the Save button from the ribbon at the top of the screen, in the top right corner, to save your flow.

Note: When creating your own approval flows, you may additionally include a clickable link that will be displayed in the
approval email. In this scenario, for example, you could include a link to view machine details in an online catalogue. You
would include the Item link and Item link description.

Note: You could also set the Item link to deep link into a Power Apps app to view more details about the request. In this
scenario, you might pass an OrderID or a MachineID as a URL parameter. Power Apps accepts URL parameters.

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Exercise 2: Conditional Logic

In flow, you can add conditions to take different actions depending on a certain result, in this case, whether the request
was approved or rejected.

Task 1: Add conditional logic to flow

1. Condense the first two steps by selecting their titles: When a row is added, modified or deleted and Start and
wait for an approval.
2. Then, below the Start and wait for an approval step, select + New step.

3. In the search box, type Condition and then select Condition from the list of actions.

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4. Within the Condition step, select the left edit box that says, “Choose a value” and select Outcome from the
Dynamic content pane. Then, select the + underneath the edit box to hide the Dynamic content pane.

5. Within the second box, select is equal to from the drop-down. Then, type Approve in the Choose a value text
box.

Task 2: Add conditional logic to flow

We will now configure what actions to perform if the response is approved or not – YES branch vs. NO branch.

We will add two actions:

a. Update the record in the Machine Order table

b. Send an email to the employee who requested the machine

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1. In the left If yes box, select Add an action

2. Within the search bar, search for Update a row. Then, select Update a row Microsoft Dataverse.

3. From the drop-down, select Machine Orders for the Table Name.
4. Select the Row ID text box and select Machine Order from the Dynamic content pane.

This is the unique lookup ID for the record (or row) that was created.

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5. Select Show advanced options at the bottom of the Update a row step.
6. Select Approve from the Approval Status drop-down.

7. Select the Approved Date text box and select the Expression tab within the pane that appears to the right.

8. Within the formula bar at the top of the Expression pane, type utcNow() and then select OK.

9. Then, save the flow by selecting the Save button from the ribbon at the top of the screen.

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Task 3: Add another action

You will now add the send email action to the If Yes branch.

1. Condense the Update a row step within the If Yes branch by selecting the title.
2. From within the If Yes branch, select Add an Action.

3. Within the search bar, search for send email and select Send an email (V2) – Office 365 Outlook from the list of
actions.

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Note: If you are prompted to sign in after selecting Send an email (V2) – Office 365 Outlook, follow the steps
below:
1. Select Sign in

2. Select Accept in the Permissions requested dialog box.

4. Select the To text box and select Switch to Advanced Mode.

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5. In the Dynamic content pane, under the When a row is added, modified or deleted section, select Requested
By for the To value in this step.

6. Type Your machine order has been approved! in the Subject text box.
7. Then, select the Code View button within the Body text box.

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8. Set the Body value to the formula below:

Your machine has been approved

<b>@{outputs('Update_a_row')?['body/contoso_machinename']}</b></br>

Estimated ship date: @{outputs('Update_a_row')?['body/contoso_estimatedshipdate']}</br>

@{outputs('Start_and_wait_for_an_approval')?['body/responseSummary']}

Select Machine Name and Estimated Ship Date from the When a record is added action.

You can copy and paste the formula above into the Body text box to automatically receive the correct actions
inserted within.

Note: If you do not have an Office 365 mailbox setup, you can use one of the other connectors to send the email, such as
Outlook.com, Gmail or SendGrid.

9. From the ribbon at the top of the screen, select Save.

Exercise 3: Test the cloud flow

To test the flow, you will:

a. Run the Machine Ordering app and submit an approval request

b. Verify the request was sent to the approver
c. Approve the request
d. Verify that the Microsoft Dataverse record was updated, and an email was sent back to the requestor

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Task 1: Test the cloud flow

Note: When a new machine record is added to the Machine Order table in Microsoft Dataverse, it may take up to ten
minutes for the flow to trigger. To ensure the flow runs immediately, select the Test option in the top right and select
the “Manually” option. Then go ahead and submit a machine request. The flow should run immediately.

Note: You may see a warning in the Flow checker that the Power Automate Approvals has not been installed for your
environment. Run the flow to initiate provisioning the Power Automate Approvals.

1. Select Test from the ribbon at the top of the screen in the top right corner. Select Manually and then choose
Test.

2. To submit a machine request, go to Make Power Apps and ensure that you are within the correct environment.
3. Select Apps from the menu pane to the left of the screen and select the Machine Ordering App.

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4. Select a few machines and then select Compare.

5. Within the compare screen, select one of the machines, and then provide email for Approver.

6. Provide a comment and select Submit machine request.

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7. Then select OK on the machine request success screen.

8. The flow will run and send an email to the manager email you provided.

Login into the account for the email you provided for the manager. The request for approval email will look like
the figure below; it will include Machine information, Price, Department Contribution (the calculated field),
and the Requester Comment.

REMINDER: If the flow does not run immediately, please wait, it may take up to ten minutes for the flow to be
triggered. To ensure the flow runs immediately, see note above - select the Test option in the top right and select the
“I’ll perform the trigger action” option. Then go ahead and submit a machine request. The flow should run
immediately. The email, however, may take a few minutes to appear regardless of when the flow starts.

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9. Select Approve.
10. Add a comment and then select Submit.

11. The flow will continue to run; it will update the row and send an email to the requestor. The email sent to the
requester will look like the figure below:

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12. Navigate back to the New machine approval request flow. You will notice that the flow is now marked as
Succeeded in the run history.

Exercise 4: Update the Flow

In this exercise, you will add two actions to the “if no” branch.

Task 1: Add actions

1. If you don’t already have the flow open, open it in edit mode. If you are still viewing the flow from where we left
off at in the previous exercise and task, select the Edit button in the ribbon in the top right corner of the screen.

2. Within the If no branch, select Add an action.

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10. Within the connector and actions search bar, search for Update a Row and select Update a Row (Premium) –
Microsoft Dataverse.

3. Select Machine Orders for Table Name, select Machine Order for Row ID, and then select Show advanced
options.

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4. Select Reject from the drop-down for Approval Status.

5. Then, at the bottom of the If no branch, select Add an action.

6. In the search bar at the top of the new action, search for send an email and select Send an email (V2) - Office
365 Outlook.

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7. Select the To field and select Requested By from dynamic content pane. You may need to expand/open the
dynamic content pane.
8. Enter Your machine was not approved for Subject.
9. Type Sorry, your request for in the body field and select Machine name from the dynamic content pane.
10. Type was NOT APPROVED. after the machine name. Then, hit Enter on your keyboard.
11. Select Response summary from the dynamic content pane.
12. The email should now look like the figure below:

13. From the ribbon at the top of the screen, in the top right corner, select Save. Your flow is now saved.

Task 2: Test the updated Flow

1. Select Test in the top right corner of the flow editor to start the Flow. From the Test Flow pane, select Manually.
Then, select the Test button at the bottom of the pane.
2. Next, navigate to, and run, the Machine Ordering app. Select a machine and follow the steps to submit an
approval request.

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3. You should receive an email with options to Approve or Reject the request. Select Reject this time and enter
some comments, such as “This machine is no longer available”. Then, select Submit.

4. Confirm that the requestor receives an email informing them that their machine approval request was rejected.

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5. Navigate to Make Power Apps and select Apps from the menu pane to the left of the screen. Hover over the
Machine Procurement application and select the ellipses (…) to the right of the application title. From the
options menu, select Play.

6. Machine Orders will now have the Approval Status.

Task 3: Visit the approval center

1. Using the Machine Ordering app, submit a few more approval requests.
2. Navigate to Power Automate and ensure that you are in the correct environment. Login with your lab credentials if
prompted.

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3. From the menu to the left of the screen, select Approvals.

4. Notice that all pending approval requests are visible. The pending requests will appear within the Received tab of
the Approvals page.
5. Hover over one of the pending requests. Notice that you can select a check mark to approve the request, or
you can select an X to reject the request. Approve or reject one of the pending requests.
6. A Response pane will appear to the right of the screen. Within the pane, you can enter comments or you can
change your response choice. Enter a comment and then select Confirm at the bottom of the pane.

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7. Notice that the request will no longer be visible for it has now been processed.

Note: All approval requests sent to the current logged on user will be visible in the Approvals Center. This includes
approvals sent from any app or flow.

8. You can also use the Approvals Center to view all requests that you have sent and are Awaiting response from
the approver. Select the Sent tab, of the Approvals page, at the top to view all requests that you have sent.

9. Open the Power Automate mobile app on your mobile device.

10. Follow the steps to Login to your account.
11. Once you have logged into your account, select the Account tab at the bottom of the screen. Select the
Environment drop-down and switch to the environment where the flow is deployed. Then, select OK.

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12. In the Activity tab, located at the bottom of the screen, select Approvals in the top right of the screen and view
all pending approvals.

13. You can quickly approve or reject these pending requests from this screen.
14. If you have push notifications turned on and are signed into the flow mobile app – when you receive a new
Approval request it will trigger a push notification on your phone. You can give this a shot.

Congratulations!

You have successfully completed this lab. You have created your Power Apps app and flow and connected them to a
Microsoft Dataverse table.

Now you are ready to build your own apps and workflows.

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Exercise 4: (Optional) Add a Teams Notification

In this optional exercise, you will modify the existing flow to include a Teams notification for your approval flow.

Navigate back to the New machine approval request flow in Power Apps. Ensure that you are in the Edit mode before
beginning the tasks within this exercise.

Task 1: Modify the Flow

1. Select the Send an email (V2) step inside the If yes branch.

2. Select Add an action at the bottom of the branch.

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3. Within the search bar for the new action, search for post a message and select Post a message in a chat or
channel – Microsoft Teams.

4. Select Flow bot from the Post as drop-down and Chat with Flow Bot from the Post in drop-down.

5. Select Requested By in the Recipient field using the dynamic content pane.

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6. In the Message input, type Your machine has been approved and then select Machine Name from the
dynamics content pane.

7. Hit Enter on your keyboard to move below the statement in the Message input box. Type Estimated Ship
Date: and then select Estimated Ship Date (use the Estimated Ship Date from the update a row action in
the dynamics content pane).

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8. Select the ellipses (…)to the right of the Post a message in a chat or channel step and select Copy to my
clipboard.

9. Go to the If no branch and select Add an action.

10. Select the My clipboard tab at the top of the new action.

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11. Select the step you copied from the If yes branch.

12. Expand the step you just pasted.

13. Delete the current Message content and change the Message to Your machine request for
Select Machine Name from the dynamic content pane. Add was not approved. to the end of the content. The
step should now look like the figure below:

14. From the ribbon at the top of the screen, select the Save button to save your flow.

Task 2: Test your modified flow

Now that the flow has been modified, you are ready to test it.

1. Select the Test button in the top right of the flow editor and select Manually from the Test Flow pane. Then,
select Test at the bottom of the pane.
2. In another tab, navigate to Microsoft Teams.
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3. Open a third tab and run the Machine Ordering app. Select a machine, enter a comment and submit an approval
request.
4. You should receive an email with options to Approve or Reject the request. Select Approve.

5. Shortly after hitting submit, in Microsoft Teams, you should see a message and a notification in the Chat
tab on your app bar – this is from the Flow Bot. Select the chat. Wait a moment if it does not appear
immediately.

6. You should see the approval of the request.

Congratulations! You have completed all of Lab 4 for App in a Day, as well as completing the optional exercise!

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References
App in a Day introduces some of the key functionalities available in Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI and the
Microsoft Dataverse. For an up to date list of learning references, see Power Apps Resources and Power Automate
Resources.

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Copyright
© 2022 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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MAY NOT REPRESENT FULL FEATURE FUNCTIONALITY AND MAY NOT WORK THE WAY A FINAL VERSION MAY WORK. WE
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FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITY IN A PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT MAY ALSO BE DIFFERENT.

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