Lab 06.1: Create Power Automate flows

In this lab, you will create Power Automate cloud flows to automate various parts of the Company 311 solution.

The following have been identified as requirements you must implement to complete the project:

Escalation, approval, and execution process for urgent maintenance issues
Notify reporting user about the issue status changes

What you will learn

How to design data columns (in the data model) to support automation
How to build a flow using Microsoft Dataverse Connector
How to use approvals

High-level lab steps

Add columns to support escalation
Build flow to approve escalation
Build flow to notify user of status change
Build approval as an adaptive card in Microsoft Teams

Prerequisites

Must have completed the following labs:

02.1: Data model
02.2: Work with forms and views
02.3: Compose a model-driven app
02.4: Import data
02.5: Business process flows and business rules

Things to consider before you begin

What is the most efficient way to identify urgent maintenance issues and escalate them?

Detailed steps

Exercise 1: Build notification flow

In this exercise, you create a flow that will notify the creator of a problem when the status changes.

Task 1: Create flow

In this task, you will create a flow that send a notification when the status of problem report row changes.

Navigate to the Power Apps maker portal and make sure you are in the correct environment.
Select Solutions and open the Company 311 solution.
Select + New > Automation > Cloud Flow > Automated.
Search for and select the When a row is added, modified or deleted action from the Microsoft Dataverse connector.
Select Create.
Select Modified for Change type, select Problem Reports for Table name, Organization for Scope and expand Show advanced options.
Enter statuscode for Select columns then select … Menu button of the trigger step.
Select Rename.
Rename the trigger step When problem report status changes
Select + New step.
On the All tab, select Microsoft Dataverse then select the Get a row by ID action.
Select Users for Table name.
Select the Row ID field, go to the Dynamic content pane, search for created and select Created By (Value).
Select Show advanced options on the new step.
Enter internalemailaddress for Select columns.
Select the … Menu button of the new step and select Rename.
Rename the step Get problem creator
Select + New step.
Search for send email and select the Send an email (V2) action from the Office 365 Outlook connector.
Select the To field and select the Switch to Advanced Mode arrows icon. Selecting this button toggles show/hide of the Dynamic content pane.
Select the Primary Email field from the Get problem creator step.
Enter Problem report status change notification for Subject.
Select the Body field.
Enter The status of the problem you reported has changed. and press the [ENTER] key.
Enter Problem Title: , go to the Dynamic content pane, search for title and select Title.
Press the [ENTER] key.
Enter Current Status: , go to the Dynamic content pane, select the Expression tab, paste the expression below, and select OK. This expression will show the label of the Status Reason instead of the value.

triggerOutputs()?['body/_statuscode_label']
Select the … Menu button of the new step and select Rename.
Rename the step to Notify problem creator
The step should now look like the image below.
At the top of the page, change the flow name from Untitled to Notify Problem Creator
Select Save and wait for the flow to be saved.
Select the 🡠 button to go back to the previous page.

Task 2: Test the flow

In this task, you will test the Notify Problem Creator flow.

On the Power Apps maker portal, https://make.powerapps.com ensure you are in the correct environment.
Select Apps, and then select the Company 311 Admin Model-driven application. Select Play.
Select + New.
Enter Flow test for Title, select London Paddington for Building, enter This is a flow test for Details, and select Save.
Scroll down and change the Status Reason value to In Progress and save again.
Close the application browser window or tab.
You should now be back to the Power Apps maker portal
Select Solutions and open the Company 311 solution.
Locate and open the Notify Problem Creator Cloud Flow Details in a new tab.
You should see a succeeded flow run in the 28-day run history section. Open the run.
All the flow steps should have a green check mark.
Select the App launcher and under Apps, select Outlook.
You should have received an email from the cloud flow. Open the email.
The email should resemble the image below.

Exercise 2: Build escalation flow

In this exercise, you will create an escalation flow.

Task 2: Build escalation flow

In this task, you will create the escalation flow.

Navigate to the Power Apps maker portal and make sure you are in the correct environment.
Select Solutions and open the Company 311 solution.
Select + New > Automation > Cloud Flow > Automated.
Search for when a row is added and select When a row is added, modified, or deleted from the Microsoft Dataverse connector, then select Create.
Select Added or Modified for Change type, select Problem Reports for Table name, select Organization for Scope and select Show advanced options.
Enter lh_estimatedcost,lh_assignto for Select columns.
Select the … Menu button of the trigger step and select Rename.
Rename the trigger step When a problem report is created or updated.
Select + New step.
Search for Condition and select the Condition action from the Control connector.
Select the first Choose a value field.
Go to the Dynamic content pane, search for and select Estimated Cost.
Select is greater than in the second field and enter 1000 in the third field.
Rename the condition step to Check if cost is greater than 1000
Go to the If yes branch and select Add an action.
Search for Get a row and select the Get a row by ID action from the Microsoft Dataverse connector.
Select Users for Table name.
Select the Row ID field and select Assign to (Value) from the Dynamic content pane.
Select Show advanced options.
Enter internalemailaddress for Select columns.
Rename the Get a Row by ID step Get user.
Select Add an action.
Search for approval and select the Start and wait for an approval action from the Approvals connector.
Select Approve/Reject - Everyone must approve for Approval type.
Enter Cost approval required for Title.
Select the Assigned to field.
Go to the Dynamic content pane and select Primary Email from the Get user step.
Enter the markdown text below in the Details field.

`## URGENT Approval Required

This is **very** expensive item with the estimated cost of `
Place your cursor after cost of, go to the Dynamic content pane, select the Expression tab, paste the expression below, and select OK.

formatNumber(triggerOutputs()?['body/lh_estimatedcost'], 'C2')
Select Add an action.
Search for and select the Condition action from the Control connector.
Select the first Choose a value field.
Go to the Dynamic content pane, search for and select Outcome.
Enter Reject for value in the third field.
Go to the If yes branch and select Add an action.
Search for and select the Update a row action from the Microsoft Dataverse connector.
Select Problem Reports for Table name.
Select the Row ID field.
Go to the Dynamic content pane, search for problem report and select Problem Report.
Select Show advanced options.
Select the Resolution field, go to the Dynamic content pane and select Response summary.
Select Won’t fix for Status Reason.
Rename the step Update problem report
Scroll up and rename the flow Escalate Expense Approval
Select Save.
Close the flow designer browser window or tab.
Select Done on the popup.

Task 3: Test flow

In this task, you will test the escalation flow.

Navigate to the Power Apps maker portal and make sure you are in the correct environment.
Select Apps, and then select the Company 311 Admin Model-driven application. Select Play.
Open one of the Problem Report rows.
Scroll down, enter 2500 for Estimated Cost, assign it to yourself (for test purposes) and select Save.
Navigate to the Power Automate maker portal: https://make.powerautomate.com/
Select Approvals.
You should see at least one approval in the received tab. Open the approval.

Note: It can take around 10-15 minutes for approvals to show up here on the first run as the Approvals app must provision itself in your environment.
Choose the Reject response, enter We don't have the funds for this item for Add a comment, and select Confirm.
Go back to the Company 311 Admin Model-driven application.
Change the view to My Reports and open the test row on which the Estimated Cost was changed.
The Status Reason should be set to Won’t fix and the Resolution should contain the details of Approver, Response, Request Date and Response Date.

Exercise 3: Send approval requests as adaptive card in Microsoft Teams

In this exercise, you will setup a team in Microsoft Teams dedicated to the Company 311 applications. You will modify the flow to send the approval request as an adaptive card in Teams chat instead of an approval message.

Task 1: Setup Company 311 Team
Task 2: Modify flow to send adaptive card in Teams chat
Task 3: Test adaptive card

Task 1: Setup Company 311 Team

In this task you will setup a Microsoft Teams team for the Lamna Healthcare Company, if you have not done so in previous exercises.

Navigate to Microsoft Teams and sign in with the same credentials you have been using previously.
Select Use the web app instead on the welcome screen.
When the Microsoft Teams window opens, dismiss the welcome messages.
On the bottom left corner, choose Join or create a team.
Select Create a team.
Press From scratch.
Select Public.
For the Team name choose Company 311 and select Create.
Select Skip adding members to Company 311.

Task 2: Modify flow to send adaptive card in Teams chat

In this task you will replace the approval sent by email with an adaptive card.

Navigate to the Power Automate maker portal and make sure you are in the correct environment.
Select Solutions and open the Company 311 solution.
Select Cloud flows from the Objects pane and open the Escalate Expense Approval flow. Select Edit.
Locate Start and wait for an approval step created earlier in Exercise 2.
Select the … menu, and then select Delete.
Hover your mouse between the steps, select the + to insert a new step then select Add an action.
Search for and select Create an approval.
Select Approve/Reject - Everyone must approve for Approval type.
Enter Cost approval required for Title.
Select the Assigned to field.
Go to the Dynamic content pane and select Primary Email from the Get user step.
Paste the markdown text below in the Details field.

**{title}**

{details}

This is a _very_ expensive item with the estimated cost of
Select {title} placeholder, go to the Dynamic content pane, locate and select Title field from When a problem report is created or updated step.
Select {details} placeholder, go to the Dynamic content pane, locate and select Details field from When a problem report is created or updated step.
Place the cursor after cost of, go to the Dynamic content pane, select the Expression tab, paste the expression below, and select OK.
Your step should look like the following:
Hover your mouse again below Create an approval step, select + and then select Add an action.
Search for teams and select Post card in a chat or channel action.
Select Flow bot for Post as and select Chat with Flow bot for Post in.
Select the Recipient field.
Go to the Dynamic content pane and select Primary Email from the Get user step.
Select Message field.
Go to the Dynamic content pane and select Teams Adaptive Card from the Create an approval step.
The Post card in a chat or channel step should look like the image below:
Hover the cursor below the Post card in a chat or channel step, select + and then select Add an action.
Search for approval and select Wait for an approval action.
Select Approval ID field.
Go to the Dynamic content pane and select Approval ID from the Create an approval step.
You now have replaced Start and wait for an approval step with the following:
Expand the Condition step. The left value of the Condition step should be empty because it was referring to the old step which is now removed.
Go to the Dynamic content pane, search for and select Outcome from Wait for an approval step.
Locate the Update problem report step, under the If yes branch.
Select Show advanced options.
Select the Resolution field, go to the Dynamic content pane, and select Response summary from Wait for an approval step.
Select Save.
Close the flow designer browser window or tab.
Select Done on the pop-up.

Task 3: Test flow

In this task, you will test the escalation flow with the Teams and adaptive cards.

Navigate to the Power Apps maker portal and make sure you are in the correct environment.
Select Apps, and then select the Company 311 Admin Model-driven application. Select Play.
Open one of the Problem Report Rows.
Scroll down, enter any amount greater than 1000 for Estimated Cost, assign it to yourself (for test purposes) and select Save.
Navigate to Microsoft Teams.
Select Chat.
You should see the Cost approval required adaptive card in a message from Workflows.
Select the Reject button and enter a comment of your choice in the Comments area, for example The item is too expensive.
Select Submit. The card will become read-only.
Go back to the Company 311 Admin application.
Change the view to My Reports and open the same row you changed the estimated cost for.
The Status Reason should be set to Won’t fix and the Resolution should contain the details of Approver, Response, Request Date and Response Date.