common data service

Search Rows (preview) Action in Dataverse connector in a Flow | Power Automate

priyeshwagh777 Power Automate , , , , , ,

As Dataverse connector keeps getting updated from time to time, here’s a new Search rows (preview) Action which you must be seeing in the Dataverse connector in Power Automate. Let’s see how we can use this Action.

As it suggests, that this is still in preview! So kindly take a note of that.

Search Rows (Preview)

  1. Search rows is an Action in the Dataverse connector and you’ll be able to see it like this

Enable Relevance Search

  1. Let’s assume you went ahead and used this connector in your Flow without having Relevance Search enabled in your D365 CE organization, you’ll see the Search Rows throw the below error.


    And the error is described as –

  2. To make Search Rows work, Relevance Search must be enabled for you Dynamics 365 CE / CRM environment. Head over to the System Settings in Dynamics 365 under Settings > Administration > System Settings. And in General tab, look for Relevance Search option, check-mark it and save.


  3. Here’s the full Microsoft Documentation on how to use queries for Relevance Search – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/developer/data-platform/webapi/relevance-search?WT.mc_id=DX-MVP-5003911

Using Search Rows action

Let’s see how this Action from the Dataverse connector will work –

  1. Now, once you have selected the Search rows action, below are the features which I’ll explain one by one –

  2. Let’s first look at the last item i.e. Return row count. As it says, will result the count of results returned if set to Yes.
    Will return -1 if set to No.

  3. For Search Type and Search Mode to be covered, these need to be explained extensively since it covers several factors. To keep it short for now, I’ve linked the Search Type and Search Mode documentation as below
    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/dataverse/search#search-type?WT.mc_id=DX-MVP-5003911

    And the short Summary of the same is:
    Search Type: “simple | full” There are 2 types called as simple and full. Default = simple. Both have different functions within them that you can use on the Search Term.

    Search Mode: “any | all” By Default – any. This defines if any criteria of the Search Term is to be considered or all must be true based on different syntax and operators used.
  4. Row Count denotes how many records should the results Return which is standard across other Dataverse actionss.
  5. Also, Row Filter uses OData style filtering which we’ll omit in this example to keep it simple. 😊
  6. Now, let’s enter a Search Term and keep it simple, I’ll pick an example: “Contoso“.
    Next, look at the Table filter – If I leave it blank it’ll search for Contoso across all Tables in Dataverse.


    Result to show from all Tables as per the above Search rows term –


    Now, I’ll add account and contact (I do have some records in the Opportunity as well which has the keyword ‘Contoso’. So those will be filtered out)


    And the result will be as follows –


    And if we look at the Raw Outputs to see how data is retrieved, we get the below –

  7. Now, let’s look at Sorting.
    Now, in the Sort by filter, I’ll enter the field name ‘name‘ and desc as the order of the Sort.
    And then, we’ll check the results


    And the results were as below –


  8. Next, let’s look at Facet Query. basically, it drills down on the Results which are already returned as a part of the main query and serve as metadata for the same to gather similar information together.
    Here’s how I enter a Facet query – Ex: contact.address1_city. Meaning, it’ll return Address 1: City from all the returned Data and store it under Facet Query.


    Now, when we run this, we’ll get the following results –


  9. Let’s look at what Skip Rows does.
    It’ll only omit the records from the already returned Results. Example: Even if the Result returned 5 records, it’ll Omit/Skip first x records. But still show that the Results returned are whatever the Query is supposed to return.

    In the below example, out of 5, I’ll skip 4 rows.



    And when you run the Query, you’ll find that the Record Count is 5, but only 1 entry was available in the Output.



Which Columns are Searchable?

There are 2 points to keep in mind to know and configure which all columns will the Search be performed on.

  1. If you are aware of how you can configure the Quick Find views in Dynamics 365 CE, same is applicable here since this works off of Relevance Search itself.
    In any Table/Entity’s Quick Find view, make sure the columns are selected in the Add Find Columns

  2. The ones selected in Find Columns are the ones on which the Search will be performed.

Here’s a YouTube video I made to demonstrate the same –

Hope this was useful!

Here are some more Power Automate / Cloud Flow posts you might want to check –

  1. Suppress Workflow Header Information while sending back HTTP Response in a Flow | Power Automate
  2. Invalid XML issue in Dataverse connector for List Rows action | Fetch XML Query | Power Automate
  3. FetchXML Aggregation in a Flow using CDS (Current Environment) connector | Power Automate
  4. Invalid type. Expected Integer but got Number error in Parse JSON – Error at runtime after generating Schema | Power Automate
  5. Asynchronous HTTP Response from a Flow | Power Automate
  6. Validate JSON Schema for HTTP Request trigger in a Flow and send Response | Power Automate
  7. Tag a User in a Microsoft Teams post made using Power Automate
  8. Converting JSON to XML and XML to JSON in a Flow | Power Automate
  9. Formatting Approvals’ Details in Cloud Flows | Power Automate
  10. Office 365 Outlook connector in Cloud Flows showing Invalid Connection error | Power Automate
  11. Read OptionSet Labels from CDS/Dataverse Triggers or Action Steps in a Flow | Power Automate
  12. Setting Lookup in a Flow CDS Connector: Classic vs. Current Environment connector | Power Automate Quick Tip

Thank you!

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FetchXML Aggregation in a Flow using CDS (Current Environment) connector | Power Automate

priyeshwagh777 Power Automate , , , ,

Getting the count of records or averaging is one of the most commonly used Aggregate Functions in programming. FetchXML queries too facilitate aggregation. So here’s how you can utilize the same in a Flow using Common Data Service (Current Environment) connector [Because I’m waiting for it to be renamed to Dataverse Connector yet 😊]

To know about Fetch XML aggregation, here’s the Microsoft Docs link for the same – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/powerapps/developer/data-platform/use-fetchxml-aggregation?WT.mc_id=DX-MVP-5003911

Scenario

Let’s assume, you want to get the count of records from a Common Data Service (Current Environment) connector. Here’s how you can do the same using existing Aggregate Functions provided by Fetch XML.

Disclaimer: This is of course, not he only way to get get the aggregate functions, you can implement custom logic after you’ve retrieved all the data as well.

  1. Here’s the Fetch XML I’ll be using to retrieve all the Accounts from the Dataverse environment.
    I’m using List Rows action from the connector which is this


    And this is the query which I generated from the Advanced Find in D365 CE


  2. Below are the changed I must make to work with Aggregates in Fetch XML.
    in the <fetch>, I’ll set aggregate=”true”
    And the columns which I’m using the Aggregate function on, I’ll mention the aggregate=”[Aggregate]” alias=”[AliasName]”

  3. Now, this query along won’t run and you’ll get the below error –
    “An attribute can not be requested when an aggregate operation has been specified and its neither groupby not aggregate. NodeXml: [FirstAttributeInQuery]“

  4. The reason being, since you are using Aggregate, only the columns on which aggregates are applied must exist. Hence, you’ll need to remove the other attributes which don’t have aggregate applied to them.
    |
  5. And the workable FetchXML will now look like this

  6. When you run this, these are the results you’ll get in which you’ll have the aggregate value.

  7. Observe the same below

Parse JSON to read the aggregate

Now, since you’ve got the aggregated results. You can do an extra step to read the value. There are several ways to contain this, but here’s a quick example of how I did it –

  1. Declare a variable. It must be outside of a For Each at all times.

  2. And in the For Each, because I’m selecting the Array inside the value attribute in the Fetch XML results, I can then use the sample data to generate the schema and use it. The loop will anyway run only once.

  3. And I’ll set the variable below

  4. And here’s the final result once you run it. Your scenario of usage may vary.

Hope this was useful!

Here’s a YouTube video I made to summarize this example –

Here are some more Power Automate / Flow posts you might want to check –

  1. Invalid type. Expected Integer but got Number error in Parse JSON – Error at runtime after generating Schema | Power Automate
  2. Secure Input/Output in Power Automate Run History
  3. Validate JSON Schema for HTTP Request trigger in a Flow and send Response | Power Automate
  4. Parsing Outputs of a List Rows action using Parse JSON in a Flow | Common Data Service (CE) connector
  5. Trigger Conditions not working in a Cloud Flow? Here’s Why | Power Automate Quick Tip
  6. Read OptionSet Labels from CDS/Dataverse Triggers or Action Steps in a Flow | Power Automate
  7. Asynchronous HTTP Response from a Flow | Power Automate
  8. FormatDateTime function in a Flow | Power Automate
  9. Tag a User in a Microsoft Teams post made using Power Automate
  10. Converting JSON to XML and XML to JSON in a Flow | Power Automate
  11. Office 365 Outlook connector in Cloud Flows showing Invalid Connection error | Power Automate
  12. Create a Team, add Members in Microsoft Teams upon Project and Team Members creation in PSA / Project Operations | Power Automate

Thank you!!

Rating Control to represent data from Dataverse in a Canvas Power App | Power Platform

priyeshwagh777 Microsoft PowerApps , , , , ,

Although, you can use Text based controls to represent data as is in a Canvas Power App. So why not go an extra mile to make it look more intuitive.

Scenario

Let’s say there are Accounts and you have some kind of Compliance Ratings on them to represent compliant they are based on certain criteria. Could be a Numeric value or Decimal value. But Rating Control represents only in Numeric i.e. Whole Numbers.

So, for this example, I’m using a Rating field which is of type Whole Number in Dynamics 365 on Account entity.

And the complete Dataset looks like this in Dynamics 365 / Dataverse.

Note: I tried with Decimal but it rounded the values hence, sticking to Whole Number.

Rating Control

  1. Let’s say below is the Gallery and you want to show Ratings in the form of stars instead of traditional numeric values.

  2. Now, let’s use Rating Control below the Names of the Accounts to show the Rating values. Select the first Row once you connect to the Common Data Service i.e. CDS / Dataverse Data Source and select the entity you want to populate it with. In this example, we are using Accounts. So my Gallery is populated with Accounts records.
    Select the first record and navigate to Insert tab and look for Input controls as shown below


    Now, look for Rating control.

  3. Once you select Rating, it’ll appear iteratively since it’ll be applied “For Each” of these records in your Gallery control.


  4. I’ve just rearranged them under the name to make them look proper.

  5. Let’s make it Read Only by changing the behavior, so that the Users don’t accidently touch and set a value during Runtime. Although, this won’t affect the actual data but the representation will be incorrect in that case.

  6. Also, the Max will represent the length of your Rating whereas the Default value are kept to 0 in case the field value is not set at Source. (I think 1 would still be misrepresenting)

  7. Now, I’ll connect this Control to the Data Source’s field i.e. Rating field on the Account entity that represents the Rating value.
    On the Default, I’m setting ThisItem.Rating where ThisItem represents the Row of the Account i.e. the Account record itself and Rating is the field in Dynamics 365’s Account entity which we saw in the scenario above.


  8. And that’s it. You can Save and Publish your App and Run it.

Rating values

Now that we’ve added the Rating Control, let’s Run our App and see how it represents the data from your Accounts entity.

And the Ratings represent the below data –

Hope this was useful!

Here are some more Canvas Power Apps posts you might want to check –

  1. Clear a field value & Reset Form in a Canvas Power App [Quick Tip]
  2. Get Dynamics 365 field metadata in a Canvas App using DataSourceInfo function | Common Data Service
  3. Debug Published Canvas Power App with other users using Monitor | Power Platform
  4. Download a File from a Canvas Power App using a button | Power Platform
  5. AddColumns() function to dynamically add columns to a Data table in Canvas Power App | SharePoint List
  6. Implement real-time search in Gallery of CDS records in a Canvas Power App | Power Platform
  7. Implement character length validation in a Canvas Power App | Power Platform
  8. Log Canvas Power App telemetry data in Azure Application Insights | Power Apps
  9. Call HTTP Request from a Canvas Power App using Flow and get back Response | Power Automate
  10. Send a Power App Push Notification using Flow to open a record in Canvas App | Power Automate
  11. Dependent OptionSets in a Canvas Power App for 1:N related CDS entities | Power Platform
  12. Restore older version of a Canvas Power App | Power Platform

Thank you!!

Setting Lookup in a Flow CDS Connector: Classic vs. Current Environment connector | Power Automate Quick Tip

priyeshwagh777 Power Automate ,

Both the CDS and CDS Current Environment connector are similar yet different in the way how they accept Lookup values set in their Update a record steps.

Here’s a quick tip!!

Scenario

Taking a simple example of setting Primary Contact Lookup on Account.

We’ll do the same thing using both the connectors mentioned below.

Common Data Service connector

Common Data Service (Current Environment) connector

Common Data Service Connector

Let’s start with using the classic Connector first –

  1. As mentioned in the Scenario above, let’s first try to use a class Common Data Service connector. Here’s how you identify the same.

  2. Now, whenever you have to set the Lookup value in the classic connector’s Update a record action, you can simply tag the Primary Key as is on the field in the connector step as shown below.


    And lookup can be tagged very easily.

Common Data Service (Current Environment) Connector

  1. Let’s do it with the new Common Data Service (Current Environment) connector. This is a much simpler way to tag a Lookup. Now, the new CDS Current Environment connector can be identified as below.

  2. In order to set Lookup, you’ll need to patch is in the below way
    pluralNameOfTheEntity([PrimaryKey])

  3. Here’s how my friend Linn Zaw Winn’s post explains in details of why we have to choose the plural name and exactly where you can get it from – http://linnzawwin.blogspot.com/2019/11/power-automate-how-to-set-lookup-field.html

Hope this was useful. Here are some more Power Automate / CDS posts which you might want to check out –

  1. Using outputs() function and JSON Parse to read data from missing dynamic value in a Flow | Power Automate
  2. Adaptive Cards for Outlook Actionable Messages using Power Automate | Power Platform
  3. Make On-Demand Flow to show up in Dynamics 365 | Power Automate
  4. Task Completion reminder using Flow Bot in Microsoft Teams | Power Automate
  5. Run As context in CDS (Current Environment) Flow Trigger | Power Automate
  6. BPF Flow Step as a Trigger in CDS (Current Environment) connector | Power Automate
  7. Accept HTTP Requests in a Flow and send Response back | Power Automate
  8. Call HTTP Request from a Canvas Power App using Flow and get back Response | Power Automate
  9. Setting Retry Policy for an HTTP request in a Flow | Power Automate
  10. Adaptive Cards for Outlook Actionable Messages using Power Automate | Power Platform

Thank you!!

Make On-Demand Flow to show up in Dynamics 365 | Power Automate

priyeshwagh777 Power Automate , , ,

Here’s a Flow trigger that you can make to appear on-demand in Dynamics 365 views. What makes a Flow appear on a certain entity?

Like this –

Common Data Service connector (Not Current Environment version)

If you’re familiar by now with Common Data Service Connectors, there are 2 of them. 1. Common Data Service, 2. Common Data Service (Current Environment).

  1. Here, you’ll have to use the 1st one i.e. Common Data Service connector. If you type Common Data Service in triggers, both will appear but you have to hover on these and make sure you don’t select the one with Current Environment written on it.

  2. Once you select this, you can select this trigger in order to make it on demand in Dynamics 365.

  3. Now, it appears like any other Flow trigger. Optionally, you can add some inputs in case you want to.
    In my example, I’m taking in a field value called as “Common Comments” and will just update the Description field of the selected Accounts for simplicity of this example.

    Because I want it on Accounts entity views, I’ll select entity Account.


  4. Now, my Flow looks like this. That’s it.


  5. To keep things simple, I’ll just update the record with whatever I put in the Common Comments Input variable in my Flow trigger.

    Now let’s see it work.

On-Demand Flow

Now, in Dynamics 365, I’ll navigate to Accounts entity and select a few records.

  1. Once I select a few records and check the Flows dropdown from the ribbon menu –



  2. If I run this flow, I’ll get option to put my Input parameters as I have declared above.

  3. Since I had selected 2 records, there’ll be two separate instances (Flow Runs) triggered for this Flow

  4. And I can see the values updated in the records. (Checking using Advanced Find)

    That’s it!!

Hope this was useful.

Here are some more Power Automate / Flow posts you might want to look at-

  1. Run As context in CDS (Current Environment) Flow Trigger | Power Automate
  2. Secure Input/Output in Power Automate Run History
  3. Task Completion reminder using Flow Bot in Microsoft Teams | Power Automate
  4. Using triggerBody() / triggerOutput() to read CDS trigger metadata attributes in a Flow | Power Automate
  5. Call HTTP Request from a Canvas Power App using Flow and get back Response | Power Automate
  6. Send a Power App Push Notification using Flow to open a record in Canvas App | Power Automate
  7. Accept HTTP Requests in a Flow and send Response back | Power Automate
  8. Terminate a Flow with Failed/Cancelled status | Power Automate
  9. Pause a Flow using Delay and Delay Until | Power Automate
  10. Generate Dynamics 365 record link in a Flow using CDS connector | Power Automate

Thank you!!

Run As context in CDS (Current Environment) Flow Trigger | Power Automate

priyeshwagh777 Microsoft Flows, Power Automate , , ,

In a CDS (Current Environment), you have to option to Run the Flow under a context of a certain user. And there are a few options from which you can select from – Process Owner, Record Owner & Triggering User

Here’s my Flow in which the trigger is the CDS (Current Environment) connector. Show advanced options and you’ll see that there’s a field call as Run As


Which has the following 3 Options as I mentioned above –

Let’s look at each one of these.

Scenario

To demonstrate Run As, my Flow is triggering on the Update of the Account record, an attribute in the CDS (Current Environment) connector called as RunAsSystemUserId provides the GUID of the System User used in the connector’s Run As field.

You can use triggerOutputs() function to get this GUID from the Trigger Outputs and use it to fetch the System User record. To see how triggerOutputs/triggerBody() works, check this post – Using triggerBody() / triggerOutput() to read CDS trigger metadata attributes in a Flow | Power Automate

Process Owner

As suggested, Flow Owner meaning the one who Owns the Flow

  1. If I select as Process Owner, no matter who triggers the Flow or who is the Owner of the record, the Run As user will be the one who Owns the Flow.


    The record could belong to one owner and the other owner might modify it as shown below –



    But the Flow will Run As the Owner of the Flow as suggested.




    Multiple Owners?
    In my test, I believe the one who created the Flow becomes the first Owner and hence, is what it appears in Run As

Record Owner

  1. Easily, the record Owner in Dynamics 365 is the Owner of the record, so no matter who triggered the Flow or who the Flow owner is, the Record Owner will be the Run As user.

  2. In this example, Priyesh Wagh is modifying the record Owner by Kuldeep Gupta, the Flow Run As will show as Kuldeep Gupta

Triggering User [Also Default]

  1. If the Run As is set to Triggering User, whoever caused the Flow to Run is the Run As context user.


    Let’s say Kuldeep Gupta is a user is modifying a record Owned by SYSTEM, the Run As user is Kuldeep Gupta.




  2. Now, if there’s no Run As selected or even if there are multiple Owners to the same Flow, the one who causes the Flow to run, is the context user of the Flow.


    Let’s say Priyesh Wagh modified this record owned by SYSTEM, the Flow will Run As Priyesh Wagh


Hope this helps!!

Here are some more Power Automate related posts you might want to look at –

  1. Task Completion reminder using Flow Bot in Microsoft Teams | Power Automate
  2. Call HTTP Request from a Canvas Power App using Flow and get back Response | Power Automate
  3. Send a Power App Push Notification using Flow to open a record in Canvas App | Power Automate
  4. Accept HTTP Requests in a Flow and send Response back | Power Automate
  5. Terminate a Flow with Failed/Cancelled status | Power Automate
  6. ChildFlowUnsupportedForInvokerConnections error while using Child Flows [SOLVED] | Power Automate
  7. BPF Flow Step as a Trigger in CDS (Current Environment) connector | Power Automate
  8. Pause a Flow using Delay and Delay Until | Power Automate
  9. Generate Dynamics 365 record link in a Flow using CDS connector | Power Automate
  10. Setting Retry Policy for an HTTP request in a Flow | Power Automate
  11. Text Functions in a Flow | Power Automate
  12. Using Parse JSON to read individual List Records in Flow|Power Automate

Thank you!!

Implement real-time search in Gallery of CDS records in a Canvas Power App | Power Platform

priyeshwagh777 Microsoft PowerApps , , , ,

One of the most common asks is to be able to search CDS records in a Gallery control in real-time using a Text-box.

Search Box & Gallery connected to CDS

Let’s design a simple gallery that is populated with CDS records from Account entity.

  1. Take a Text Input control (Textbox) and make it look like a Search Box.

    In order to have the Search watermark, write the text to appear as water-mark, enter it in Hint text property of the Text input


  2. Take a Gallery control and select Data Source as Accounts from CDS.


    The way the above shown Gallery control is populated is by selecting a CDS Data Source which is as below –

Filter records

Finally, there’s a 1-line formula that will do the trick for you

  1. In the Items property of the CDS Gallery, I have to filter the records based on the Text of the Text Input on my form.


    Marked by green arrow Filter() function is the one which handles filtering of the data set based on the parameters demanded by the method. Here’s Microsoft Docs on the same – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/canvas-apps/functions/function-filter-lookup

    Underlined by red Accounts is the CDS data source which I want to filter on.

    StartsWith() is a method which is used to compare the start of the string in question. In this case, the text I enter in the SearchField textbox.

    1. ‘Account Name’ is the field in the Accounts dataset to be considered on which the search parameter is dependent.
    2. Underlined by purple SearchField.Text in which SearchField is the textbox which is used to query the Name of the Account and .Text is Text value of the string which will be considered.

    So at all times, whenever there’s a change in the Textbox value, the Items of the Gallery control are supposed to be updated with the filtered records.

Working

Now, when you use the App, here’s what it will behave like. As you type, the records will filter with a certain delay (depending on how large your dataset is)

Hope this was useful!!

Here are some more Canvas Power Apps posts you might want to check –

  1. https://d365demystified.com/2020/08/31/log-canvas-power-app-telemetry-data-in-azure-application-insights-power-apps/
  2. https://d365demystified.com/2020/08/25/call-http-request-from-a-canvas-power-app-using-flow-and-get-back-response-power-automate/
  3. https://d365demystified.com/2020/08/16/send-a-power-app-push-notification-using-flow-to-open-a-record-in-canvas-app-power-automate/
  4. https://d365demystified.com/2020/08/07/recover-deleted-d365-powerapp-environment-using-powershell/
  5. https://d365demystified.com/2020/08/07/recover-deleted-d365-powerapp-environment-using-powershell/

Thanks!

Count of total CDS records returned in a Canvas Power App connection [Quick Tip]

priyeshwagh777 Microsoft PowerApps , ,

Like in Dynamics 365, you see a total number of records under a view. And you want similar in a Canvas PowerApp too.
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Here’s a simple tip to do so –

CountRows() method

It’s pretty simple. Using CountRows(source) method, you can get the count of records in the Source. In this case, it’s the CDS entity Accounts.
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To flourish how I display the count, I use the Concatenate() method and then use CountRows() inside it first show the text and then the actual count.

Please note that this goes without filtering out any criteria and straight count of how many records the connection has. Your gallery could use more filtering to display lesser records if specified that way.

Handle Delegation

However, you need to handle a few things if you’re aware that your dataset is large.

Using this formula will give a warning:
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And the general help offered is this –
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Refer this article to understand more: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/powerapps-data-row-limit-for-non-delegable-queries/

Hope this quick tip helps!

Here are some more Canvas PowerApp / Power Automate posts you might want to look at –

  1. Dependent OptionSets in a Canvas Power App for 1:N related CDS entities | Power Platform
  2. Restore older version of a Canvas Power App | Power Platform
  3. Implement character length validation in a Canvas Power App | Power Platform
  4. Logged In User details in a Canvas Power App
  5. Implementing Exit app, Logout and Confirm Exit features in a Canvas Power App
  6. Variables in Canvas Power Apps | Global and Context
  7. Get N:N records in a Canvas Power App using Common Data Service connector | Power Platform
  8. Get Count of records retrieved in CDS connector in a Flow | Power Automate

Thank you!

BPF Flow Step as a Trigger in CDS (Current Environment) connector | Power Automate

priyeshwagh777 Power Automate , , , ,

Here’s an update to the Common Data Service (Current Environment) connector in Power Automate

Remember, this is available only in Common Data Service (Current Environment) connector i.e. you’ll need to create you Flow inside a Solution in Power Automate
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Flow Step

Now, you can call your Flow from a Business Process Flow, which existed for some time. But now, it’s available as a trigger in the Common Data Service (Current Environment)
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Flow & BPF Setup

  1. Now, my Flow is kept simple to illustrate what has been triggered. The first step simple is run When a flow step is executed.
    It starts with a simple Instant Flow like template if you want to have an additional input
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    And then you can use these in the context further. But I’ll keep it simple assuming you are familiar with trigger inputs.
  2. Then, you get the details that you can use from the trigger.
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  3. And I’m simply passing on the values over to an email so that I can read it. You application could be anything. Typically, it could be a complex business process in a Flow to trigger when a Flow Step is triggered.
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  4. Now, in my Business Process Flow Step, I’ve added a Flow Step (Preview), mind that this is still in Preview as of writing this post.
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  5. And select the Flow I’ve intended for this.
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Running the Flow

Now, here’s how it goes –

  1. I’ve called the Flow from the Flow Step
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  2. It’ll ask for confirmation of the Flow in a window
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  3. Once all the permissions are set, depending on what’s needed in the Flow, you’ll be asked for a confirmation
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  4. Once completed, you can check in Flow Runs about what happened to the execution of the Flow
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Results

So here are some results I composed from the data of the BPF itself-
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And that’s it!

Here are some more Power Automate / Flow posts you might want to look at:

  1. Pause a Flow using Delay and Delay Until | Power Automate
  2. Generate Dynamics 365 record link in a Flow using CDS connector | Power Automate
  3. Text Functions in a Flow | Power Automate
  4. Loop through array of objects in a Flow & Create records in CDS | Power Automate
  5. Get Count of records retrieved in CDS connector in a Flow | Power Automate
  6. Number Formatting in a Flow | Power Automate
  7. Call a Dynamics 365 Action from Flow [Bound and Unbound Actions] | Power Automate
  8. Switch-Case in a Flow | Power Automate
  9. Setting Retry Policy for an HTTP request in a Flow | Power Automate
  10. Make HTTP request from Flow in Power Automate

Hope this helps!!

Generate Dynamics 365 record link in a Flow using CDS connector | Power Automate

priyeshwagh777 Power Automate , , ,

There are several ways to formulate a Dynamics 365 record URL and make it clickable in a Flow in Power Automate.

Here’s one of the ways I follow for most scenarios – Let’s say I want to open a PSA Time Entry record from my Flow, here’s how I do it

Get record action to retrieve URL

Since this post is focused on CDS connector, I can get the D365 record link in body of Get record action for Common Data Service connector.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see this if the trigger was a CDS action, so I made a separate Get record call.
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But, we’ll retrieve the same without having to select/parse body object. So let’s see –

Generating Link

First, I’ve initialized a variable that’ll hold the String format of the end URL
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Now, first – I’ve appended https://. This won’t come directly using the uriHost() method

Then, the uriHost() holds the formula ‘uriHost(body(‘Get_record’)?[‘@odata.id’])‘

Meaning, get the uriHost name i.e. Environment name itself.
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Then, I’ve appended options for the window to open which are mentioned below in this post.

Finally, I’ve appended the Primary Key of the record itself at the end
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Options

Now, let’s talk about the options –

  1. cmdBar = [true | false]
    It’ll show the ribbon on the record. If false is chosen, it’ll be hidden
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  2. navBar = [off | on]
    It’ll show the Navigation Bar on top if on. If off, it’ll be hidden
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  3. newWindow=[true | false]
    This didn’t affect in my case. It anyway opened in a new tab. This could be different is the link is not opened from Email but is used elsewhere
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  4. pagetype=entityrecord
    Since we are targeting a Dynamics 365 entity record, the above is used.
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  5. etn= [name of the entity]
    Name of the entity
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  6. id
    GUID of the record itself.
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Here’s an Email that I composed to show how the URL will end up looking –
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Which will result in Email like this

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And open the record like this.
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As per my settings in the URL I created, I don’t have the Nav Bar or Command Bar visible. It’s up to you to decide your preference

Here are some more Power Automate / Flow content you might want to check –

  1. Text Functions in a Flow | Power Automate
  2. Loop through array of objects in a Flow & Create records in CDS | Power Automate
  3. Get Count of records retrieved in CDS connector in a Flow | Power Automate
  4. Number Formatting in a Flow | Power Automate
  5. Call a Dynamics 365 Action from Flow [Bound and Unbound Actions] | Power Automate
  6. Make HTTP request from Flow in Power Automate
  7. Switch-Case in a Flow | Power Automate
  8. Setting Retry Policy for an HTTP request in a Flow | Power Automate

Hope this helps!!