Discover the PowerAddicts Secret Weapon: Some Tips and Tricks that Simplify Your Life! (in progress)

In December 2022, I embarked on a journey to share valuable tips and tricks as part of the powerplatformtip series.

My initial goal was to post 15 tips in 15 days, but as I delved deeper into the vast world of Power Platform, I discovered an abundance of useful information that I couldn’t wait to share with my audience.

Therefore, I will continue to expand and update this list on a regular basis, providing valuable insights for all Power Platform enthusiasts.

PowerApps = Der HTML-Code für ein Leerzeichen ist folgender:  
PowerAutomate = 

Topics

1. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Community’ 
2. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Set New App Owner’ 
3. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Filter Array’ 
4. PowerPlatformTip – ‘JSON Viewer’ 
5. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Less Variables’ 
6. PowerPlatformTip – ‘formatDateTime in utcNow’ 
7. PowerPlatformTip – ‘UNION and FilterArray’ 
8. PowerPlatformTip – ‘automate export and import flows/powerapps/solutions’ 
9. PowerPlatformTip – ‘PowerAutomate – Preview’ 
10. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Use all variables in PowerApps’ 
11. PowerPlatformTip – ‘trigger condition’ 
12. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Components for PowerAutomate’ 
13. PowerPlatformTip – ‘PowerApps4Teams in make.powerapps.com’ 
14. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Template Screens’ 
15. PowerPlatformTip – ‘try-catch-finally’ 
16. PowerPlatformTip – ‘PowerApps – Collections Cookbook’ 
17. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Format data by example’ 
18. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Download & Save Files’ 
19. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Resize files’ 
20. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Change Flow-Owner’ 
21. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Use Triggeroutput’ 
22. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Change Fill & Color’ 
23. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Filter Blank’ 
24. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Merge arrays or tables’ 
25. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Weekly tips, insights and updates’
26. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Microsoft Cloud Skills Challenge’
27. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Overwrite existing files’
28. PowerPlatformTip – ‘Fast tips’
29. PowerPlatformTip – ‘‘ParseJSON Description’

PowerPlatformTip 1

Let’s start right away with the great community. Here you will not only get help for your problems, but also  TemplateApps from other  PowerAddicts.

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Community-App-Samples/bd-p/AppFeedbackGallery

PowerPlatformTip 2

Often it happens that e.g. the employee who created various PowerApps quits the job.

To change the app owner easily or to share the apps with others, I recommend you this great TemplateApp ‘Admin – Set New App Owner’

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Community-App-Samples/Admin-Set-New-App-Owner/td-p/328887

PowerPlatformTip 3

The ‘Filter Array’ can not only use filtering as it looks at first sight, but in ‘Advanced Mode’ you can add expression as you like. And it does the complete filtering as desired.

PowerPlatformTip 4

When we work with data in PowerAutomate it may happen that it cannot be displayed correctly. Especially when we use ‘List Rows’ or ‘Get Items’.

However, we can display the data in a new tab. Unfortunately, it comes as simple JSON.

My recommendation: Just install a ‘JSONJavaScript Object Notation wird mit JSON abgekürzt. JSON ist von der Programmiersprache unabhängig und kompakt. Wir setzen JSON-Code zum Formatieren von SharePoint-online ein: Suchergebnisse anzeigen mehr erfahren Viewer’ for the Chromium based browser and let it display the JSON nicely formatted.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/json-viewer/gbmdgpbipfallnflgajpaliibnhdgobh

PowerPlatformTip 5

Often we use ‘Initial Variable’ only for the one-time storage of a parameter. i.e. we set the value at the beginning of the flow and do not change it later.

The idea of a variable is that it changes during the flow. If you really want to set only one parameter, just use ‘Parse JSON’. This not only makes it clearer, but also saves API ... die Abkürzung aus dem Englischen für: application programming interface
Eine API ist eine Schnittstelle um mit einem Dienst zu interagieren. https://youtu.be/KLe2lCEy-Xw mehr erfahren calls.

PowerPlatformTip 6

‘Format data by examples’ has been available in PowerAutomate for some time and is intended to help format dates.

Often formatDateTime is also used in conjunction with uctNow. What is not directly obvious is that in utcNow the date can be formatted directly.

PowerPlatformTip 7

Manipulating data is one of the most frequently used functions of PowerAutomate.

UNION and FilterArray are particularly powerful. Union merges everything once and filter array Ein Array ist eine Sammlung von Daten. Man kann sich diesen Datentyp wie ein Datenbehälter vorstellen. Schlaue Infos gibts hier dazu: https://u-helmich.de/inf/BlueJ/lexikon/A-D/Array-Initialisierung.html mehr erfahren searches for the things we want. If you take 2x the same table at UNION, it behaves like a distinct.

PowerPlatformTip 8

Currently, there is no standard way to restore a flow. So my recommendation is to export (and import if needed) flows/powerapps/solutions using a simple flow.

How it works: Safeguarding Your Workflow with Power Automate: How to Create and Restore Backups for Your Flows

PowerPlatformTip 9

As soon as you use ‘Expressions’ in PowerAutomate you get annoyed by the single-line editor.

Just use the experimental feature. This has no effect on the flow edit – but can sometimes be buggy there.

PowerPlatformTip 10

Often only variables with ‘SET’ and ‘UPDATECONTEXT’ are used in PowerApps, but there are other possibilities you can use.

e.g.:
– with
– param

Here you can find an overview of the 5 variables:
The Big 5 (Variables / Parameters) in PowerApps

PowerPlatformTip 11

Often the flow should start only with certain inputs. For this, you can store a trigger condition.

So that this is also written correct, I use the trick with ‘Filter array’ ⇾ it’s also possible to connect different conditions

PowerPlatformTip 12

Everyone talks about Code Components – here’s my tip for PowerAutomate. Use a scope, put all the things in it and ‘Copy to my clipboard’. Save it where you want and when you need it just ‘CTRL+C’ & ‘CTRL+V’ (in ‘My Clipboard’)

PowerPlatformTip 13

If you use PowerApps4Teams you know how annoying the creation can be.

Just copy the environment ID and the app ID. Then from an app URLEin Uniform Resource Locator identifiziert und lokalisiert eine Ressource, beispielsweise eine Webseite, über die zu verwendende Zugriffsmethode und den Ort der Ressource in Computernetzwerken. mehr erfahren in edit mode just replace the environment ID and the app ID and now you can edit the app there too.

PowerPlatformTip 14

Often I get the request to create an app that can either “send mail”, “make appointments” or “show calendar” among other things.

You have created this in a few seconds: USE THE TEMPLATES, which you can then customize as needed.

PowerPlatformTip 15

Use ‘try-catch-finally’ in PowerAutomate to handle failures.
Here’s an official template to use for every flow: https://buff.ly/3hM27cA