Manual button to pull data from Sharepoint lists to a flow.

[Rowlesd]

I have a flow that pulls the data from a sharepoint list when a new item is created or modified. It then puts the updated or newly created sharepoint list (by ID) into word document using the dynamic content. it then goes on to convert to PDF and emails it out. I want to change this so i can initiate the same flow at the press of a power apps button and send the currently displayed information to the start of the flow so it then matches the created or modified data that would be sent from the original flow. Not sure if it would pull the data from SP Lists or the app, just as long as it sent the relevant info to the word template.

[Anonymous]

Hi @Rowlesd 

If your flow is triggered by the creation or edit of an item in an SP list, then having a "SubmitForm" action on your EditForm (connected to your SP list in PA) should accomplish what you're asking for? That would trigger the flow from within the app.

[Rowlesd]

Hi Benjamin

i understand how that could work with new and amended data, however if I use a submit form with no changes to the data how will this work ?

[Anonymous]

Hi @Rowlesd ,

I think "SubmitForm" still works. But you need to modify your flow, it is not based on "When a new item is created or modified". You need to create a flow from PowerApps and retrieve the information for that record in your edit form, and then puts the information into a word... 

[Anonymous]

@Rowlesd I understand what you mean now. I think. But just to be sure, I'll write out the scenario as I see it; you would like to send out emails with a PDF attachment to relevant persons whenever an edit to the list is made, whether or not the edit actually changes any of the values or data, is that correct?

That can be achieved by doing as @Anonymous suggested, i.e. editing the flow. You need to change the trigger from being "Whenever an item is created or modified" to being "PowerApps". For that trigger to work as intended, it needs to be set up in your app. I would suggest placing the trigger in the same button/icon that holds your "SubmitForm" formula. I imagine something like this:

SubmitForm(Form1); 'nameOfYourFlow'.Run(ItemId)

Now, the 'ItemId' will need to be referenced to the datacard of your EditForm (which is essentially a gallery) that holds the ItemId value of the submitted item - likely DataCardValueXX. 

Let me know if you can work with this model, or if we need to suss out a better solution.

[Rowlesd]

Hi Ben

That sounds exactly what I'm after, as you can see below the flow is very long and repetitive to populate the word document and if i could enable it from power apps that would be great. Could you assist with this ?

[Anonymous]

@Rowlesd Wow, that IS a long flow. Perhaps needlessly so? Not knowing the complexity of your Word template, it's hard to say. But it looks like you're creating variables for every field in the list item?

I have a flow of my own, that also populates a word doc from an SP list entry, but it's a lot more trimmed 🙂 

Anyways, that is not the main concern here. I think you just need to change the trigger of the flow and then pass the ItemID via the ".Run" formula in PA to the flow, so that the "Get Item"-step has a valid reference point, and your flow can continue from there.

But to be on the safe side, I would probably make a backup copy of that flow before editing the trigger - just in case it borks the rest of the flow and forces you to recreate it from scratch. 

[Rowlesd]

I've clearly made a mess of it.... it worked on the test flow, but the button failed.???? Also no data was transferred to the word doc.

Flow below, and the onselect action is 

SubmitForm(Form1_10); 'PowerAppstoWord'.Run(Form1_10)

I also tried the below and still no luck

[Anonymous]

@Rowlesd I'm not sure I take your meaning when you write that the "button failed"? Was there an error message in PA Studio? Did you perform a successful test of the flow?

Your second screenshot looks like a setup that should work, assuming the button triggers the flow with the correct reference (the ItemID). Here's my flow for comparison:

The second screenshot doesn't show anything meaningful, but is just there to show the data fields (from the SP list) that is populating the corresponding text controls in the .docx template file. But, as you can see, this flow is organised pretty much like your second screenshot.

Now, there is a bit of a dilemma with triggering a flow like this from within a PowerApp, and it has to do with new submissions to the SP list. In a lot of ways its ideal to use the ID of the list item as a reference point, because it is unique and prevents the flow from gathering data from unintended items in the list. However, the ID of a list item is only generated by SP when it receives a prompt to submit new data to the list - that's your SubmitForm(Form1). But if the trigger for the populate-word-flow is initiated by the same control at the same time, using the ItemID as a reference won't be valid... yet. So you need to create a workaround that involves feeding the ID of the newly generated item back into the PowerApp prior to the PowerApp user triggering the flow that then populates and creates you word file. Does that make sense? 

I've been struggling with this issue myself for a bit, and have reverted to using "When an item is created" as a trigger. Not only because I struggled with the abovementioned dilemma, but because the "Populate a Word File" flow action is a premium feature and by connecting a flow with any premium action in it directly to an in-app trigger, it changes the license requirement for the end-user - ie. the end-users of the app will then need to have a premium license in order to open and use the app. In my case, most of the intended users don't have a premium license and are not going to get it either. I don't know the situation in your company but this might be a relevant consideration for you also?