Efficiency

Need to filter a deeply nested JSON object in Power Automate without burning through your API limits? In this post, I’ll show you how to repurpose and filter a JSON array in just two actions — no Apply to Each required — saving you thousands of API calls when working with large datasets. Here is an interesting sample JSON object {}, that contains a JSON array [] with 3 objects. The final solution will have 3000 objects. The aim is to retrieve two key values from the object whilst checking another nested array for a common string ‘ACABA’. Whilst it is perfectly acceptable to use an apply to each and loop through all 3000 objects, this will eat into your 24 hour API limit on the Power Platform and whilst this hasn’t really been a concern in the past, Microsoft are lowering those limits and will begin enforcement once a new admin level report has been released. ...

Need to load a bunch of tasks into Microsoft Planner without clicking through the UI one by one? Using Power Automate and Excel (or any other available data source 😉), you can bulk import tasks into Planner in a single flow run. I have previously recorded a video on this process and use both a tasks table and a config table to support this cloud flow. This will enable you to dynamically choose the group and plan name, as well as import planner tasks involving a title, bucket id / name, start and due date, assigned user ids, a category, priority, check list and file attachment(s)! This flow is not for the faint hearted but should support you with your goal to build a Planner Power Automate integration. ...

Need to split a large Excel workbook into multiple worksheets — or even separate files — based on a column value? With Office Scripts and Power Automate, you can automatically detect unique values in a key column, create a sheet for each one, and populate them with the relevant data in seconds. Furthermore, if you would rather unique workbooks for each of those distinct names, I’ve got a solution for that too and you could use the final script just to bulk load data into Excel efficiently, without using any add a row actions. ...

Need to evenly distribute tasks, form submissions, or emails across your team using Power Automate? Round-robin allocation is the answer, and I’ve got two straightforward approaches you can implement — one using a Microsoft List and another using a Security or Distribution Group. Important: For both solutions, you must limit Concurrency Control and set Parallelism to 1 concurrent flow run. This ensures flows run in serial order and assign users in strict chronological sequence. ...

The ultimate free solution, parse any CSV file to a JSON Array via a Power Automate Flow. This flow will parse any CSV file, no matter the encoding. It will handle Unix, Windows, or Mac files. The key values (i.e. the header row) will be dynamically mapped and it will handle CSV files of all shapes and sizes. Whilst I have previously blogged about parsing an array with a select action, this solution did not handle varying header lengths automatically. ...

Need to send personalised emails with unique attachments — like monthly invoices — to a list of customers? In this post, I’ll show you how to build a mail merge with attachments in Power Automate, pulling customer data from Excel and attaching the right file for each recipient automatically. If you have a requirement for creating invoices in an automated fashion please take a look at some of my other ideas here: ...

Got a CSV file you need to turn into a JSON array in Power Automate — without premium connectors? In this post, I’ll share a copy-and-paste Select Action that does exactly that. Just paste it into your flow, adjust the columns, and you’re done — no Apply to Each loops required. I’ve recently covered how to efficiently parse a CSV here vs the age-old apply to each solution. Updated Solution Available Note, that I now have an ever more improved parsing solution. Handle the column keys dynamically. Any shape or sized CSV without the need to edit the existing flow. Retrieve data from OneDrive, SharePoint and Outlook Attachements. ...

Believe it or not, there’s no built-in SUM function in Power Automate. If you need to add up a list of numbers, you’re typically stuck using an Apply to Each loop with a variable — and for large lists, that’s painfully slow. In this post, I’ll show you a creative hack using the Select action that summed over 600 numbers in literally zero seconds. I also cover how to handle negative numbers and floats. ...

Looking to convert a CSV to JSON in Power Automate without using an Apply to Each? In this post, I’ll show you a super efficient method using the Select action that processes your entire CSV in zero seconds. If you’ve been looping through rows one by one, you’ll want to see this. Background Are you looking to parse any CSV to JSON without having to worry about the file encoding, the header names, or the length and shape of the CSV? I have a new one solution fits all method here (May 2021) which I encourage you to try. The method I propose below is off the back of my demo of the Union, Except, Intersect actions in Power Automate where I learned something new. How to use the Select Action. How about using this action to create an efficient method for converting CSV to JSON? ...

Need to compare two datasets in Power Automate — finding what’s common, what’s unique, or combining them all? In this post, I’ll show you how to efficiently perform Union, Intersect, and the elusive Except operation without using a single Apply to Each loop. The results are dramatically faster. Image from EssentialSQL.com Watch my demonstration or continue reading below ...