The Microsoft 365 suite is a collection of cloud-based solutions: Outlook Online,SharePoint Online,Microsoft Teams,etc. Also included in this ensemble is Power Automate, Microsoft's workflow solution. Power Automate flows can use dozens (and dozens) of connectors to link both Microsoft and non-Microsoft solutions into automated processes: TwitterAsanaMailChimpYouTubeSalesforceetc. Essentially, an action triggers the process, then a series … Continue reading Power Automate: Microsoft’s “Rube Goldberg Machine”
Power Automate: Object Properties
Using connectors and actions, Power Automate can CRUD data from different sources. Often enough, the returned data is simple text and/ or numerical values, but can sometimes be complex data objects. Represented in a JSON format, the properties of these complex data objects can typically be retrieved with key-value pairs... E.g., storing SharePoint list items … Continue reading Power Automate: Object Properties
OneDrive: Data Recovery Options
[OneDrive for Business] is individual cloud storage for Microsoft 365 work and school accounts. Because of the cloud infrastructure, it also facilitates file sharing and collaboration. But as a bonus, there are several ways to recover OneDrive content... #1 - Recycle Bin. Deleted content is moved to the site's Recycle bin. Similar to a local … Continue reading OneDrive: Data Recovery Options
SharePoint Online: File Metadata w/ Graph API
Microsoft's Graph API has endpoints for [SharePoint Online] lists and libraries. Worthy of note, document libraries are /drives when using the APIs. And although libraries are technically lists, the two resources will return different properties for the same SharePoint object. Additionally, some actions can only be performed using the /lists resources. An example of this, … Continue reading SharePoint Online: File Metadata w/ Graph API
SharePoint Online: Metadata Scopes
[SharePoint Online] has a number of features and functionalities. Among these, there is robust support for metadata. But why support metadata? Because metadata helps flatten files, index content, and improve search results. And with this robust support, metadata can be created at several different levels. One way to visualize these scopes... Local Regional National Global … Continue reading SharePoint Online: Metadata Scopes
SharePoint: List Views (CAML Queries)
Collaborative Application Markup Language (CAML) is a schema used in SharePoint to query list data. Viewing, sorting, and grouping columns, that's straight-forward. One or two filter conditions, also straight-forward. But when three or more conditions are applied, the logic may get a bit murky. Because the UI hasn't really changed over the years, it still … Continue reading SharePoint: List Views (CAML Queries)
Azure Runbook: Task Logging
PowerShell is a scripting language great for task automation. The framework has gone through a number of iterations and Microsoft supports it in Azure. These cloud-hosted scripts are created as Azure Runbooks. Contrasted against the PowerShell ISE and Visual Studio Code, there are some logging differences with Runbooks. Locally run scripts typically write their logs … Continue reading Azure Runbook: Task Logging
Power BI: SPOList – Records v. Tables
Power BI Desktop can connect to a variety of data sources, including [SharePoint Online] lists. The text, date, and numerical columns will map directly, but a Person column will become a Record... E.g., list column Approver is a Person. So, what are Records? These are indexed data structures. Similar to hash tables, tuples, and structs, … Continue reading Power BI: SPOList – Records v. Tables
Power Automate: Populate SPO User Claims
Power Automate is the workflow engine of the Power Platform. Essentially, "Flows" access data via connectors, then perform tasks using actions. Included is a connector for [SharePoint Online] and a few dozen actions. Some actions to highlight: Get itemsUpdate item SCENARIO Remote workers are submitting travel requests and corporate has delegated an approver per state. … Continue reading Power Automate: Populate SPO User Claims
Xamarin: Prototype w/ Power Apps
There are a LOT of Android and iOS apps. Probably fair to say that they are bountiful. But there is a toolset difference... Android apps are typically built using Java while iOS apps are typically written using Swift (or Objective-C). Because of this, distinct apps need to be created for their respective app stores. Unless … Continue reading Xamarin: Prototype w/ Power Apps
Power Automate: Arithmetic Operations
There is are several Math functions available in Power Automate, but I find myself using the basic arithmetic operations most often. An important reminder for each operation, their respective functions will only accept two parameters at a time... E.g.,add( value1, value2 )sub( value1, value2 )mul( value1, value2 )div( value1, value2 ) If more than two … Continue reading Power Automate: Arithmetic Operations
SharePoint Server: Purge Cached Access
As content is migrated from [SharePoint Server] to [SharePoint Online], the sites are often moved incrementally. But post-migration, not everyone uses their new links day-one. There are enough people still trying to use their old SPS bookmarks, so I needed to purge legacy site access. This includes the site collection user cache and forces everyone … Continue reading SharePoint Server: Purge Cached Access
Xamarin: Mockup w/ PowerPoint
Android and iOS apps are bountiful, but there's a toolset difference... Android apps are typically built using Java while iOS apps are typically written using Swift (or Objective-C). Because of this, two apps often have to be written for an app to be available in both app stores. Unless the app is written using Xamarin, … Continue reading Xamarin: Mockup w/ PowerPoint
Power Platform x SharePoint – Approval Requests: Part III (Power BI)
The Power Platform is a Microsoft offering of tools to help organizations meet challenges effectively. Among these tools, there are some notable standouts: Power Automate – Create automated business processes.Power Apps – Create custom forms and portals.Power BI – Create rich charts, graphs, etc. With their powers combined, one could easily build in-house solutions using … Continue reading Power Platform x SharePoint – Approval Requests: Part III (Power BI)
Power Automate: String Building
StringBuilder is a .NET class for string-like objects.. These objects are mutable and handy when appending strings, but that's .NET... E.g., written in C#. StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("Hello...", 25); sb.Append("\nCiao..."); sb.Append("\nBonjour..."); sb.Append("\nHola..."); Without the StringBuilder class, these strings are instead tacked onto the end of a variable... E.g., written in JavaScript. var message = … Continue reading Power Automate: String Building
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