Flow is great but can be frustrating at times, as Jerry “Once tipster – forever tipster” Weinstock has discovered when trying to add attachment to a note in Dynamics 365.

This is his story

File uploads to OneDrive etc work great. Files attach to emails with no issue. A super slick Flow feature! I am trying to get a photo to be an attachment to a Dynamics 365 Note. (Note creation works perfectly)

I have tried both the Dynamics 365 Create Record action and the new CDS Create Note (annotation) action. Both essentially return the same failure file type message when I try to open the photo.

I have tried wrapping it in in an expression, no positive results. Am I trying to do something that can’t be done currently or just not doing it right?

Help is on its way

Turns out, Create Note (annotation) action is not the right one to use in Flow, Dynamics 365 Create Record is the way to go. According to Stephen Siciliano (Principal Group PM Manager at Microsoft, in case you were wondering):

Specifically, you will need to base64() encode the data that you’re passing to the Document property. To associate it with a given record populate the Regarding field:

Tîpp Jäår $0.02

So, in short, create note attachment in one sweet action and use base64 to make sure that the content is right.

(Facebook and Twitter cover photo by DiEGO MüLLER on Unsplash)