of the
Power Platform Tip of The Day presents: Power Automate expressions you didn’t know you needed until you found them. Everyone keeps a stash of useful Power Automate expressions in Notepad++, VS Code, EMacs, vi, or sticky notes if you don’t know what any of the above mean. The list below is a curated collection of expressions people use over and over again without blinking or crying “code”.
It doesn’t count as code if you copy and paste
Amey “ABC” Holden
Contributors: Amey “ABC” Holden, Antti Pajunen, Matt Collins-Jones.
Have the favorite expression of your own? Drop it in the comments or send it straight to jar@crmtipoftheday.com
List, Array, and Loop Walk Into A Bar
First items contact ID from List Rows
first(outputs('List_Rows_Action_Name')?['body/value'])?['contactid']
First items OData ID (For UriHost()) from List Rows
first(outputs('List_Rows_Action_Name')?['body/value'])?['@odata.id']
List record action returned no results – output = true/false
empty(body('List_Rows_Action_Name')?['value'])
Choose a certain value from an HTTP request instead of using Parse JSON
body('Invoke_an_HTTP_request')?['mail']
Get the first result for an array
first(output('array'))
output('array')?[0]
Get the field from the first result of an array
output('array')?[0]?['FirstName']
Check how many results are returned
length(output('array'))
Check if array is blank
empty(output('array'))
Skip lines for array
Skip(('array'),6)
Split tab delimiter file into an array
split(outputs('Get_File_from_SharePoint')?['body'], decodeUriComponent('%09'))
Split Array by carriage return
split(string(item()), decodeUriComponent('%0A'))
Conditions
Go through this list of stuff and return the first non-blank value
coalesce(
outputs('Get_Row_Action')?['body/description'],
outputs('Get_Row_Action')?['body/name'],
'Default value'
)
Check if something is blank and provide a different value, else use the first value
if(
empty(variables('varEmail')),
'foobar@gmail.com',
variables('varEmail')
)
Check if something is blank and provide a different value, else use the first value (Mk II)
coalesce(variables('varEmail'), 'foobar@gmail.com')
If Empty Condition
if(empty(outputs('Get_Row_Action')?['body/industrycode']), 'Yes', 'No')
If Not Equal Condition
if(not(equals(outputs('Get_Row_Action')?['body/industrycode'], 1)), 'Yes', 'No')
If Equals Condition
if(equals(outputs('Get_Row_Action')?['body/industrycode'], 1), 'Yes', 'No')
Set the owner correctly regardless if it’s a user or a team
concat(
outputs('Get_Row_Action')?['body/_ownerid_value@Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.lookuplogicalname'],
's/',
outputs('Get_Row_Action')?['body/_ownerid_value']
)
If empty do nothing, otherwise set the lookup (avoids failures when lookup value not found)
(Table is actually called lookup_table but in their wisdom designers of OData specifications introduced plural so it’s lookup_tables)
if(empty(first(outputs('Get_Rows_Action')?['body'])?['GUID_Column']),
null,
concat(
'lookup_tables(',
first(outputs('Get_Rows_Action')?['body'])?['GUID_Column'],
')'
)
)
If customer lookup is to an account, set the lookup, otherwise do nothing
if(equals(
triggerOutputs()?['body/_customerid_value@Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.lookuplogicalname'],
'account'),
concat('accounts(',triggerOutputs()?['body/_customerid_value'],')'),
null
)
If Equals many conditions
if(
and(
equals(triggerOutputs()?['body/firstname'], 'Mike'),
equals(triggerOutputs()?['body/lastname'], 'Ipsum')
),
'Yes', 'No')
Use with the switch case value, so if its blank, your flow doesn’t fail
coalesce(triggerBody()?['Choice']?['Value'],'Unknown')
Data Flexing Versing
Check two string values are exact
toLower(item()?['matt_email'])
Remove whitespace in string
replace(triggerOutputs()?['body/productnumber'], ' ','')
Line breaks/new lines
decodeUriComponent('%0A')
decodeUriComponent('%0D')
Remove last character of string
substring(outputs('Compose_3'),0,sub(length(outputs('Compose_3')),1))
TimeZone Conversion for AUS
convertTimeZone(utcNow(),'UTC','W. Australia Standard Time')
convertTimeZone(utcNow(),'UTC','AUS Eastern Standard Time')
Date/Time Formatting
https://docs.microsoft.com/dotnet/standard/base-types/standard-date-and-time-format-strings
Extracting a word from a sentence
first(split(last(split(outputs('Compose_random_string'), 'word ')), ' is'))
Dataverse Email activity parties with lookup or email address (‘unresolved recipient’)
(2 = To 1 = From)
[
{
"participationtypemask": 2,
"partyid@odata.bind": "systemuser(E1AC0A77-C900-EC11-94EF-000D3ACC597E)"
},
{
"participationtypemask": 1,
"addressused": "mailto:blah@email.com"
}
]
Words not GUIDS
Expand: Get Contact first name from customer lookup
customerid_contact($select=firstname)
Get Choice Label from List Rows Action
item()?['choiceName@OData.Commuity.Display.V1.FormattedValue']
Get Choice Labels from Get A Row Action
body('GetARow')?['choiceName@OData.Commuity.Display.V1.FormattedValue']
Name of lookup rather than GUID
@OData.Community.Display.V1.FormattedValue
e.g.
triggerOutputs()?['body/_customerid_value@OData.Community.Display.V1.FormattedValue']
=> Joe Bloggs
not 82373-43949-3948394-298424
Table logical name/type e.g. customer -> contact/account or owner -> team/systemuser
@Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.lookuplogicalname
e.g.
triggerOutputs()?['body/_customerid_value@Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.lookuplogicalname']
=> account OR contact
Expand: Get email address of owner and the person who last modified the record
owninguser($select=internalemailaddress),modifiedby($select=internalemailaddress)
Filtering
Trigger Filter expression
firstname eq 'Mike' and lastname eq 'Ipsum'
Filter based on a lookup
_logicalnamehere_value eq guidHere
Filter based on a record’s GUID
entityPrimaryKey eq guidHere
Filter based on a string
String inside single quotes, e.g.
firstname eq 'Mike'
Filter based on an integer (e.g. an option set)
Integer without single quotes, e.g.
preferredcontactmethodcode eq 1
OData filter for lookups – send a notification, about record update/assign, so long as the owner is not the same as the person who did it
( _ownerid_value ne _modifiedby_value)
( _ownerid_value ne _modifiedonbehalfby_value)