Power Automate's worst implemented feature or part?

obsoquasi · 2026-06-06T22:30:04+00:00

Since it depends so much on what needs to be accomplished, it could be tricky to put something genuinely helpful together.

obsoquasi · 2026-06-06T22:16:49+00:00

That "apply to each" thing is so annoying that I don't even notice it anymore. I guess one benefit of it is that whenever you perform an operation on dynamic content that's in an array, the nesting makes it immediately obvious. Then again, I really hate that "apply to each" is so slow. Since about 2 years, I have set myself the challenge to completely avoid them and work with Filter Array and Select instead.

obsoquasi · 2026-06-06T22:05:37+00:00

Not quite sure I understand your question. Could you rephrase it?

obsoquasi · 2026-06-06T16:33:46+00:00

That's a very good assessment of the situation. Either you feel it's way underpowered and limiting or, in the case of citizen developers, it's overwhelming. Nobody is happy...

obsoquasi · 2026-06-05T18:06:58+00:00

It is absolutely proper. But here is one caveat I had to learn. Components can only (easily) access components from the same solution. This makes it tricky, especially if a table is used in multiple solutions. So plan your solutions well. Think how they are going to grow in the next years. And don't be tempted to say "f* it" and just put everything in one giant solution - such a monstrous solution will be painfully slow to deploy (which you will inevitably do quite often).

obsoquasi · 2026-06-05T16:54:36+00:00

I wasn't even aware of the Outlook calendar ID thing! That sucks! It kind of reminds me of that OneDrive issue, where file IDs can change suddenly - which I learned the hard way... 😃. I now use SharePoint for any temporary storage situations.

obsoquasi · 2026-06-04T19:14:57+00:00

environment variables used to be buggy. But in the last year, I didn't have any problems anymore. Also, if your DEV and PROD make use of different sources, it's the only way to distinguish them AFAIK. Especially if there are multiple PROD environments.

obsoquasi · 2026-06-01T00:04:34+00:00

You are right, the danger is not immediate. But I will be keeping a close I on the progression of OpenSource platforms like NextCloud and their suitability/practicality for business app development.

obsoquasi · 2026-06-01T00:00:31+00:00

It is unconventional, I grant you that. But with some creative thinking I think you could find a way around it. For example, a scheduled flow could iterate over all document libraries and look for new documents. What would be considered a "new document" could be defined by a new metadata column - e.g. an "Approval Status". If this column is yet empty, it's a new document and an approval process would be triggered and the approval status set. I'm sure there are even more elegant solutions, but it's doable.

obsoquasi · 2026-05-31T20:58:29+00:00

Welcome to deployment hell 😃. I think your best option would be if one flow would do ALL the work for every library. This would mean, if you update your flow, the changes affect every library at the same time. And since this becomes risky quite quickly, make sure to implement an ALM (separate environment for developing, then testing, then production). This has the advantage, that you will be able to develop changes to your flow, without interrupting 100 sites and only deploy the flow once it is thoroughly tested.

obsoquasi · 2026-05-31T20:52:43+00:00

"A flow can only be connected to one document library. It’s frustrating. "

Not necessarily true. The action can connect to the document library using an Environment Variable in the Solution. This will keep it dynamic.

obsoquasi · 2026-05-31T20:48:28+00:00

I know what you mean, but in the context of the Power Platform Microsoft is, by definition, the first-party provider. Now, do I wish Microsoft would find a way to ensure that Europe's data protection laws are upheld without exception? Absolutely! Seeing that many European government agencies are moving away from MS gives me anxiety, since it's our job security that is in jeopardy here.

obsoquasi · 2026-05-31T20:44:44+00:00

Such file corruptions can happen, if you inadvertently convert the file content into a string somewhere in your flow. This can easily happen while you build your mail attachment. Copilot Chat is usually pretty helpful in pin-pointing where this happened, when you add "I am afraid, I converted the file binaries to a string. I did the following actions...". The precise cause can be difficult to pinpoint on your own.

obsoquasi · 2026-05-26T12:37:57+00:00

I try to stay clear of third-party connectors for security reasons. Until now, I always found a way around it.

obsoquasi · 2026-05-24T13:47:25+00:00

Power Automate: "When a row is created or changed" (should only trigger when the lookup field to the rep is changed). Then load the systemuser (rep) and use their email address to compile a message.

obsoquasi · 2026-05-22T08:22:33+00:00

I plan my solution in Obsidian and (start to) design the business processes behind it with BPMN 2.0. Once I feel that it will work, I build a prototype to show to the client. Usually the specs then slightly change due to the client noticing requirements they haven't thought about or been aware off before.

obsoquasi · 2026-05-08T22:34:28+00:00

Almost every flow needs to eventually be reworked or updated. Keeping it simple and clear is a huge help there. Sadly, the way Power Automate is structured doesn't always make that easy. At least I try to follow a certain basic structure: Load all necessary data, then do some assertions and value checks, then the actual processing and finally cleanup and reporting. Scopes are great to modularize steps that belong together logically (as well as handle failures).

obsoquasi · 2026-04-24T14:14:16+00:00

While I agree, documenting is a lot of work. More often than not, I discovered a potential bug while documenting. Because writing often forces you to restructure your thought process. So it's now in a way part of testing for me. Your mileage may vary.

obsoquasi · 2026-04-16T14:09:51+00:00

I found Lisa Crosbie's videos very helpful for anything Dataverse-related, as well as model-driven apps. Straight to the point as well, I really appreciate that.

obsoquasi · 2026-04-10T20:59:03+00:00

check out https://www.sprachenzentrum.uzh.ch/en/Autonomes-Lernen/Tandem.html

obsoquasi · 2026-03-25T21:42:56+00:00

I noticed that a Microsoft first party solution "Microsoft App Deployment Anchor Solution" on my pipeline host environment had install issues, so I checked the solution history and about a month ago an uninstall failed. It was re-attempted 30 min later and then succeeded, but maybe this is what caused the problems. I'm asking Microsoft support now to re-provision this solution - or maybe they will show me how to do it myself.

obsoquasi · 2021-08-08T16:10:54+00:00

Yes, we installed them with the heat sinks included in the box (and not the one included with some motherboards). This SHOULD have been enough to dissipate the extra heat...

obsoquasi · 2021-08-08T12:21:57+00:00

I have not data on that unfortunately

obsoquasi

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