Day: January 30, 2024

New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 1: Set Up Fallback UI Automation Mechanism

Ian Grieve4 minute read0 comment

Power AutomateThis post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 1 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 1.

The 1st of the new functionality in the Desktop Flows section is set up fallback UI automation mechanism.

This feature provides a reliable solution for UI and browser automation actions. With this feature, users can set up a fallback mechanism for UI automation actions in case the UI element cannot be found through the set selector(s). This mechanism can fall back to image recognition or other techniques as screen understanding. By implementing this feature, businesses can improve their automation processes and reduce the risk of errors and delays caused by missing UI elements. This feature can save businesses time and money, and ultimately improve the overall efficiency of their operations.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: –
Early Access: –
General Availability: Jul 2024

Feature Details

The fallback automation mechanism feature provides a reliable solution for UI and browser automation actions. Users can set up a fallback mechanism for UI automation actions in case the UI element cannot be found through the set selector(s). This mechanism can fall back to image recognition or other techniques as screen understanding. To enable the feature, users should do it either on action level or flow level. From the respective setting, they can enable the feature and set up their preferred fallback options. This feature is designed to improve the efficiency and accuracy of automation processes and offers a reliable and flexible solution for UI and web automation, helping businesses to streamline their operations and improve their bottom line.

My Opinion

This sounds like it could be useful for making sure that automation of processes doesn’t fail unnecessarily.

Click to show/hide the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 1 Series Index

New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 1
Use Generative AI to Achieve a Process in AI Flows
Receive Intelligent License Recommendations for Admins
Be More Productive with Power Automate and Excel Desktop
View a Power Automate Visual in a Power BI Report
Monitor Performance for Cloud and Desktop Flow Activities
Connect to Other Environments from the Microsoft Dataverse Connector
Push Cloud Flow Execution Data into Application Insights
Use Your Own Encryption Key for Encrypting Data At-Rest for Existing Environments
Create Power Automate Flows in Excel
View Two Action Properties Panes Simultaneously
Use Undo and Redo While You Build Cloud Flows in the Designer
Use Copy-Paste for Container Actions Like Scope, Condition, and Apply to Each
Use a Simplified OData Editor in Actions like Get Items and Get Files
Manage Unpublished Solution-Aware Cloud Flows Using Admin APIs
Cancel all Flow Runs for a Version of a Flow
Create a Flow on a File in Teams
Cloud Flows are Automatically Defined in Dataverse Solutions
Use Workflows on Calendar Events in Teams and Outlook
Create AI Flows in Power Automate
Use Copilot with French Language
Recommendations to Reassign Orphaned Cloud Flows
Generate Descriptions for Cloud Flows using AI
Use Flows with Connections from Users in Copilot Studio
Use Process Mining Microsoft 365 Personal Recommendations
Create and Edit Expressions with Copilot
Get Quick Insights and Recommendations in Copilot for Process Mining
Troubleshoot with Copilot for Cloud Flows Execution
Automate With Ease Using the AI Recorder
Enter into a Conversation-first Copilot Experience to Build Flows
Transform Scripting Using AI-driven Natural Language
Maximize Your Productivity with Generative Answers
Streamline Workflow Creation with the Next Best Action
Generate Flow Description Using AI
Use Natural Language to Create a Flow in Teams
Leverage Desktop Automation with the Power Automate Plugin for Windows Copilot
Set Up Fallback UI Automation Mechanism
Power Fx Integration with Power Automate for Desktop
Use Power Platform Connectors in Power Automate for Desktop Actions
Use CyberArk Credentials in Desktop Flow Connections
Use Azure Key Vault Credentials in Flow Connections
Connect Your Own Virtual Network with Hosted Machine Group
View Attended Desktop Flow Runs Using Picture-in-Picture Execution Mode
Self-heal UI and Browser Automation Actions at Execution with AI
Use the Run Power Fx Expression
Use Python v3 in Power Automate for Desktop
Use Machine to Credential Mapping in Desktop Flow Connections
Create a Reusable Collection of UI Elements
Use Customer-managed Encryption Key for Hosted RPA
Automation Center to Monitor and Manage All Your Automations and Related Assets
Trigger Attended Desktop Flows in Picture-in-Picture
Use Copilot in Automation Center to Analyze Cloud Flow Runs
Trigger Attended Desktop Flows in Picture-in-Picture Mode Through the Power Automate Console
Use Copilot in Automation Center to Analyze Desktop Flow Runs
Use Copilot in Automation Center to Analyze Work Queue Data
Use Copilot in Automation Center to Ask Power Automate Product Questions
Use New Data Table Actions
Use New Excel Actions in Power Automate for Desktop
Use the New Desktop Flow Running Timeout Property
Ingest Process Data from Customers' Data Lake
Scale Faster with Power Automate Process Mining Thin Client App

New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 1: Get Quick Insights and Recommendations in Copilot for Process Mining

Ian Grieve3 minute read0 comment

error Important

The planned-features for this release wave have been updated and this feature appears to have been removed.

Power AutomateThis post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 1 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 1.

The 1st of the new functionality in the Copilot for Power Automate section is get quick insights and recommendations in Copilot for Process Mining.

Copilot for Power Automate Process Mining can democratize process and task mining for business users and process mining experts by arming them with insights into their processes and guiding them to solutions using generative AI where available.

Enabled for: Users, automatically
Public Preview: –
Early Access:  Aug 22, 2023
General Availability: Apr 2024

Feature Details

With Copilot for Power Automate Process Mining, users can:

  1. Discover processes in event logs.
  2. Uncover top insights about a process, including details on durations of steps in the process, steps requiring rework, bottlenecks, and more.
  3. Get recommendations on automations and solutions to eliminate inefficiencies in the process.

My Opinion

This appears to allow users to use Copilot to get more detail son flows and how efficiently they are running. It’ll be interesting to see how useful it proves to be.

Click to show/hide the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 1 Series Index

New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 1
Use Generative AI to Achieve a Process in AI Flows
Receive Intelligent License Recommendations for Admins
Be More Productive with Power Automate and Excel Desktop
View a Power Automate Visual in a Power BI Report
Monitor Performance for Cloud and Desktop Flow Activities
Connect to Other Environments from the Microsoft Dataverse Connector
Push Cloud Flow Execution Data into Application Insights
Use Your Own Encryption Key for Encrypting Data At-Rest for Existing Environments
Create Power Automate Flows in Excel
View Two Action Properties Panes Simultaneously
Use Undo and Redo While You Build Cloud Flows in the Designer
Use Copy-Paste for Container Actions Like Scope, Condition, and Apply to Each
Use a Simplified OData Editor in Actions like Get Items and Get Files
Manage Unpublished Solution-Aware Cloud Flows Using Admin APIs
Cancel all Flow Runs for a Version of a Flow
Create a Flow on a File in Teams
Cloud Flows are Automatically Defined in Dataverse Solutions
Use Workflows on Calendar Events in Teams and Outlook
Create AI Flows in Power Automate
Use Copilot with French Language
Recommendations to Reassign Orphaned Cloud Flows
Generate Descriptions for Cloud Flows using AI
Use Flows with Connections from Users in Copilot Studio
Use Process Mining Microsoft 365 Personal Recommendations
Create and Edit Expressions with Copilot
Get Quick Insights and Recommendations in Copilot for Process Mining
Troubleshoot with Copilot for Cloud Flows Execution
Automate With Ease Using the AI Recorder
Enter into a Conversation-first Copilot Experience to Build Flows
Transform Scripting Using AI-driven Natural Language
Maximize Your Productivity with Generative Answers
Streamline Workflow Creation with the Next Best Action
Generate Flow Description Using AI
Use Natural Language to Create a Flow in Teams
Leverage Desktop Automation with the Power Automate Plugin for Windows Copilot
Set Up Fallback UI Automation Mechanism
Power Fx Integration with Power Automate for Desktop
Use Power Platform Connectors in Power Automate for Desktop Actions
Use CyberArk Credentials in Desktop Flow Connections
Use Azure Key Vault Credentials in Flow Connections
Connect Your Own Virtual Network with Hosted Machine Group
View Attended Desktop Flow Runs Using Picture-in-Picture Execution Mode
Self-heal UI and Browser Automation Actions at Execution with AI
Use the Run Power Fx Expression
Use Python v3 in Power Automate for Desktop
Use Machine to Credential Mapping in Desktop Flow Connections
Create a Reusable Collection of UI Elements
Use Customer-managed Encryption Key for Hosted RPA
Automation Center to Monitor and Manage All Your Automations and Related Assets
Trigger Attended Desktop Flows in Picture-in-Picture
Use Copilot in Automation Center to Analyze Cloud Flow Runs
Trigger Attended Desktop Flows in Picture-in-Picture Mode Through the Power Automate Console
Use Copilot in Automation Center to Analyze Desktop Flow Runs
Use Copilot in Automation Center to Analyze Work Queue Data
Use Copilot in Automation Center to Ask Power Automate Product Questions
Use New Data Table Actions
Use New Excel Actions in Power Automate for Desktop
Use the New Desktop Flow Running Timeout Property
Ingest Process Data from Customers' Data Lake
Scale Faster with Power Automate Process Mining Thin Client App

Working with Power Automate: Create a Visio Diagram of a Flow

Ian Grieve5 minute read0 comment

Power AutomateThis article is part of the Working with Power Automate series I am writing on my experiences working with the Power Automate, which is part of the Power Platform from Microsoft. I also have a related series of articles on Power Automate with Microsoft Dynamics 365 BC.

When I work on projects with clients in areas like approvals, I always use a tool like Visio or draw.io to define the workflow approval which will be created.

One feature of Power Automate which looks quite interesting is the ability to create a flow from a Visio diagram; this is something I want to look into, but suspect that the flow created in Visio will still leave a lot of holes in the flow which gets created.

However, that got me thinking about creating a Visio diagram from a flow so that a diagram could be generated to pick up all of the changes made to the flow after the initial creation.

Unfortunately, while Microsoft allow you to create a flow from Visio, they don’t like you to create a Visio from the flow. It seems like quite a large gap in functionality.

However, there is a utility called the XrmToolBox which offers a fair bit of functionality. On their website they say:

XrmToolBox is a Windows application that connects to Microsoft Dataverse. Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CE) applications, like Dynamics 365 for Sales, Service or Talent also use Microsoft Dataverse as their foundational data service. XrmToolBox, provides tools to ease customization, configuration and operation tasks for anything built on Microsoft Dataverse, including Dynamics 365 CE (formerly CRM) and model-driven PowerApps. It is shipped with more than 30 tools to make administration, customization or configuration tasks easier and less time consuming. And more than 100 other tools are available in the Tool Library.

And one of the tools which is available for the XrmToolBox is Flow To Visio. This allows you to yuse the Business Central connection in the XrmToolBox to download a copy of the flow as a Visio diagram.

I need to do some testing with it, but my first impressions are positive. The video from Jon Levesque where he talks to creator of the Flow To Visio tool shows what the tool is capable of doing:

Working with Power Automate

Working with Power Automate
What is Power Automate?
What Type of Flow Are Available?
What Type of Cloud Flows Are Available?
Power Automate with Business Central
Working with Power Automate Solutions: What Are Solutions?
Working with Power Automate Solutions: What Types of Solution Are There?
Working with Power Automate Solutions: What is a Solution Publisher?
Working with Power Automate Solutions: Create a Solution Publisher
Working with Power Automate Solutions: Create a Solution
Working with Power Automate Solutions: Publish a Solution
Working with Power Automate Solutions: Version Numbering for Solutions
Working with Power Automate Solutions: Exporting An Unmanaged Solution
Working with Power Automate Solutions: Importing An Unmanaged Solution
Working with Power Automate Solutions: Exporting A Managed Solution
Working with Power Automate Solutions: Importing A Managed Solution
Working with Power Automate Solutions: Change the Managed Properties of a Solution Component
Create a Visio Diagram of a Flow
What Are Environment Variables and Why Should They be Used?
Create an Environment Variable
Create a New Cloud Flow From a Template
Managing Large Flows
What is a Scope?
Example of How to Use a Scope
Best Practice For Using Scopes
Working with Power Automate Child Flows: What are Child Flows?
Working with Power Automate Child Flows: Create a Child Flow
Working with Power Automate Child Flows: Change Run Only Users For Child Flow
Working with Power Automate Child Flows: Add a Child Flow To a Parent Flow
Working with Power Automate Child Flows: Test the Parent/Child Flow Examples
Working with Power Automate Child Flows: Error Encountered Saving a Flow Which Calls a Child Flow
Working with Power Automate Child Flows: Error Encountered With Surprise Extra Parameters for a Child Flow
Calculate 30 Days Ago