Get started with Power Automate

0:00Thank you for joining me in this skill as we focus on Power

0:03Automate.

0:03In this set of videos, we look at

0:05what Power Automate is.

0:06Navigate the various Power

0:07Automate Desktop environment features and tools that allow us

0:11to create different types of automated tasks with an

0:13environment.

0:14And then proceed to use little to

0:16no code to create an automated task.

0:18And in addition to that, we also look at how we can make use of the

0:21Power Automate Record feature that allows us to create a sequence of

0:25events or features or areas that we simply want to select and

0:28create an automated task just by using the recorded steps that we

0:31may have actually selected.

0:33And if you've been looking for a

0:34way in which you could increase your productivity by automated

0:37tasks, then this is definitely a skill for you.

0:40And with that, let's get started.

0:00It is time for us to power automate.

0:02All right.

0:03Now, we've spent quite some time

0:05in this entire course focusing on Power BI and the various datasets

0:09that we can have within our environment.

0:11In order for us to change that data into visuals that we can

0:16easily interpret, these could be pie charts, there could be various

0:19stack bars and different types of charts that we may have in our

0:22environment.

0:23But the contrast is that as we

0:25continue focusing on all these data and it actually becomes quite

0:28a lot to handle, we need some form of help in terms of how we can

0:32automate the tasks that we have and be able to work with them

0:36seamlessly.

0:37This simply means we want to be

0:39more efficient, we want to be more productive, and we want to

0:42eliminate the chance of making errors.

0:44And that is truly possible regardless of what industry you

0:47work in.

0:48You could have lots and lots of

0:49datasets that you have, maybe got different pie charts, maybe got

0:52different visuals that you have within your environment, and you

0:55simply want to be able to automate these tasks.

0:58You can think of schedules, for example, you want to be able to

1:01work with various types of schedules.

1:03Think of somebody who is in charge of different geographical

1:06locations.

1:06Maybe they are a global

1:08administrator of some sort and they have to be focused on maybe

1:11tasks that are happening in one region of the world.

1:14Maybe this could be Southern Africa.

1:15Maybe they also have to look at different tasks happening in New

1:19Zealand.

1:19And maybe at one point they'll

1:21also be focusing on European activities, etc. And while they're

1:24trying to understand what is happening in a particular location

1:26because it is still 10 a.m. in the local location, the team over here

1:31could actually be asleep.

1:33And by the time they wake up, it

1:35could be 2 a.m. for them in the morning.

1:37And they are now just frustrated in terms of how they're able to

1:40deliver that and what they're going to do in order to make sure

1:43that they're able to support those teams over there.

1:45And if they're able to find means and ways of automating those

1:50tasks, such that at a time when it is working hours over here in this

1:54part of the world, then those tasks would trigger, it would save

1:59them a lot of stress.

2:01And this is where the power of

2:03being able to use power automate comes in.

2:05And this applies to various industries, regardless of where

2:08exactly it could find yourself in.

2:10And if you're going to learn how

2:12to power automate, this could be email automation.

2:14We want to be able to work with various emails and be able to

2:18automate.

2:18It could be bookings that you're

2:19dealing with.

2:20Think of bookings for various

2:22events or bookings for Airbnb or bookings for flights or various

2:27tourism activities.

2:28You simply could use power

2:31automate to schedule various activities, to be able to trigger

2:36certain communications to happen, etc. But without an understanding

2:39of how power automate is and where we could actually find it and what

2:43features within power automate could help us build various flows,

2:48it just becomes a very daunting task for us to jump in with.

2:50And in this particular video, I want us to look at the various

2:54features.

2:54I want us to explore and be able

2:56to identify the key areas in power ultimate that could help us begin

3:00our journey to automating tasks within our environment .

3:03Okay, let's turn to Microsoft 365 and within our tenant, we're just

3:07going to select the menu.

3:08And from the menu, we have power

3:11automate.

3:11Now, if your menu does not come

3:13with power automate, you may have to look into the various licenses

3:17assigned to you.

3:18And if you are using maybe a work

3:20tenant and you're not having access to that, you can easily

3:23speak to your admin and will be able to grant you these features

3:26based on the privileges or the role that you play within your

3:29organization.

3:29Now, once we have power automate

3:31open, notice that we have this area with quite a lot of features.

3:35There is a segmentation over here and we'll bring that down as we

3:38proceed.

3:38But to our middle section, we have

3:40this search area and this is a universal search area.

3:43We can search basically anything within power automate from this

3:47particular area over here.

3:48Now, like we saw in Power BI, we

3:51also deal with environments, meaning each and every task can be

3:54confined to a particular environment.

3:55And right now, we're working within the default environment

3:57that we have, which is the Contoso environment.

3:59It is possible for us to create multiple environments within our

4:03environment.

4:03We also have this cog over here

4:06that allows us to look into the admin center and a power automate

4:10and work with the various themes and other features that pertain to

4:13this interface within power automate.

4:16Now, I want us to go straight and look into this area.

4:19Now, this area is AI powered.

4:21It makes use of core pilots to

4:24generate solutions, the various tasks that you may want to

4:27automate.

4:27Let's just pick up a random one.

4:29Let's say we would like to do an automated schedule.

4:33So we just type schedule automation over there.

4:35And once we have that in place, we have these options over here.

4:39Every hour assign users to plan a task, run a desktop automation and

4:42send an email every day.

4:44Depending on what exactly we want

4:45to achieve, we can select any of these tasks over here.

4:49Now, let's say we want to run a desktop automation.

4:51Just go ahead and select that.

4:52And this would give us a procedure

4:54that we can follow to achieve that.

4:57And this is a very powerful tool, by the way.

4:59And if you feel you are not very comfortable working with power

5:01ultimate or you 're still trying to explore and try out things,

5:04this is the best place to start.

5:06Now, I'm going to go ahead and

5:07cancel that.

5:08But before I do, let's look at

5:10these keywords.

5:10We have trigger and we have

5:12action.

5:13Now, remember the purpose of us

5:14automating tasks is simply because we want to have a particular floor

5:18of events taking place.

5:20And we want to do this accurately.

5:22But for these events to actually take place, something must happen.

5:26And that is what is known as a trigger.

5:29Now, a trigger can be an email that has been shared.

5:31It could be a message sent to a particular channel within teams or

5:34even a OneDrive file that has been added to a particular folder.

5:37We should actually kick start the flow of these events.

5:41And then they would in a sequential order follow the

5:44various actions that must be performed in order for that

5:48particular floor or automation to complete.

5:50So every time you're looking at creating something that is going

5:53to automate particular tasks, there must be a trigger that

5:56should initiate those events and there must be an action or a

6:00series of actions that must outline and define the tasks that

6:04must be performed.

6:05And here we have the trigger and

6:07the actions.

6:07We can see over here it says the

6:09floor starts when this happens, implying that this is the event

6:12that triggers the series of actions.

6:13And this is what the floor will do over here.

6:15Now, I'm going to go ahead and cancel this.

6:17We'll come back to it and look at how we can actually configure that

6:20later on.

6:20But I want us to understand the

6:22various areas of navigating this robust interface.

6:25Now, you can see over here we have the various templates and

6:28templates are great.

6:29I'm pretty sure you've seen in the

6:30previous video that we did where we actually automated the emailing

6:33part of power automate, But there is actually more to that.

6:37You can see you can do scheduling of various messaging.

6:39You can actually begin integrating your Power BI information and

6:43feeding it from this particular area and be able to automate those

6:46tasks.

6:46We have remote work templates.

6:48We have email templates notifications saved to cloud which

6:51allows us to have the various tasks that we may have in the

6:55environment move to cloud resources that we have such as

6:58Power BI service.

6:58We have different tasks that we

7:00can also perform over here looking at SharePoint, looking at OneDrive

7:03and other resources that we may simply want to integrate with.

7:06Now, apart from the templates that we have over here, once we have

7:09worked with those, we can easily add them to the set of templates

7:12that we have in the environment.

7:14And here we have templates that

7:15could have been shared with us.

7:16We could also have templates that

7:18align with the particular products, such as Visio, for

7:20example, we could have something that focuses into data collection,

7:23email, calendars, etc. There is just a lot.

7:26We do have resources that help us to learn what exactly we can

7:29achieve within Power Automate and we can even go ahead and look into

7:33this to be able to gain insight into the various tasks we can

7:37perform.

7:37Now, other than that, we also have

7:39my flows which should also list all the flows that we have created

7:42in the past.

7:43And this is where we are also

7:44going to see any other flow we are going to create in the future.

7:47And we can look into desktop flows.

7:49We can also look into shared with me flows.

7:52Now, just like we saw with Power BI Desktop, which is a great

7:55feature allowing us to integrate what we have on our desktop with

7:58Power BI Service, meaning the cloud best version of Power BI,

8:02Power Automate does come with a very similar feature.

8:05We have Power Automate Desktop, which allows us to integrate what

8:08we have with Power Automate within this particular tenant.

8:10However, this is only available to users with a Power Automate

8:14Premium license.

8:15I'm not too sure whether mine is

8:17still holding up there, but I'm going to go ahead and try it.

8:19And there is a link under this video that allows you to download

8:22Power Automate Desktop and try it out in case you do have that

8:26version within the environment.

8:27Now, I've already started the

8:29process of installing.

8:30I haven't really gone too far, as

8:31you can see over here.

8:32So it's just simply launching.

8:34You can see there you've got the various included features, the

8:37version of Power Automate Desktop, just with a head and click next.

8:40So from here, if you are curious about where this is going to be

8:44stored, you can always make adjustments in terms of the

8:46location where this is being stored within your device.

8:49And then you can go ahead and select this option over here to

8:52allow Power Automate Desktop to have the various flows and maybe

8:55create a shortcut if you need to.

8:57Now, if you go ahead and select

8:58that, if you already have Power Automate app installed, it will

9:00prompt you to do so.

9:02But if you'd like to overwrite it,

9:03you can just go ahead and overwrite it.

9:05Or if you'd like to stop and just install these options over here,

9:08you can still go ahead and do the same thing.

9:10So just go ahead and click yes over there that will allow me to

9:13create a desktop shortcut and it will also allow me to have these

9:16options over here.

9:17Now, I also have to go ahead and

9:19agree to the Microsoft terms before I can begin installing.

9:22So let's go ahead and install this.

9:24Okay, so the installation is complete.

9:26There's just a few extensions that we go to enable and what's that is

9:29done, we'll go ahead and restart our device and check out the

9:32Microsoft Power Automate Desktop version.

9:35So join me in the next video after restarting the device.

0:00All right, so I went through the restart and the installation successfully

0:03completed.

0:04So let's go ahead and launch Power Automate Desktop.

0:08And this is what we get on that first page when we launch it.

0:11So with this in your environment, it is very easy for you to begin automating

0:16different

0:17types of tasks, especially when you have files that could be on your desktop or

0:20you simply

0:21want to be able to manage some of the environments that you have and automates

0:24certain features

0:25or applications or files that you simply want to manage.

0:29It is advisable how would it say that you can also go premium if you realize

0:34that some

0:34of those features that you really want to see are not available.

0:37There is just a lot in the premium version.

0:39However, that is going to cost you a little bit more money in terms of your

0:42licenses.

0:43All right.

0:44So with that said, let's look at what we have over here.

0:46We have the ability to create a new floor as we can see over here.

0:49And we also have that environment where we're working.

0:52Now in my case, I had to sign in with my Power Automate credentials into this

0:56environment.

0:58That is one thing that you have to remember so that you can have access to this

1:01.

1:01This also allows you to share resources where you simply want to be able to see

1:05certain

1:05flows within Power Automate Desktop appear within your Power Automate in the

1:09tenant.

1:10You also have the settings area where you can manage various features and make

1:13adjustments

1:14as you may.

1:15You can also seek for help or assistance or get tips on how to perform certain

1:18tasks

1:18as well as make use of core pilot.

1:20Now core pilot is a great tool.

1:22Like I've said earlier, this is AI powered and allows us to perform different

1:25types of

1:25tasks even helps us to get suggestions in terms of how we can complete certain

1:30tasks

1:30within this environment.

1:31We can also set for flows over here that features also there.

1:35But my interest is to look at my flows.

1:37As you can see right now, there isn't anything and there is also none in this

1:41particular

1:42category.

1:43Nothing has been shared with us.

1:44But if you go to examples, we can actually look at the various tasks we can

1:47perform in

1:48this particular area.

1:49We've got the name of the floor, the description as well as the status and the

1:53level.

1:54Now we're going to focus on these beginner level flows that we have in this

1:57particular

1:57area.

1:58Now look at the very first one here.

1:59It says add time to a file.

2:01And this button over here allows us to run this.

2:03We can also stop it or even edit this flow within this particular area.

2:08Now if we're taking a particular environment to add dates to maybe a set of

2:12files that

2:13we have within a particular folder, we can do that once.

2:16Imagine what hundreds of files and you simply want to debt them on that

2:19particular day.

2:20It becomes quite easier for us to use this particular too.

2:23So let's go ahead and select this option over here.

2:25We just go ahead and play it.

2:27Once we begin to play it, it will start running.

2:29And as it runs, it will open our file explorer helping us to navigate to the

2:33file that we

2:34want to date.

2:35So let's just give it a moment.

2:36It should pop up soon.

2:38And there we go.

2:39It's going to pop up in a different screen.

2:41So in this area, I just go ahead and select my videos.

2:44We just go ahead and select videos over here.

2:46And with that in place, I press the enter key and it should go into my folder,

2:51locate

2:52all the files that I have in here and add a date to them.

2:56So if we just pull in my videos over here, I should be able to see what we've

3:00got in

3:01this area.

3:02And there we go.

3:03Got virus files, financial template, new Microsoft Visa drawings.

3:06And you can see each one of these has a date added to them.

3:11Now we're going to simply do this to any other files we've got within our

3:13environment

3:14and be able to add them in this particular location with all the information

3:18that will

3:18be required.

3:19So since this one over here won't have any date next to it.

3:23And if we actually wanted to get rid of some of the files in here, maybe based

3:27on the fact

3:28that they're empty, we're just to go back into Power Automate and perform that.

3:32So over here, we have options, such as copying files, find and delete empty

3:36files.

3:37So let's go ahead and launch that one over there.

3:39And this would allow us to locate that same location that we want to work with

3:44and be

3:44able to delete any file that is empty in that particular location.

3:48Now again, there we go.

3:49Over here, we have to go ahead and select video.

3:53And once we have done so, press the enter key and that should navigate to that

3:57location

3:58and get rid of any file that is empty in that location.

4:01So just go ahead and open the video folder again.

4:05And here we are.

4:06You'd notice that all the files that we had that were empty in this location

4:09have been

4:10gotten rid of.

4:11Now, there are many other options that are provided in here.

4:13Opening folder, printing documents, sending text to notepad, which can really

4:17be great when

4:18you want to simply transpose information and be able to have it on notepad.

4:22These are some of the features that we can make use of.

4:25Now other than that, we can also edit some of these options.

4:28For example, from here, you have that edit option.

4:31If we click over there, we can actually wet out ways in which we can further

4:36empower these

4:37flows to perform very advanced tasks within our environment.

4:41However, that would require making use of some advanced tools.

4:45But nonetheless, this is what you would get if you were to further edit a

4:48particular flow.

4:50You have variables, you have conditionals such as if else.

4:54And this would simply allow you to navigate to the next action when an event

4:58has been triggered,

5:00maybe best when a particular condition, and then a particular action should

5:03actually be

5:04performed.

5:05Now, a very good example of working with conditionals is when we actually have

5:10maybe different sets

5:11of information that would simply trigger what is happening within your

5:13environment, etc.

5:15Now, let's say, for example, that we are setting up conditionals within our

5:18environment that

5:19pertain to our emails.

5:21So we simply want to make sure that in the event that an email is received,

5:25something

5:26must happen.

5:27So we're going to set a conditional to say if the condition in this case is

5:31that email

5:32is an external email, we should have a different response.

5:37If that email is an internal email, meaning the sender is part of our

5:41organization, they

5:43are part of the user that we have, then the response must be different.

5:46And we can set different options over here to say, okay, if somebody is an

5:50external user,

5:51what should happen is that we should respond with an email that simply contains

5:56a link

5:56with information to our website, and they could have more information from our

6:01frequently

6:02asked question page.

6:03If a user is internal part of our organization, then we can give them a

6:07response and in that

6:08response be the various steps or stages on how to perform a particular task.

6:13And this is how we use different types of conditionals to make sure that we

6:17have these

6:18kind of flows that have the right for actions whenever there is an event that

6:21has been triggered

6:22within our environment.

6:24Okay, so let's go ahead and create our first flow.

6:26So over here, we'll go back to this area.

6:29And in here, we have new flow.

6:31So we just go ahead and select that.

6:33And we just go ahead and call it a test flow.

6:35So with that in place, we go ahead and click on create.

6:37And with that, we now have this flow in here.

6:41But what does it do?

6:42What does the flow do?

6:43Well, this is where we now have to come to the various triggers and actions.

6:47This is where we now have to configure what the flow does.

6:50We only have so far assigned it a name, but we haven't really come into this

6:55area where

6:55we can perform different types of actions.

6:57Now you would notice again, we have variables, we have conditionals, we have

7:00loops, you have

7:01different types of options in here.

7:03And sometimes there is email, like I said earlier, sometimes it can be very

7:07daunting

7:07as to what does what in here.

7:09You have some of them that are really advanced like the FTP kind of

7:12configuration.

7:13You can actually reach out to your file transfer protocol server and be able to

7:17bring in the

7:17virus folders that are in there, et cetera.

7:19You have options that point to your AWS.

7:22This could be the virus resources that you have that you'd like to automate in

7:25there.

7:25Azure, Google Cloud, et cetera.

7:28So there are quite a lot of options that are contained in here.

7:30But let's look at the easy ones.

7:32I'll go ahead and select Excel, for example.

7:34Let's say we simply want to be able to launch Excel, but without us having to

7:37navigate and

7:38locate its location, et cetera.

7:40So if we expand it like so, we have options here, let's just try to expand this

7:45and tell

7:45you.

7:46We have options here such as, you know, launching Excel, attached to running

7:50Excel, read from

7:51Excel, save Excel, et cetera, et cetera.

7:53And all these would allow us to perform different types of tasks.

7:56So if you wanted to launch Excel, for instance, without having to navigate to

7:59its location,

8:00et cetera, we could simply go ahead and select the launch option.

8:04So with the launch option in place, we just go ahead and drag it like so.

8:07If you wanted to, or you could simply double click on it, that's your works.

8:11With this in place, you can go ahead and look at what we're simply going to

8:14achieve.

8:15When Excel launches, what we want?

8:17We want a blank Excel sheet, all right?

8:19If that is what we want, then we can stick with that.

8:22But if you want to open a specific Excel sheet, then we can say, open the

8:25following document.

8:26So we can actually go and define the actual document that we want to open,

8:30which is really

8:31helpful if we have that specific document with your environment.

8:34And we can decide if we'd like to make the Excel window visible or we simply

8:37want it

8:38to open invisibly, that is also possible.

8:41We have other advanced options over here.

8:43So these are some of these options we can make use of when launching it.

8:46Now let's just go ahead and save this for now.

8:49And after saving it, we just go ahead and play it, all right?

8:52And in the building process, by the way, you build and you test, you build and

8:56you test,

8:57especially if you're going to build multiple actions in the process, it's very

9:00important

9:01that you test every stage of that.

9:03So go ahead and just launch that and see if it's going to run.

9:06And there we have it.

9:07I've got it open on one of my screens.

9:09There is Excel, so this does work.

9:12And if we wanted to actually launch multiple programs or we simply wanted to be

9:16involved

9:16even in the closure of a particular program, we could also add that into this

9:20environment.

9:21So we've got the opening and closure of that particular Excel and we can also

9:25decide whether

9:26we'd like to save that particular document when we actually close it.

9:30But then we don't really just want to open and close a particular file.

9:34That won't really be great automation.

9:36Maybe we want to be able to add a lot of data in that particular file.

9:39That's also as possible.

9:41We can actually write to Excel and you would actually be able to see that if we

9:45drag these,

9:46we can squeeze some of these actions in between actions.

9:49For instance, I cannot write before I close, right?

9:52So I'd like these to be in there and I can just drop it over there.

9:55And that would allow us now to begin adding various values in case we're

9:58dealing with

9:59a very confidential file.

10:00So I'd like to specify that it is confidential and would like to write this on

10:04the first column,

10:05maybe in the second row and we can have that saved.

10:08So it simply means it launches and then writes confidential to that specified

10:13cell and then

10:14we can have it closed.

10:15But maybe before we can actually see it closing, we'd like to see how that

10:19looks.

10:20So what we can do in this case would disable the action that it doesn't

10:24actually happen.

10:25So if we had to launch these, click on launch over there, it should be able to

10:29open Excel

10:30and this time around, it should open it with that text in it.

10:33Okay, so I can see Excel pop up on my screen.

10:35I'll just go ahead and click on it and there we are.

10:38So this allows us to automate quite a lot of tasks.

10:42Sort of just maybe adding a particular phrase, which is this one, we can add

10:45formulas to

10:46different types of columns or roles that we have with the environment.

10:49And if now we want to see this closing, we can easily close that within our

10:53environment.

10:54We can now just go ahead and enable this action.

10:57Let's see what happens.

10:59And once we launch these from the very beginning, it should be able to run at

11:02that particular

11:03phrase and close.

11:05And this is where you'd also be able to monitor this particular process over

11:08here.

11:09So if it successfully runs, it should actually show that it has completed

11:13successfully and

11:14if it has an error, and notification will be triggered informing you that an

11:17error has

11:18been encountered.

11:19And this is just one of the many things that we can achieve using Microsoft

11:23Power Automate.

11:24But before we just leave this area, I want you to actually look at one

11:27important feature

11:28that you can use without having to look into all these features that we've

11:32actually encountered

11:33so far.

11:34And that is the record button.

11:36Now, we can actually capture everything we have done so far using the actual

11:41code button.

11:42And once it pops up in here, just quickly take a look, you'll actually be able

11:45to see

11:46that in this area, we can record the process of creating different types of

11:51tasks and later

11:52on be able to bring that process into this area.

11:56So that's something we'll touch on in our next video.

0:00So one of the greatest and easiest way of creating and automating tasks within

0:04Power Automate is by

0:05recording them. Instead of you finding your way through writing code, you can

0:08easily record the

0:09process and create an automated task within Power Automate. So if you can open

0:14Power Desktop and

0:15access this area, then you go to New Flow. This simply allows us to give a name

0:20to these flaws.

0:21Let's call it Exchange Ritz. And once we have that in place, we can go ahead

0:25and click on Create.

0:27And this is going to go ahead and allow us to begin creating the various tasks

0:31or flaws that we

0:32simply want to see within our environment. And also, allow us to record a flow.

0:36So in this area,

0:37we've got our canvas where we can actually work like we saw previously. And

0:41there we have our

0:42record button. Now let's assume that we've been tasked with collecting

0:46information that pertains

0:47to how the US dollar is faring against the Canadian dollar. And on each and

0:51every day, we've got to

0:53see what the Exchange Ritz is and record that maybe to some text document that

0:58we have with

0:58our environment. And on the second day, just like that, we have to continually

1:02record this

1:02information. Now that can really be very repetitive. What we simply want to do

1:06is to

1:07automate this task whereby we can have access to whatever site we are using to

1:12collect the

1:12action rates and look at where that information is coming from. Okay, there

1:16could be maybe a square

1:18or an entry area where you can actually be able to see what the figure is,

1:21given day, etc.

1:23And get that particular figure and export it to this particular document on a

1:27daily basis. Or

1:28whenever we actually run that particular flow. So in order for us to achieve

1:33that, in an easy way,

1:34we can simply record the entire process from Power Ultimate Desktop. So we have

1:39our Exchange

1:39Ritz flow over there. Let's go ahead and click on Record. So once we click on

1:43Record, the Record

1:44menu will pop up. And over here, we can easily drag it into this area and try

1:49to resize it so

1:50that you can feed or window. And once we have it in here, we then can begin the

1:55process of

1:56recording that particular flow. So let's go ahead and click on Record. And when

1:59we click on Record,

2:00we actually have to pay attention to what is going to happen in this area. And

2:04the first thing we

2:04want to do is to access the site, right? And in order for us to access the site

2:09, we must select

2:10which browser we're going to use. So by clicking on the Lipsis over there, we

2:14can go and click on

2:15Launch Newer Browser. And we can select the browser of choice. Now, before we

2:20can just go ahead and do

2:21that, notice that as I hover on the screen that these red sections that are

2:25being selected,

2:26that is just highlighting the UI elements that we can actually record in this

2:29process. Now, let's

2:30go ahead and select Microsoft Age as our browser. And once we have age over

2:34here, just go ahead and

2:36minimize our recorder. So within age, I'd like us to go to Google. So press

2:40Enter over there. And

2:41once we're in here, let's say for USD to Canadian dollar exchange rate, there

2:46we have it, we just

2:47select it. And once we have that in place, notice that it gives us different

2:51figures that are provided

2:53in these areas. Now, every time we select N of these, we've got an input number

2:57. So it simply means

2:59it is able to detect that. And what we want to do in this case is to be able to

3:03pick up what the

3:04red is for the Canadian dollar for a given day. And with that, we'll go ahead

3:08and right click that

3:10area. And once we right click, we have options that are provided in this area.

3:13We have whiten to

3:14webpage, text screenshot of this UI element, extract element value, which is

3:19exactly what I

3:20want us to do because we want to be able to get the value for every day of the

3:24month. So in this case,

3:25we go ahead and select text. And with that in place, our element value will be

3:29recorded. And we

3:30can turn back to our Power Automate Desktop to complete the process. As for our

3:36recording, at this

3:37particular point, we can actually bring it to an end because that should

3:42suffice in terms of what

3:43we need to run this flow. Now this flow actually has a lot of fluff. There is

3:48just a lot of clicking

3:50that was going on. And some of the information captured over here is really not

3:54necessary.

3:54Now you'd notice that we've got the numbering that was happening for the

3:57various activities.

3:58And there is some form of sectioning that is also going on just like we saw

4:01with our previous

4:02automated tasks. But these comments will actually allow us to understand what

4:06was happening at every

4:08level of this particular flow. So there was a launch of Microsoft H. Yes, we

4:13need to keep that.

4:14And we can see that that was pointing to Google.com. That's correct. And we can

4:18see that there is

4:19some populated fields and there is a search that was going on, which was USD to

4:24CAD,

4:24yes, that is accurate. And we can see here that we've got some currencies that

4:29are being listed.

4:29We still need that. And that goes on and on. Now, everything that we're seeing

4:34here so far is

4:35very relevant. We want to keep that, including the inner text, because it's

4:39from here that we're

4:40able to find what the currency was. There was a currency amount field. We were

4:43able to pick that up.

4:45Now this is not very important. So just go ahead and click on the ellipses and

4:50delete.

4:51It should still be able to run without these even when we completed. But should

4:55it happen that we

4:56delete any key element in this particular area? We're actually getting an error

5:00at the bottom of

5:01this canvas. So that is one way of also knowing whether what we're doing has a

5:04greater impact to

5:05how these flows going to function. Now, once we've cleaned up this particular

5:09flow and everything is

5:10perfect, we're not going to go ahead and try to run it and see whether we're

5:13going to be getting

5:14any errors that we might need to correct. So if you click over there, it should

5:18be able to launch.

5:19And there it starts. Google must open and eventually should be able to pick up

5:23that information. You

5:24can see in the background, it is actually running picking up that data. And

5:28once it is completed,

5:29we just close these or simply minimize it. And we should be able to get

5:32information

5:32regarding what has happened. And we can see here, good flow variables. And we

5:36can see inner text

5:37says $1.35. And this is the same value that we saw previously. Now, if we're

5:42not so sure,

5:42we can just to rerun that and we'll be able to see these change because this

5:46won't be a fixed

5:47figure over time. So as it continues to change and we continue running that, we

5:51'll also be able to

5:51pick up that information. But then how do we begin to move this and export it

5:57to our text document?

5:58Well, to go about that, let's go ahead and search for text, because this allows

6:02us to go ahead and

6:03create a flow for that. So come here and would say, write to text as the option

6:08that we want.

6:09So write to text, we just be dragged in this area. Just make sure that you'd

6:13not do this before the

6:15end option. There is the end of auto generated actions. Now, that should be the

6:19very last thing

6:20that happens in this particular area. So where do we intend to write to? We

6:24have to specify the file

6:26path over there. So what I just do is to click on this to select the file. And

6:30in here, I'll go

6:31and select, let's say my videos, because that's one area where I'm likely not

6:35to have anything.

6:36And in the video, we've got the financial template. Okay, if you want a new

6:40text document,

6:42just go ahead and select that. And we can say text document, just say this is

6:45going to be

6:46a test file, press enter over there. And we should be good to go, select it and

6:50click on open.

6:51Now this simply means every time you're going to be running that flow, it

6:55should be saving that

6:56information or those values, the actions read for different days to that

7:00particular file.

7:01But how does it do that? Well, we've got this text to write area. And over here

7:06, we simply have

7:07to go and select the inner text, because it is from here that that value is a

7:10pen. So just go

7:11ahead and select that option over here. And here we have inner text. So just go

7:15ahead and select it

7:16and click on select and inner text removed in this area. This is referencing

7:21the values that

7:21are contained in the inner text field. With that in place, we can go ahead and

7:25click save. Now,

7:27this would allow us to run that search, be able to identify the actions read of

7:32the USD to the

7:32Canadian dollar and pick whatever value is appended to our inner text and then

7:36write it to our text

7:38file. So let's go ahead and run this. Okay, the process begins. And we can see

7:42that it is

7:43actually progressing over there. But this time around, it should write it to

7:47that particular field.

7:48All right, so let's go and access that file text within our environment and see

7:53whether that

7:54has actually taken place. So here we got that test dot txt file. And if you

7:59open it, we should be

8:00able to find that value $1.35. And this is how we can make use of the recording

8:05option within

8:06par ultimate to record various tasks that we simply want to be able to carry

8:10out within our

8:11environment. And we can actually take this further. If there are other

8:13activities that are to be

8:14performed, such as sharing this with somebody, maybe via email or other means,

8:18we simply go ahead

8:19and look for outlook over here or simply type email. And with that in place, we

8:23can go and say,

8:23all right, once we've gotten this value, we'd like to send it to somebody. So

8:27we can say,

8:28send email message, just drag it in there. And once it comes in this area, we

8:32then can begin

8:33making the right for adjustments over here, specifying the person we are

8:37sending to maybe

8:38there are people that we have to copy the subject and then the body over here.

8:41And we can actually

8:42save these as part of these in test sequence. Oops, there's an error. That's

8:46simply because

8:47some very important fields here empty. All right, but that is one way in which

8:51we can actually

8:52finalize these by making sure that all the users of the environment can receive

8:55a such kind of

8:56information. And by just clicking the button, you'd be able to automate that

8:59process and share it

9:00with all the relevant stakeholders within your environment.

0:00Okay, let's get started with the review.

0:02We're right here within our Power Automate Desktop Environment.

0:05But before we can just go ahead and start performing the tasks, let's look at

0:09the questions

0:10again.

0:11So over here, the first part was saying we should create a text file on our

0:14desktop

0:14or any desired location, and we should name it NASDAQ Stocks.

0:18All right, the second part, which is the Power Automate section, says we should

0:22use the

0:22record to within Power Automate and create a flow that captures this top prices

0:27from

0:27Google.

0:28Okay, and once we have that in place, we should save the record, the NASDAQ

0:32stock file, which

0:33you created earlier over there.

0:35And with that in place, we should add a date to this particular stock file.

0:39And then we should also email this information to a colleague within our

0:42environment.

0:43That is the part that we have to complete.

0:45Okay, I'm pretty sure you had no challenges creating the file on your desktop

0:48or every

0:49desired to have that file created.

0:51Let's go ahead and begin the process by creating the flow.

0:54So we're going to click on New Flow.

0:57And in here, we just go ahead and say Stocks.

0:59Okay, that's the name.

1:00You could give it NASDAQ stocks or whatever name you want to give it.

1:03And then we can click on Create.

1:05Okay.

1:06Now, once this has been created, we then can go and begin the process of

1:11recording a flow

1:12that allows the stock says Google, and then we can capture whatever the stock

1:16is for that

1:17particular day and save it to this stock file.

1:20Right.

1:21So here we are.

1:22We simply have to go and click on Record.

1:25And this will bring the record menu, which we gladly click on.

1:28And once we have that in place, we can select the ellipsis so that we can be

1:32able to launch

1:33the web browser of our choice.

1:35So in this case, I'll select Microsoft H in order for us to be able to access

1:39the browser.

1:39And then I just go ahead and minimize this.

1:42And then we'll go to Google.

1:44So go ahead and type Google.com over there.

1:47And with that in place, we then can search for NASDAQ in that area.

1:51So go and type NASDAQ and press Enter.

1:55And once we have that, we'll go for the index where we can actually see what

1:59the figures

2:00for NASDAQ stocks are for this particular day.

2:03Right click over there so that we can be able to extract that information.

2:07So we have an option, Extract Element Value, and we can see that is the value

2:11that we're

2:11after.

2:12We'll go ahead and copy it or simply click on it.

2:15And with that, we then can stop the recording.

2:18So we're done with the recording now and we can see over here that this is what

2:22we actually

2:23performed.

2:24There are quite a number of areas here that may not be necessary such as Wait 2

2:28seconds.

2:28Now these are simply informing us of what was being performed and they can

2:31easily be

2:32removed without really breaking this particular piece of code.

2:35Alright, so let's go ahead and try to test to see if this is going to be

2:38running successfully

2:40before we can actually begin making any changes or even setting parts of this

2:43particular section.

2:45So I'll go and select the Run option, click on it, and then we'll be able to

2:49see if anything

2:50is going to give an error or if this is going to run successfully which we hope

2:55will be the

2:56cast and we'll be able to get up from there.

2:58Okay, so this ran without any issues, it was actually very successful and we

3:03can see we

3:03now have an inner text of that figure over there.

3:06Okay, now that we know that our code is working perfectly, we can then go ahead

3:10and save this

3:11information to our text file.

3:13So simply go into the search area in my case and go and type text and once we

3:17have that

3:17in place, I would like to write this particular information or this inner text

3:23to that NASDAQ

3:24Stokes file.

3:25So I'm going to select Write Text to File and I'll drag this and bring it over

3:29here and

3:30then I have to go and specify the path of that particular file.

3:32I will search for it and over here I'll simply go and look into the location

3:37where I created

3:38that particular file in my case was the video and then we have NASDAQ Stokes.

3:42So go ahead and click Open.

3:44With that in place, we have the text to write.

3:47Now the text to write does not have to be our own text.

3:50This has to be the inner text that was actually captured when we ran this

3:54particular code.

3:55So going select that X option over there and then we can select the Inner Text

3:59option

3:59and with that in place, we'll go and click on Insert.

4:02So every time we actually run this code, it's going to save whatever has been

4:06captured

4:06within this Inner Text section and with that in place, we'll click on Save.

4:10All right.

4:11So we'll go ahead and test off this.

4:13We'll go ahead and run this particular flow again.

4:16So let's see if it's going to successfully write that information to the NASDAQ

4:21stock

4:21file.

4:22Okay.

4:23So a quick verification of our file.

4:25There's our NASDAQ Stokes and if you open that, we should be able to find that

4:28figure over

4:29there.

4:30So that has worked perfectly.

4:31Now once that has been achieved, we have to add a date and be able to email

4:35that information

4:36to any of the users that we have in the environment.

4:39So let's go ahead and add a date to that information, just type date over there

4:42, press

4:43Enter.

4:44You'll notice that to the left hand side, we have the Gate Current Date option.

4:47We'll just drag and drop it into this area.

4:50And once it's in here, we can then make the right for customizations or

4:53adjustments that

4:53allow us to have this date useful.

4:56So we do not really want the time.

4:58We simply want to have the date.

5:00So we can just say Current Date Only and then we have adjustments in terms of

5:04Time Zone,

5:04which can also change over here.

5:06We can maybe align this with our Windows, Time Zone or Custom Input, whatever

5:10the case is

5:11that we simply want to see as an output on that particular text file once we

5:15have completed

5:16the process.

5:17So over here, you can simply go and select Time Zone or your choice and with

5:22that in

5:22place, we then can go ahead and select Save.

5:25Just ensure that you have the Current Date option enabled over there.

5:28Right, with that in place, we should be able to now have this written to our

5:34text file.

5:35However, there is one thing that we simply have to change when it comes to the

5:38Right

5:38to Text File option because if you look in the Variables section, we have the

5:42Current

5:43Date and Time, we have the Inner Text, etc.

5:45So we simply want to bring in the Current Date and Time to the Right options.

5:49So let's go and click on Edit over there and that allows us to edit this option

5:53.

5:54And where we have Text to Right, where we previously added the Inner Text File,

5:58this

5:58time around, we are going to add the Date option.

6:01So there we have Current Date, just click on it and then we click on Select and

6:05then we

6:05click on Save.

6:06So we should be good to go now.

6:08When we run this particular flow, we should be able to get both the stock

6:12figures as well

6:14as the date for that particular day.

6:16So a quick verification of our file again.

6:19So I'll just go ahead and click on it over here so we can be able to see

6:22whether these

6:23changes have been infected.

6:25And once we open it over here, we should be able to get results.

6:29There we go.

6:30So there we have the Stock Index as well as the date and notice that the time

6:35wasn't

6:35included in that particular variable.

6:37So let's do the final thing which is to send this particular file to one of the

6:42colleagues

6:43that we have within our environment.

6:44Alright, so there are so many ways in which you could achieve that.

6:48But before we go ahead, let's just set this because this is really becoming big

6:52and in

6:52the event that we actually lose this without saving it, it could actually take

6:55us more

6:56time to restore it.

6:57Alright, so to send out an email, all we have to do is to go to this section

7:02and type send.

7:04Now you'd realize there are quite a lot of options that are provided in here.

7:07You have a send exchange email, send email messages.

7:09Some of them even allow you to make use of the likes of Gmail if you're using

7:14Power

7:14Ultimate Premium and you have different types of options that are provided in

7:18there.

7:19Now it could actually be very difficult if we don't really have all those

7:22features in

7:23here such as maybe the exchange server details or SMTP configurations etc.

7:28So the easiest way of going around this would just be for us to record the

7:33process.

7:34So like we did previously, we can still just go ahead and run a record.

7:39So when we do that, you'd actually be able to see that all the details that

7:43require over

7:44here would be populated in this area and we can let our own Twigit and make

7:47changes as

7:48desired.

7:49So go ahead and click on record and the process begins.

7:53We have the record menu pop up and once the record menu pops up in this area,

7:57we can simply

7:58go ahead and click on record over there and then I'll go and launch my browser

8:04software.

8:05I'll take that back where I'm able to see it and then we can begin the process

8:09of sending

8:10an email.

8:11Now the only thing that is key here is how you intend to send the emails.

8:14You should plan to do so using Outlook which is installed on your desktop or

8:18any device

8:19that you have.

8:20That is also something that you can simply achieve by clicking on that software

8:23.

8:23If you're looking for Office 365 online, we can easily do so by using this link

8:28that

8:28I've just copied over here.

8:30So this is Outlook.Office365.com and by pressing enter over here, I'm able to

8:34access my emails.

8:36Once I'm in this area, I can just go and click on new email and then once I

8:40have new email

8:41clicked on, I'll then begin the process of structuring my email.

8:45So I'd like to send this to myself.

8:47I'm just going to go ahead and select my username over there and with that in

8:51place,

8:51I will then go and add a subject.

8:54I'm just going to say this is going to be test.

8:57So username selected, subject is going to be test and the body is going to be

9:02stocks.

9:03And with that in place, I'll then go ahead and add the attachment that we

9:06intend to add

9:07in this particular case, so I'm going to go and browse my computer and then I

9:11'll look

9:11at that file and attach it.

9:14And once that is done, we'll click on send.

9:16The bigger chunk of the work would now remain in our editing area.

9:20That is where we have to get rid of all the fluff and make sure that none of

9:25the options

9:25that we selected that I relevant, I included in this particular flow and that

9:29everything

9:30is just perfect.

9:31Now one thing you'll also notice is that this is now not following the sequence

9:35that we

9:35had previously because now it is running the second edit and after that it has

9:40put the

9:41first edit at the bottom.

9:42So we have to go ahead and look at how we can rearrange that and make sure that

9:46everything

9:46is as desired.

9:48So everything has been recorded for us in this particular flow and the easiest

9:51way to rearrange

9:52this would be to hit the control button on your keyboard and begin selecting

9:56all these

9:57options.

9:58Now you simply have to pay attention to these areas over here.

10:01There is one here that says and of auto-generated actions and we have a start

10:06of auto-generated

10:07action.

10:08Actually there are two of them here so we can actually get rid of this one over

10:11here.

10:12I just want to make sure that we are able to have this information here at the

10:16very bottom.

10:16So just go ahead and select it and after selecting it, I'll drag it to the very

10:21bottom of my page

10:23and that would allow me to run the first flow before I can run the second flow.

10:28Alright this looks much cleaner than before and we can see over here that when

10:32we launch

10:33our browser software we'll be able to access Google and from Google we can go

10:37and search

10:37for NASDAQ and once we've searched for NASDAQ we'll also be able to collect

10:42information

10:43depending on what exactly would have been given to us or produced by that

10:46particular search

10:47and we can have the index or the stock figures for the particular day and you

10:51can see over

10:52here about the span and a few figures over there which will then be appended to

10:56inner text

10:57and then we'll be able to write inner text to this NASDAQ stocks.txt file as

11:03shown over

11:03there that will also include the kind, date and time and after that is done the

11:07flow proceeds

11:09to launch another Microsoft age browser and with that in place go and search

11:14for Outlook.office.365

11:16and then a new tab item will be opened and that will be sent to our admin and

11:20we have

11:21more information here to do with the message that will be sent, the attachment

11:25etc.

11:25So basically this is the entire flow that actually governs how the email is

11:30going to

11:31be sent and I want us to go ahead and run it.

11:33So let's go ahead and click on run over there and there we go our flow has

11:38delivered and

11:39we have been able to automate this particular task from the process of getting

11:43information

11:44into this attachment to sending an email to users within our environment and

11:49this my friend

11:49is how we can make use of the virus automation features within Power Automate

11:53to automate

11:53tasks within our environment.

11:55For now I hope this has been informative for you and I'd like to thank you for

11:58viewing.