AEU45: Using Power Automate with Office Apps (Ynte Jan Kuindersma)

Use Power Automate to send mail, create calendar events, work with contacts (and more). Power Automate is incorporated in your Office 365 suite with security guarded by Entra ID. Some actions need a premium license.

Ynte Jan demonstrated how Power Automate can be used to trigger flows that:
• send emails with/without attachments
• create Outlook appointments
• get upcoming free slots of a variable length in your calendar
• get data from an external data source and save the records as CSV file

Download PDF of the slides and the example app used in this presentation from https://www.isladogs.co.uk/aeu-45.

TIMES
0:00:00 Welcome by Colin to the Access Europe User Group
0:00:45 Introduction by today's presenter, Ynte Jan Kuindersma
0:01:25 Use Power Automate (PA) to create flows. Can run from Access using HTTP endpoints
0:01:48 Background info
0:02:23 Solution to New Outlook? Email from Access without using CDO or Graph API.
0:03:17 Power Platform
0:03:42 Basic use built in to 365 Business & Enterprise licenses. Premium license ($15/€14 per month) needed for HTTP request triggers & usage with SQL Server
0:04:45 Where to find PA
0:05:34 Building blocks - triggers / actions / controls
0:06:31 3 trigger types - scheduled / automatic / manual (instant)
0:07:41 Controls - variables / loops / conditions / parse JSON / Select
0:08:45 Example flow diagram
0:10:00 Example Graph API call - login to PA environment
0:12:03 Demo - sign in to MS account, go to https://m365.cloud.microsoft/chat/?au... & select Apps.
0:13:00 Select Power Automate - opens Home page (https://make.powerautomate.com/). Chose start method
0:14:35 Many templates available created by MS and the PA community. Selected template as example discussed in detail
0:16:25 Create new flow - select My flows | New flow. Choose start point
0:17:25 Example 1: Build an instant flow demonstrated in detail. Enter a flow name, select a trigger e.g. manually create flow & click Create
0:18:15 Flow screen appears for the newly created flow with selected trigger. Click trigger to view/edit its properties (Parameters / Settings./ Code view (JSON)
0:19:06 Add one or more input parameters for the trigger
0:20:36 Add at least one action e.g. send email, select provider then parameters. Save flow & click Test.
0:25:30 Test manually - enter details, click Run Flow then Done. Green tickboxes show if flow successful
0:29:10 Example 2: Modify email flow to send email attachment
0:30:16 Example 3: Run flow from Access using HTTP request
0:36:42 Example 4: HTTP email from Access with attachment - convert file to string of bytes to insert into flow (can be slow)
0:40:35 Or use attachment file stored on OneDrive (faster) - includes a condition for location of OneDrive file for security. Only runs if condition met
0:46:08 Example 5: Get Meeting Times & Mail - determine free slots of a specified length in next week
0:49:05 Example 6: Get Data - export source data from e.g. Dataverse as CSV file and import into SharePoint
0:52:15 Colin thanked Ynte for his masterclass in using Power Automate followed by audience questions
0:52:34 Q1: PA has many options. How steep is learning curve for a beginner? A1: Not difficult - start using CoPilot guidance or existing templates. Also many MS Learn articles on PA
0:54:07 Q2: Andrew - who is email sender when using a flow saved by another developer? A2: By default, from person running flow (authenticated before flow can be used)
0:55:24 Andrew / Peter solved authentication issues for MS email accounts - hope to release DLL in early 2026. Ynte: explained options allowed for who can trigger flow.
0:57:30 Q3: Tom - can you specify datatype conversions when transferring data. A3: not designed for that purpose. Some data manipulation possible using built-in conversion functions
0:59:50 News from Access Team: Roadmap changes; Trident engine (IE browser control) to be phased out by June 2026; New Outlook being re-planned with AI focus
1:02:23 Next month (Wed 3 Dec) - Adolph Dupré: Using Twilio for texting from Access
1:03:00 After that (Wed 7 Jan 2026) - Neil Sargent: New Style MsgBox in Access
1:03:39 More PA questions: Q4: Tom - slide near start had flow that ran despite invalid connection error. A4: unclear why it worked. Discussion.
1:06:48 Q5: Neil - can Office apps directly create a flow? A5: No but option in Power BI
1:07:55 Q6: Crystal wants Access to get the flow results A6: done as part of the earlier flow demonstrations
1:09:42 Outline discussion for follow-up meeting next year
1:10:15 Q7: Neil - any usage charges/limits? A7: Yes - but very high in terms of both maximum usage per month and maximum actions per flow
1:11:14 Q8: Maria: had also hit limit running Excel scripts from PA flow. Solved by running loops. A8: other limitations but also workarounds
1:12:42 Q9: Tim - licensing costs for premium connectors? A9: Connectors shown with diamond symbol need premium license
1:14:01 Final comments
1:14:50 End