Thanks for the inspiration Reza. Leveraging the Apply to each control and and applying the counter variable to dynamically determine the final approval responsible is quite brilliant :)
This is brilliant, Reza. I'd never think to use an "Apply to each" on an array variable and start and wait for approvals within each. As always, man, this is so good! This is such a helpful way to improve a clunky and hard to maintain flow.
Thanks for sharing this. I have built something very similar for my Organization too, which takes care of multiple Business Processes for Approval as i tried to create as generic as possible. There are two more rules i added…. Configuration can decide weather the Approval behaviour would be “First to Respond” or “Everyone must Approve”. it can also decide that weather the Approvers would be predefined in a List or it can dynamically pick the Approver based on the transaction. I am currently working on something similar for Document Library Approval. I really loved the Card Presentation of Approval status. I would definitely try this JSON Format.
Sharing for beginners, when creating approvals, if you don't hit the "show advanced options" all approvals will come from you the creator of the flow. You'll end up getting alot of emails/questions of why they are coming from you vs the person who created the approval. Question for Reza, since power automate doesn't provide a great audit trail, I know in a previous video you created a separate list for that, if we took those steps and put it in here, would the outcome be the same? Also could you show a dynamic approval flow leveraging users in AD groups and distribution gorups vs names stored in a sharepoint list?
Thanks for sharing the tip on setting the requestor option in approvals. Audit trail - Outcome would be the same. In fact in the last part of the video where I showcase the complete flow, I have reused the logic from my previous video. Group Approvals is supported in approval action. Names stored in SharePoint list can be replaced by AD Mail enabled Security Group Names.
Great video! Very clear and easy to follow. Do you have any tutorials on how you customised the list view to show as cards such as what you had in this tutorial
Exceptional Solution! I would like to know more about how you did the list card formatting to display real time status. Appreciate the sharing of your knowledge.
Hi Reza, very useful in many scenarios, thanks for sharing. Something that can be challenging in Lists is validation between columns. For example, depending on the "Expense Type" the "Amount Value" allowed may vary and making a "Comments" column required. If Expense Type = Travel the Max Amount Allowed = 5.000 and you must fill de comments column.
it's really helpful, to look for a flow solution for 2 SharePoint lists (request & approvers) request needs to be approved by multiple departments and each department has multiple approvers.
If this video does not meet your scenario and if you need assistance with a specific use case, then I will recommend posting your query on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/
Thank you, Reza! Amazing content as always! I am wondering if this can be applied to a more complicated approval process, where we have approval stages based on Expense Amount (ex.: Amount < 1K -> 1 level Approval, if >1k -> 2nd level, if >3K 3rd Level etc.), combined with dynamic approvers based on Expense Type. I also need to record the approval history on item level: I have columns for all approval stages: Approval L1 Responce, Approval L2 responce, etc. where I capture Response Summary from the Approval action. Basically I need to capture Approvers first, based on Expense type, then based on Amount to start approvals for each level, until Final Approval or the condition for the amount is no longer met. Is this possible with this method, or becomes too complex? Thank you!
@@abdouramaneyoussoufou8789 An example would have to be through a video. I have 10-20 video ideas lined up and I would need a lot more folks requesting this scenario for me to give it a higher priority.
Great video Reza! Last week I was working on exactly same requirement. I used a Switch to control flow sequence based on the status of the approval. Your approach is much more elegant. Thanks for sharing your talents!
You are genius Reza as your knowledge around these power platform tools are commendable, God bless you and give more knowledge and wisdom to share such useful video with us. I am learning a lot of new things through your amazing videos.
Thanks for the detailed video - this is just what I was looking for to help a friend out. They work in an office and deal with cover requests which are multi level. So some people only have 1 approver and there are a few that have as many as 5! I've duplicated your power automate and followed the guide and although there are no errors it doesn't email or show the progress in the approvals section. I really can't see what I've done wrong but am sure it will be something minor. The first part of the flow works as the status changes from new to pending - but that is all that seems to happen. I'll see about getting this on a forum later on. Hopefully once I can get your original one working correctly I can adjust it suit my friends setup.
Most welcome! I have not come across the mentioned issue and hence not sure what the reason for your issue is. I recommend posting your issue with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani Thanks for the quick response. I'll do that on the forum shortly. I've managed to get a bit further with it so that the approvers are now getting the emails as well as seeing the approval status update. In the flow on step 4 called 'get approvers' there is custom filter: Title eq' @{triggerOutputs()?['body/Expense_x0020_Type/Value']}' With this as above - the flow will run and complete with no errors - but then none of the emails / approval works. If I delete this then I am getting the first part to work - but then get errors on the very last part of the 'Yes' flow. For the moment I have set this up exactly as per your guide so I'm stumped at what I've done wrong. Thanks again for such great resources.
@@RezaDorrani Hopefully I will get some feedback on the forum shortly. One thing I was curious about was the filter you put in the 'get approvers' part of the flow: Title eq' @{triggerOutputs()?['body/Expense_x0020_Type/Value']}' How does the above filter the users selection of the type of approvers? I can't see the reference to the _x0020_ Sorry - my knowlege of Power Automate as you can see is not great - just so close to getting this work and I am confident it is related to this custom filter Thanks again creating these guides and resources.
I am actually using this for project management and technical approvals, this will work, I'll have to build a little more but this is exactly what I needed! Thank you so much
Thank you so much Reza!! This was very helpful. I tried to recreate this flow but I couldn't figure out how you got it to show what the status of each approver was. Thanks in advance.
Video description has link to download sample flow. You can give that a try. Alternatively, I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
This is so good! Thank you for sharing this one! I noticed that there was a capability in your approval notification to enter a comment, however, when I tried mine, I do not have that.
Your video series is brilliant and helpful for anyone new to Poet Automate and also to experienced people to sharpen their skills. I loved your json gallery view template and adopted it but when there is more than 2 approves it shows 2 person profile image and then +2 if there is 4 people, for example. In your demo I see 3rd person profile image, not not in my case. I haven't made any change to template.
I am a power automate rookie and this is a great help. thank you! If I could ask a question - I have a Shipping Request form issue. PHASE 1: The user fills out the request for items to be shipped by the warehouse. The user receives a confirmation email that it was sent to the warehouse. PHASE 2: The warehouse completes the shipping and another confirmation email should go to the user when the form is set to "SHIPPED" I can't get the second phase email to work.
I will have to look at your flow in action to know the reason why your flow is not working. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani I got it finally. Not like I expected, though. when the infopath form (sadly they want to use infopath for now)is created, one email goes out, when it is changed, the other goes...after I placed the change condition in the NO branch!
Reza your tutorial is the best!!! I have been working on a power app that requires multi level approval, I don't know how to connect an array of approvers to power app startscreen, I have watched the other video you have about text input approver, but as soon as I change the column type to choice column I will get an incompatibility in the logic test. I am quit new to the power app, It will be great if you could give me some hint on this. Also, I will need to figure out how to make them into a parallel approval process...
I dont know if I have that specific use case. Best thing would be to post your issue with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com since here on chat it is not easy to debug or resolve issues.
Many thanks for sharing this video. In my dept ..we need to put the comparison of offers and get approvals from different head function...so evrytime i have to print and sign againt L1.Can you please make one video on this excel . It would solve problem of all buyers globally. 😀
I will need a lot more folks requesting this scenario in order to plan a video on it. This is the first request on this topic. I have topics with over 25 requests that I am yet to get to.
Hola, apenas descubro tu canal, hice algo similar pero usando switch case, no sé si hice lo correcto porque si bien los casos tenían que cumplir con ciertas condiciones, el código que llevan en el cuerpo cada cada caso era el mismo y no siento que sea práctico repetir código entonces ahora estoy pensando implementar algo como lo de tu ejemplo, voy a realizar la práctica y evaluar la mejor opción. Gracias por compartir. Saludos y éxitos.
Absolutely Brilliant, you've made it look so simple. Wonder how one can embed this into a broader solution where approval workflows are part of the larger solution (in a nutshell, how one can avoid reinventing the wheel)
"This video was very helpful to me, special thanks to you, you saved me 😊 I followed your video properly, but sir, I am adding a condition for a timeout in the loop in the multi-level approver where the condition outcome is equal to approve, but my condition is not fitting in the loop."
You're most welcome! am not sure why condition is not fitting in loop. I recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com in case someone has experienced or tried something similar
Awesome video! I’m new to using SharePoint and writing flows. Do you have videos that show how to create the form that you were using for the expense report and how to set up the tiles with report details and timeline?!
Playlist on SharePoint list and form formatting - ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiE7C_2lVNAPzgHXsBykG0Tf.html Video description contains links to my GitHub repo where you can download the JSON schema for the List form.
Mr Reza, Thank you very much for your tutorials, I loved them. please I need to know how we can calculate the total number of days taken/left ? can you help me
Thanks for watching. Calculating total number of days left depends upon where your days left info is stored. You can use Power Automate to connect to any system of record. To provide guidance, I would need to look at your scenario in action. I would recommend to post your query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Hi Reza thanks for the explanation... brilliantly done. However may I know how you used the key process indicator and status of the flow moving with each approval done? I couldn't relate to that however it gives a nice and easy view..for Better understanding.
Reza - You are my go-to source for learning about Power Automate! Thank you for all of the time and effort you put in to your video tutorials. They are very helpful. I do have one question. I have multiple approvers in a document library, but the approvers are different for each document and vary in number from one to four, depending on the document and department. I need the documents approved serially, as this video shows. Because I don't have a static group of approvers, I'm wondering if it is possible to use the flow described and use input fields in the 'For a selected file" trigger in place of the varApprovers? Right now I have different flows for 1 approver, 2 approvers, 3 approvers, and 4 approvers and enter the names in when I start the approval flow. Would be great to have just one flow to select from.
Thanks so much for watching and learning from the videos! For a selected item trigger is limited to certain features. You cannot dynamically define approvers with this trigger. You may want to start your flow automatically on item created and assign your approvers based on metadata. I have done 18 approval-based videos covering various scenario. They are all on the Approvals playlist on my channel.
Fantastic as usual Reza!! I've seen a lot of your videos about approvals. But I have one problem when I tried to apply. I'm constructing a document library with approval circle and I used as a base 2 of your videos, paralel approval and serial approval but in both I have infinite loop problem. I think this is normal because I use "when a file is created or modified (properties only)" and in last step I modify properties. The problem starts when I want to avoid infinite looping. I used most of ideas I've seen in internet. Like using flag column or multiline column with null value (I can't use service email) and partially works. It works when I upload a new file, but when I overwrite a file, I can't get flow to start. Reason is that columns used as flag are not returning to default value when I overwrite a file. I've created a column called MultiLineFlag and the library doesn't allow to select "APPEND CHANGES TO EXISTING TEXT", so I've created at Site and the adquire it on library. The column was defined as "Hidden", but anyway it doesn't reset value to NULL when I overwrite a file. I have same problem using other kind of columns like YES/NO. Could you help me to arrive to a solution? Thanks a lot for your videos, they are inspirating!
Thanks for watching and liking the videos. Your scenario is not something I have tried with files. Overwriting files I believe creates a new file and then you can set its properties. This might be how doc libs work. I would recommend checking on forums or posting your scenario on forums to see if anyone has a workaround for this powerusers.microsoft.com
Super thanks bro. I have 2 questions. 1. What if I have multiple approvers in each level. Eg. In 1st level, there are 3 approvers and any one of the 3 can approve 1st level. Same with other levels. 2. If the requestor or any one approver in any of the level cancel the approval request via teams, How to update the status in the SharePoint item as "cancelled"
1 - for multiple approvers also it depends on type of approval - all must approve, first to respond etc. Based on that you can check outcome. The formatting also would need to change to handle list of approvers who responded. Would be a lot more work but possible. 2 - If cancelled via teams, the flow will wait for response, once canceled the flow can pick that information and update status.
Reza you are savior to me:) Just short question, I would like to save and notify the comments from each approvers to requester. Could you please advise?
Thanks! I have done several approval videos on tracking all comments received and logging them. They can easily be sent back in an email to approver. Check my Approvals playlist - ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html
This is awesome @Reza Question: My group wants a history of approvals. Do I need a separate list of Approvals per request? I see towards the end of the video that 17:35 that there is some history. Is that designed in your list? If I have say 6 approvers and they want to see the history, how do i design my list?
Most welcome. Check approvals playlist on my channel. I have done multiple videos where I have shown saving approval history + video description has links to download the sample flow wherein you can see all the logic.
The flow you created is beautiful and very useful, I would need something similar but I would also need to send the attachment for approval. Unfortunately I have never "programmed" in Power Automate and therefore some steps are not very understandable, is there any documentation that you can study to learn how to create flows? is it possible to receive your stream and do a "copy and paste" and then edit it? Thank you
Thanks. Video description has link to download sample App & has the JSON formatting provided. Flow approval attachments - ua-cam.com/video/ShNhn-jSBC0/v-deo.html
Thank you Reza,finally i solved that problem, do u have any tuturial about this kind of flow or any help-----> I have a column “Department“, which 7 department, any department has a responsibile to approve the file, how can i create a flow in the first level and send approval email to who is responsible of the department, i mean assigned to group dynamiclly who is responsibile that has been selected for that file.
Hi Reza, Great video, very informative and detailed. Howver, i am facing an issue when i create a list with "persons" column. I want the approvers to be listed in order how i type them, however when i add all the approvers, after i save the task, it sorts by A-Z, then it starts the approval process based on this sorting, not how i inputed them. Please if you can support me how to overcome this issue with the persons column, not by writing the emails manually. Thank you in advance!
@@RezaDorrani yes, the moment i click save it automatically sorts in sharepoint A-Z. Then that order is the definitive one which flow is using to send the requests for approval.
@@Videos-ky6rq Another option you can try is change the approvers col to single line of text . Put email address of approvers semicolon separated in there. You would need to make some updates in flow logic then.
@@RezaDorrani yes seems strange for me as well. Anyway, this was more convenient to use, rather than inputing email addresses each time. However seems i am left with that solution. Thank you for your swift reply and support. Big fan of your videos :)
Hey Reza, love your content! If you wanted each approver to see the previous approvers comments in the approval notification they receive, how would you go about implementing that? Thanks again for all of your awesome videos, it has given me so much!
Maintain an approval history variable (I have shown this in some of my approval videos). Whenever an approval task is assigned, you can add the approval history info to the approval task description.
Thank you so much for another great lesson. Can you please guide me when I unselect the approval comments column from the view then why do approval comments not show on the timelines? It's showing properly on the timelines in your video even though the comments column is not part of the view.
This is great! Thank you for providing this solution. I have added dynamic emails (3) into the approver array. When there are only two approvers so one of the dynamic approvers is listed as "null" How would I make the flow set to approve if the last approver is null?
I will have to look at your flow in action to provide any guidance. I would recommend you post your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Really really helpful demo. I'm attempting to do this in my office, for a slightly different request, but my challenge is needing 60% approval for the request to be approved. Any tips to accomplish this with a similar flow?
I am new to Power Apps and Power Automation. I have watched this video and the power app video. How do I integrate this Power Automation into the Power App? I want the review/approval process to be done in the App. I know this is a basic question, but I am new to all of this!
AA Reza, greatly appreciate the shearing of your invaluable knowledge and guidance. I have few questions pertaining to the membership tiers of bronze, silver & gold. Please let me know how to best to contact you.
HI Reza, thanks for the amazing video, just a quick one. What if there is an invoice which needs to be attached in the email how do you do it? thanks again for the amazing videos
Hi Reza, I love your channel, I learn a lot with it, thanks for your generosity sharing with the community. I'm doing a project similar to this, but I have a question. In my case there are 3 types of request High, Low and modification and depending on which option is chosen, it is necessary to fill in certain fields so that the approvers can evaluate the approval. in your example there is the table "Expense Reports" and a second table "Expense Types". In my case it would be the tables "Dictionary Request" and "Type of Request". This table is the one that has the 3 types of request: Addition, Deletion and Modification and their corresponding approvers. How can I make the requester see only the fields that he has to fill in depending on the type of request he makes? Should I create more tables with the necessary data for each option? If so, how do I link it to the "Dictionary Request" table? Thanks
Consider me a new subscriber Reza. I’m just starting out in these flows and approvals. I’m loving it so far. Two questions if I may and I hope you will answer them for me. 1. You have approval history time being converted to Pacific Standard Time, what expression do I need to have my own time (UK)? 2. I also noticed that if approved don’t have pictures on their profiles, the order changes to those with pictures first then those without. I’ve changed the column settings accordingly but in the formatting json it still shows the pictures in Gallery view. Can you help?
Thanks. 1 - Check expressions documentation for that expression. It has all time zones listed. I also did a dedicated video on flow expressions which may help. 2 - Has nothing to do with profile pictures. I have seen a few sites where it does not respect the order. Not sure why. I have not experienced that issue.
Thank you so much Reza for sharing your ideas and knowledge! By the way, one can refresh your knowledge about arrays at the same time! How about extending this workflow template to include reminders, escalations and a time-out, for example? ;-)
I have a full playlist on approvals that includes reminders, escalations, time-out & more. Check it out here - ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html
Hi, Reza, thanks for sharing such great contents with us. I have an issue where I try to insert the 'Claims' token in the select data operation but cannot find the 'Claims' dynamic content. Where can I find it?
From a data privacy point of view, I see the following problem: 1) I understand that the applicant is only able to see his tickets within the application. --> However, if this applicant somehow finds out the link to the underlying list on sharepoint, this applicant is able to see all entries of any employee, right? 2) This can be restricted so that only self-created entries are visible. --> Nevertheless, then the approver will not be able to see the entries anymore 3) We could enable the approver to see any entries. --> However, this has the following two problems: 1) if the approver is the same time applicant (e.g. for request made by himself) he can see all entries made by other approvers; 2) Any approver would need to be separately given access, which does not work in a bigger organization. Do you agree with my above notes or do you see any simple way of solving the data privacy issue?
Approvers in this video are being dynamically fetched from SP. They are not always the same people as the config list can be updated. I have done many approval-based videos covering a wide variety of scenarios which may help. Check ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html
@@RezaDorrani ok thanks but the users must still be updated somewhere. What I am trying to set up is an approval flow for when a document is created or modified in a SharePoint library. Within the library the person who creates/modifies that file can select that file and choosing the "Automate" option in the library can send the file for approval to different approvers by entering their email addresses (I have set up an option (send document for approval). The problem I have is that I want to set the sequence of approvals. One of the email users approves the file first and then an email is sent to the second approver to approve the file. At the moment when I enter the email addresses it sends to both for approvers for approval at the same time. I have pretty much followed the video below and added in email notifications in the flow: SharePoint Online - Document Library Dynamic Approval Workflow With Power Automate - UA-cam
@@jamesodonnell5034 I will have to look at your flow in action to provide guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Helo Reza, Thanks for the very handy and useful videos you provide. A little side question: in this video you show "card like" badges (see around minute 16'39", with the "Sponsorship for event" item). Is that a special lay out or does this require specific settings in the view of the screen. I like this lay out because is visuales information in a quick and easy fashion.
The card like format uses JSON View Formatting in SharePoint. Video description includes links to download sample flow and JSON schema for card like formatting.
@@RezaDorrani In the meantime I've found your other great video's on the JSON-stuff for alternative lay outs and screen presentations! Thanks Thanks Thanks, again !
Hi Reza. Thanks very much for the informative video! Using this at my current work and your videos have been a lifesaver for me. Am wondering what will happen if at any level of the multi level approval workflow if someone clicks reassign to someone else? Will the flow still work?
Hallo Reza, Thanks for this great video. I want to add a html table to my apppover email. Did you create a video on this. Kind regards Ron van der Laan
Many thanks for the tutorial! Great as always! :) May I ask, if it is possible to use the organization details (visible within outlook, teams, sharepoint) and automatically add the person one reports to as approver (line manager)? Alternatively, (and maybe the option with less errors) I could also think of a form where the line manager needs to be added by the applicant and the request is automatically sent to the person added.
Reza, great Vid. But can you make a video where the creator of the ticket can select 2 individual approvers right from the form and then the ticket goes to each one of them, once approved, the status in the list is updated to approve and the name of those two approvers is displayed in the Approvers column? or if you've created one like this, plz provide a video link. Thanks in advance!
I make videos when I get multiple requests on a particular topic. Every quarter I ask subscribers for topic suggestions on the Community Tab of my UA-cam channel. Subscribers vote for topics and the highest voted topics get added to my backlog. Make sure you post this in the next topic suggestion post. If it gets a lot of votes, I will add it to my backlog.
Thank you for useful materials :) Everything is clearly explained, but even though I watched the videos several times and downloaded your flow, I have a problem with downloading from the list of two approvers? Do you have any more explanations for that or do you use this variable in other videos?
I have a full playlist on approvals which covers a wide range of scenarios: ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html As for your issue, I will have to look at your flow in action to provide guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Thank you for sharing Reza. Will it be possible to set a reminder duration for each level dynamically? Example: one the first loop for the 1st approval, if the user did not make a decision within 2 days -> send 1st reminder. After 3 days if also no decision has been taken it should go to the second approval. The number (2 days) will be dynamic as the user can change it from an SP list anytime when needed.
Hi Reza! This is brilliant. But I did not manage to read the expression for the value of Approval Status field at 16:18. Could you please share this whole expression? Should I use the same expression for Approver index field? Thank you!
@@RezaDorrani I've got an error when trying to import the flow but I found the expression in the project json file. One more question: why are you setting the Status variable to Approved / Rejected after the Update item actions in the end of the flow? Thank you! You saved my day with this flow
Thank you for all of your wonderful videos Reza! I do have one question, is it possible to update a column (Completion Status) after each approver approves their task and to have their name displayed in an assigned to field if it is pending their approval? Any help is much appreciated!
Thanks for the video, it's a great idea! Do you have a video or some way to, for example, have 3 users to approve 1 document and if the first 2 approve it is approved immediately
I do not have a video on that scenario. My approvals playlist has a lot of use cases though. You would need to mix and match. ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html
Thank you so much Reza. This tutorial video was really insightful. My question is, can we display different details or information for each approver using this flow?
Can you please elaborate more on different details or information for each approver? Video showcases complete tracking of status for each approver + an approval history timeline.
@@RezaDorrani I think he's referring to the approval message/detals/summary each approver receives. Is there a scenario where they each get a different detailed approval message ?
@@kingsleyudeagha Possible but it would involved more complexity in the flow. One could use expressions and accordingly display approval message per approver.
Reza, thank you for what you do - I've been following your videos for the past several months and you are an inspiration. I love this flow, but I have a question. I'd like to try to apply this to a vacation travel request for my organization. When I follow the standard pattern that you outline at 0:58, I have 4 pre-approvers before reaching the final approver. If I follow the 'yes' branch with that many levels, by the end I cannot create the last condition control to complete the approval (not sure if this is a Power Automate limitation). My question is this: is it possible allow the flow continue to the final approver if any of the pre-approvers reject the request?
That would require re-design of the logic. I do not have a video reference on this scenario and would have to try it out to provide guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Hi Reza, thanks for sharing such useful video and this is exactly what I need for my job, but may I know the expression details for "Approver Index" in power automate flow?
Hi Reza, great idea having the Approval in an Apply to each, probably will have the same problem i have with serial Approvals where in Teams Approvals it wont show the full path/route of the approval i.e. each person in the approval and who it is currently with. I great feature but only works if all Approvers are in the same Approval Action in the Flow.
@@RezaDorrani Guess what im asking is if you look in Teams approvals as the person submitting the Expense claim do you see all the recipients of the Approval and where its up to or just the current approver that the loop is on?
@@RezaDorrani its a pity its not like Sharepoint 2010 worflow approvals where you could set stages in either parallel or serial hope they introduce this feature one day. Great video much food for thought! Thanks
Reza, Thank you so much for posting this detailed video for dynamic multi-level workflow! I have a question though. How would you handle the workflow if you only needed a single Expense Types? And can that group of approvers be a default choice every time an item is created without the requestor having to choose an option from the Lookup column? Example: When a new item is created, a default choice is made to populate the list of approvers. If anyone knows how this might work, I would really appreciate a response!
@@RezaDorrani Hi! Sorry no. What I am trying to do is have the list of approvers selected by default when the item is created. The user does not have to pick anything. The reason for this is because I only need one dynamic workflow, not a choice of three. Using an example from your video: User creates a new item. Expense Types: Training is the default choice. So the workflow would be james taylor, Reza Dorrani and Sarah Tabor.
@@RezaDorrani I have tried adding an Update Item step earlier in the flow and setting it during the Update Status step. The Approvers People column never populates with the list of people. I am just not understanding why it works when it is selected by the creator.
@@RezaDorrani I think I got it. I set the Get Approvers Filter Query to Title eq 'Name of Title'. Instead of it looking at the Lookup field at all, its looking directly at the one list item.
Thanks Reza for amazing video, love the format card and timeline so easy for anyone to understand, I love how to store approver in an array and amazing expression. But I don’t understand why you use Select action and use claims?
I used the Select action with claims token since I needed to update the expense request item with the approver information. In order to update person type columns, we need just the Claims token.
I am using the last part of the video to include the procedure to a Purchase Order approval, where I have different approvals depending on which department is requesting the purchasing.
Thank you Reza. Question:- is there a way to track if an approval workflow has been reassigned to another user and then to write that information back to their approval workflow log.
Reza! This is amazing and such a great video. I have one question, I have 3 approvers and everything works beautifully but it's changing the status to approved after the 2nd approver. Do I need to change the increment variable/varcounter after start/wait for approval to "2" instead of 1?
Wow, this is very insightful. how do I leverage this on my project? I wanted to ask I am working on your project and I am using Microsoft Forms to create an appraisal form however i want to use Power Automate to manage both the employee who has been appraised and the line manager who is providing feedback. any advise as to how i can used PA?#
Video description has link to download sample flow. You can give that a shot. I do not have a specific video on your use case though. I will recommend checking on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/ in case someone has done something similar.
@@RezaDorrani I am very new trying to create flows and following videos step by step. Not sure how to take reminders and make it fit into the flow you’ve shown. I’ve looked at your playlist but still struggling.
Hi Reza! This is a huge help for the project I'm working on. I am new to creating workflows, but I think I can do this. I'm still a little confused about the tiles. Can they be built without SharePoint designer? Or is SharePoint designer where the code is added? Are new tiles automatically generated every time a new expense report is generated? Do you have a video for building a page with the tiles? Sorry for all the questions.
Thanks. The tiles look is built using JSON formatting. Video description has link to the JSON code. I have a playlist on Sharepoint list formatting using JSON on my channel. Check that one. SharePoint designer is not required.
Thank you so much for this awesome tutorial Reza. Is it possible to change the approvers mid flow (if someone didn't respond in a timely manner ) without having to cancel/resubmit and also keep the previous approvers outcome? Assume at the time of submission, only one person is identified as an approver. Is it possible to grab the newly delegated person from the updated SP list and apply it to the running flow?
Currently there is no cancel approval action. So not sure if there is a way in which this can be achieved. May be check on forums in case someone has a workaround powerusers.microsoft.com
Hi Reza, many thanks for creating this tutorial. I would like to include PowerApps into the multiple approval workflow. Would this be possible, if so how?
Hi Reza, as usual a very insightful and easy to follow tutorial. I have a question - I've built a similar flow for 3 static approvers and I record action of each approver in a sharepoint list item with attributes like approver name, time, comments and decision. For each document, I also create a approvral-id which is a running number that is applied to each approver action. What I'm looking for is to create a PDF document of the approval items under a approval-id and store in a sharepoint directory. Is there a easy way to create PDF from sharepoint? Whatever I've researched so far is telling me to create Word templates with fields and then use to first create a MS word doc and then convert it to PDF.
Thanks Reza, what if I was working with a specific memorandum as an attachment (as opposed to the expense report that seems to be an embedded list)? Action, I upload it to a sharepoint folder, that then kicks off the serial multiple approval, (I would actually prefer to label all other participants in the workflow as "Recommenders" and only the final email address is the approver. I would like this flow to be selectable from Teams (as a Teams approval). If the recommender or approver is reassigned, I would like a comment field for the recommender / approver to comment on the reason. I am battling to figure out how to get past your Update item stage though because Im working with a pdf file rather than an list.
I do not have a video on this use case. Possible for sure. But I would have to try it out myself to provide any guidance. I will recommend you check on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/ in case someone has done something similar.
Hi Reza, fantasti videos / downloads available. I've got some great use out of it so far. The very last step (using the variable to update approval history) I am having some trouble with though. I get the error message, "Bad request. The variable 'varApprovalHistory' of type 'Array' cannot be initialized or updated with value of type 'String'. The variable 'varApprovalHistory' only supports values of types 'Array'." Have you got any ideas what could be causing this? I'm going to post in the power users forum if there is not a quick solution that springs to mind from you.
@@RezaDorrani I got the same error. I changed it to append to array which got rid of the error, but duplicated my response history when there is more than 1 approver. I then tried deleting that step from the flow, which also happens to be the last step, and that fixed it. Not sure why more people didn't report this but it fixed it for me. Great solution by the way. I made my own adaptions for my own use case and it works really well and looks professional, without having to go to Power Apps.
Thanks for the inspiration Reza. Leveraging the Apply to each control and and applying the counter variable to dynamically determine the final approval responsible is quite brilliant :)
This is brilliant, Reza. I'd never think to use an "Apply to each" on an array variable and start and wait for approvals within each.
As always, man, this is so good! This is such a helpful way to improve a clunky and hard to maintain flow.
Glad it was helpful! Thank You Chad.
This is absolutely brilliant. I never thought of the approval workflow in this way.
Thanks, Reza for your great efforts.
You are most welcome
Thanks for sharing this.
I have built something very similar for my Organization too, which takes care of multiple Business Processes for Approval as i tried to create as generic as possible.
There are two more rules i added…. Configuration can decide weather the Approval behaviour would be “First to Respond” or “Everyone must Approve”.
it can also decide that weather the Approvers would be predefined in a List or it can dynamically pick the Approver based on the transaction.
I am currently working on something similar for Document Library Approval.
I really loved the Card Presentation of Approval status. I would definitely try this JSON Format.
Thanks for sharing your scenario as well.
I was planning to add the approval behavior but wanted to keep the video simple.
Sharing for beginners, when creating approvals, if you don't hit the "show advanced options" all approvals will come from you the creator of the flow. You'll end up getting alot of emails/questions of why they are coming from you vs the person who created the approval. Question for Reza, since power automate doesn't provide a great audit trail, I know in a previous video you created a separate list for that, if we took those steps and put it in here, would the outcome be the same? Also could you show a dynamic approval flow leveraging users in AD groups and distribution gorups vs names stored in a sharepoint list?
Thanks for sharing the tip on setting the requestor option in approvals.
Audit trail - Outcome would be the same. In fact in the last part of the video where I showcase the complete flow, I have reused the logic from my previous video.
Group Approvals is supported in approval action. Names stored in SharePoint list can be replaced by AD Mail enabled Security Group Names.
@@RezaDorrani- would you be willing to create a tutorial on how to accomplish this? This flow is great and would love to see this built into it.
@@matthewryan5505 I do not have plans to work on an updated video on this topic. I have 10-12 video ideas planned that Im working on.
Reza... You are just amazing.
I remember Daniel used to say he is your big Fan. He is wrong I am your big Fan and as always you are my superhero..🦸
Thank You 🙏
Great video! Very clear and easy to follow. Do you have any tutorials on how you customised the list view to show as cards such as what you had in this tutorial
Thanks.
Check ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiE7C_2lVNAPzgHXsBykG0Tf.html
Exceptional Solution! I would like to know more about how you did the list card formatting to display real time status. Appreciate the sharing of your knowledge.
Video description has link to download the full solution
Hi Reza, very useful in many scenarios, thanks for sharing. Something that can be challenging in Lists is validation between columns. For example, depending on the "Expense Type" the "Amount Value" allowed may vary and making a "Comments" column required. If Expense Type = Travel the Max Amount Allowed = 5.000 and you must fill de comments column.
There is a validation settings option in SharePoint.
Check ua-cam.com/video/fb0ePBrifP0/v-deo.html
Thanks Reza, something that I forgot to include in my previous message was that if the validation works for Lookup columns?
@@FranciscoCamacho_fjcamachoj It does not.
it's really helpful, to look for a flow solution for 2 SharePoint lists (request & approvers) request needs to be approved by multiple departments and each department has multiple approvers.
If this video does not meet your scenario and if you need assistance with a specific use case, then I will recommend posting your query on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/
Thank you, Reza! Amazing content as always!
I am wondering if this can be applied to a more complicated approval process, where we have approval stages based on Expense Amount (ex.: Amount < 1K -> 1 level Approval, if >1k -> 2nd level, if >3K 3rd Level etc.), combined with dynamic approvers based on Expense Type. I also need to record the approval history on item level: I have columns for all approval stages: Approval L1 Responce, Approval L2 responce, etc. where I capture Response Summary from the Approval action.
Basically I need to capture Approvers first, based on Expense type, then based on Amount to start approvals for each level, until Final Approval or the condition for the amount is no longer met.
Is this possible with this method, or becomes too complex?
Thank you!
It is possible but the code would be complex.
Any chance this request was implemented from your end? I have same requirement to be deployed
Hello Lin,
Were you able to realize this? I want to do the same
@@RezaDorrani Is it possible that you give us an example: each approver has his ceiling amount and the approvers also depend on the type of expense?
@@abdouramaneyoussoufou8789 An example would have to be through a video. I have 10-20 video ideas lined up and I would need a lot more folks requesting this scenario for me to give it a higher priority.
Great video Reza! Last week I was working on exactly same requirement. I used a Switch to control flow sequence based on the status of the approval. Your approach is much more elegant. Thanks for sharing your talents!
Thank you for sharing your scenario.
There are always multiple ways to achieve a desired outcome.
You are genius Reza as your knowledge around these power platform tools are commendable, God bless you and give more knowledge and wisdom to share such useful video with us. I am learning a lot of new things through your amazing videos.
Thank you so much 🙏
Thanks for the detailed video - this is just what I was looking for to help a friend out. They work in an office and deal with cover requests which are multi level. So some people only have 1 approver and there are a few that have as many as 5! I've duplicated your power automate and followed the guide and although there are no errors it doesn't email or show the progress in the approvals section. I really can't see what I've done wrong but am sure it will be something minor. The first part of the flow works as the status changes from new to pending - but that is all that seems to happen. I'll see about getting this on a forum later on. Hopefully once I can get your original one working correctly I can adjust it suit my friends setup.
Most welcome!
I have not come across the mentioned issue and hence not sure what the reason for your issue is. I recommend posting your issue with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani Thanks for the quick response. I'll do that on the forum shortly. I've managed to get a bit further with it so that the approvers are now getting the emails as well as seeing the approval status update. In the flow on step 4 called 'get approvers' there is custom filter:
Title eq' @{triggerOutputs()?['body/Expense_x0020_Type/Value']}'
With this as above - the flow will run and complete with no errors - but then none of the emails / approval works. If I delete this then I am getting the first part to work - but then get errors on the very last part of the 'Yes' flow.
For the moment I have set this up exactly as per your guide so I'm stumped at what I've done wrong.
Thanks again for such great resources.
@@ExeterTrees Hey, same response as before. I have not come across any issues hence not sure. Best to try on the forums.
@@RezaDorrani Hopefully I will get some feedback on the forum shortly. One thing I was curious about was the filter you put in the 'get approvers' part of the flow:
Title eq' @{triggerOutputs()?['body/Expense_x0020_Type/Value']}'
How does the above filter the users selection of the type of approvers? I can't see the reference to the _x0020_
Sorry - my knowlege of Power Automate as you can see is not great - just so close to getting this work and I am confident it is related to this custom filter
Thanks again creating these guides and resources.
@@ExeterTrees Video description has link to all details. List, flows etc. I would recommend checking that.
I am actually using this for project management and technical approvals, this will work, I'll have to build a little more but this is exactly what I needed! Thank you so much
Glad to hear that! Thanks for watching
Awesome video. Learned something new this morning. Why I could not stop the video in middle once started? 😊
Glad to hear the video is helpful. Keep watching:)
You have simplified the complex flow, just Wow. Keep sharing.
Thanks a ton
Thank you so much Reza!! This was very helpful. I tried to recreate this flow but I couldn't figure out how you got it to show what the status of each approver was. Thanks in advance.
Video description has link to download sample flow. You can give that a try.
Alternatively, I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
amazing content, specially the dynamic approvers from the sharepoint list and then approving it.
Awesome! Thanks so much
This is so good! Thank you for sharing this one! I noticed that there was a capability in your approval notification to enter a comment, however, when I tried mine, I do not have that.
Most welcome!
At what time in video do I show adding comment?
Your video series is brilliant and helpful for anyone new to Poet Automate and also to experienced people to sharpen their skills.
I loved your json gallery view template and adopted it but when there is more than 2 approves it shows 2 person profile image and then +2 if there is 4 people, for example.
In your demo I see 3rd person profile image, not not in my case. I haven't made any change to template.
Most welcome!
Well presented and really like the building of the complexity for the use cases and solutions. Very professional.
Thank You Steven
I am a power automate rookie and this is a great help. thank you! If I could ask a question - I have a Shipping Request form issue. PHASE 1: The user fills out the request for items to be shipped by the warehouse. The user receives a confirmation email that it was sent to the warehouse. PHASE 2: The warehouse completes the shipping and another confirmation email should go to the user when the form is set to "SHIPPED" I can't get the second phase email to work.
I will have to look at your flow in action to know the reason why your flow is not working. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani I got it finally. Not like I expected, though. when the infopath form (sadly they want to use infopath for now)is created, one email goes out, when it is changed, the other goes...after I placed the change condition in the NO branch!
Hi Reza, I couldn't find the 'Claims' token for mapping in the Select operation. Your help is much needed!! Great video anyway!
Try expression item()?[‘Claims’]
Single quote around claims
@@RezaDorrani Noted and thanks. How about the 'join"? Can you explain what is in it? :)
@@miaknbl I don’t remember every step. Video description may have link to download sample flow.
You're very good Reza. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Thanks Daniel
Reza your tutorial is the best!!!
I have been working on a power app that requires multi level approval, I don't know how to connect an array of approvers to power app startscreen, I have watched the other video you have about text input approver, but as soon as I change the column type to choice column I will get an incompatibility in the logic test. I am quit new to the power app, It will be great if you could give me some hint on this.
Also, I will need to figure out how to make them into a parallel approval process...
I dont know if I have that specific use case. Best thing would be to post your issue with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com since here on chat it is not easy to debug or resolve issues.
Thank you, Reza! Amazing content as always!
Most welcome
Your vedio is amazing and helpful for our knowledge and career.
thank you ❤️😊
My pleasure 😊
Many thanks for sharing this video.
In my dept ..we need to put the comparison of offers and get approvals from different head function...so evrytime i have to print and sign againt L1.Can you please make one video on this excel . It would solve problem of all buyers globally. 😀
I will need a lot more folks requesting this scenario in order to plan a video on it. This is the first request on this topic. I have topics with over 25 requests that I am yet to get to.
Thank you for sharing! Very helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
Amazing presentation, clear and straight to the point ..Thank you !
Thanks so much!
Such a great instructional! Thank you!
You are most welcome!
Extremely helpful and as usual thanks for sharing a very practical use case. LOVE IT❤❤
Thank You
Hola, apenas descubro tu canal, hice algo similar pero usando switch case, no sé si hice lo correcto porque si bien los casos tenían que cumplir con ciertas condiciones, el código que llevan en el cuerpo cada cada caso era el mismo y no siento que sea práctico repetir código entonces ahora estoy pensando implementar algo como lo de tu ejemplo, voy a realizar la práctica y evaluar la mejor opción. Gracias por compartir. Saludos y éxitos.
Better late than never 😊
Welcome to the channel
Absolutely Brilliant, you've made it look so simple. Wonder how one can embed this into a broader solution where approval workflows are part of the larger solution (in a nutshell, how one can avoid reinventing the wheel)
SharePoint lists and flows can be templatized.
"This video was very helpful to me, special thanks to you, you saved me 😊
I followed your video properly, but sir, I am adding a condition for a timeout in the loop in the multi-level approver where the condition outcome is equal to approve, but my condition is not fitting in the loop."
You're most welcome!
am not sure why condition is not fitting in loop. I recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com in case someone has experienced or tried something similar
Awesome video! I’m new to using SharePoint and writing flows. Do you have videos that show how to create the form that you were using for the expense report and how to set up the tiles with report details and timeline?!
Playlist on SharePoint list and form formatting - ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiE7C_2lVNAPzgHXsBykG0Tf.html
Video description contains links to my GitHub repo where you can download the JSON schema for the List form.
Superb explanation on all your videos
Thank you so much 🙂
Hi Reza,
Thanks its brilliant can you able to give guidance to record the approver comments in an array of approvals
I have done several approval videos covering various scenarios. I recommend checking approvals playlist on my channel.
So amazing!!! I love this formatting!
Thank you Testuya.
I made the extra effort here since this would be my presentation on the PnP Call :)
Mr Reza, Thank you very much for your tutorials, I loved them.
please I need to know how we can calculate the total number of days taken/left ?
can you help me
Thanks for watching.
Calculating total number of days left depends upon where your days left info is stored.
You can use Power Automate to connect to any system of record.
To provide guidance, I would need to look at your scenario in action.
I would recommend to post your query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Hi Reza thanks for the explanation... brilliantly done. However may I know how you used the key process indicator and status of the flow moving with each approval done? I couldn't relate to that however it gives a nice and easy view..for Better understanding.
Welcome!
The video description has link to download sample flow. You can check the entire logic in it.
Reza - You are my go-to source for learning about Power Automate! Thank you for all of the time and effort you put in to your video tutorials. They are very helpful.
I do have one question. I have multiple approvers in a document library, but the approvers are different for each document and vary in number from one to four, depending on the document and department. I need the documents approved serially, as this video shows. Because I don't have a static group of approvers, I'm wondering if it is possible to use the flow described and use input fields in the 'For a selected file" trigger in place of the varApprovers? Right now I have different flows for 1 approver, 2 approvers, 3 approvers, and 4 approvers and enter the names in when I start the approval flow. Would be great to have just one flow to select from.
Thanks so much for watching and learning from the videos!
For a selected item trigger is limited to certain features. You cannot dynamically define approvers with this trigger. You may want to start your flow automatically on item created and assign your approvers based on metadata.
I have done 18 approval-based videos covering various scenario. They are all on the Approvals playlist on my channel.
Fantastic as usual Reza!! I've seen a lot of your videos about approvals. But I have one problem when I tried to apply. I'm constructing a document library with approval circle and I used as a base 2 of your videos, paralel approval and serial approval but in both I have infinite loop problem. I think this is normal because I use "when a file is created or modified (properties only)" and in last step I modify properties. The problem starts when I want to avoid infinite looping. I used most of ideas I've seen in internet. Like using flag column or multiline column with null value (I can't use service email) and partially works. It works when I upload a new file, but when I overwrite a file, I can't get flow to start. Reason is that columns used as flag are not returning to default value when I overwrite a file. I've created a column called MultiLineFlag and the library doesn't allow to select "APPEND CHANGES TO EXISTING TEXT", so I've created at Site and the adquire it on library. The column was defined as "Hidden", but anyway it doesn't reset value to NULL when I overwrite a file. I have same problem using other kind of columns like YES/NO. Could you help me to arrive to a solution?
Thanks a lot for your videos, they are inspirating!
Thanks for watching and liking the videos.
Your scenario is not something I have tried with files. Overwriting files I believe creates a new file and then you can set its properties. This might be how doc libs work.
I would recommend checking on forums or posting your scenario on forums to see if anyone has a workaround for this
powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani Thanks!! I'll try!
Super thanks bro. I have 2 questions.
1. What if I have multiple approvers in each level. Eg. In 1st level, there are 3 approvers and any one of the 3 can approve 1st level. Same with other levels.
2. If the requestor or any one approver in any of the level cancel the approval request via teams, How to update the status in the SharePoint item as "cancelled"
1 - for multiple approvers also it depends on type of approval - all must approve, first to respond etc. Based on that you can check outcome. The formatting also would need to change to handle list of approvers who responded. Would be a lot more work but possible.
2 - If cancelled via teams, the flow will wait for response, once canceled the flow can pick that information and update status.
Reza you are savior to me:) Just short question, I would like to save and notify the comments from each approvers to requester. Could you please advise?
Thanks!
I have done several approval videos on tracking all comments received and logging them. They can easily be sent back in an email to approver.
Check my Approvals playlist - ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html
This is awesome @Reza
Question: My group wants a history of approvals. Do I need a separate list of Approvals per request? I see towards the end of the video that 17:35 that there is some history. Is that designed in your list? If I have say 6 approvers and they want to see the history, how do i design my list?
Most welcome.
Check approvals playlist on my channel. I have done multiple videos where I have shown saving approval history + video description has links to download the sample flow wherein you can see all the logic.
The flow you created is beautiful and very useful, I would need something similar but I would also need to send the attachment for approval.
Unfortunately I have never "programmed" in Power Automate and therefore some steps are not very understandable, is there any documentation that you can study to learn how to create flows?
is it possible to receive your stream and do a "copy and paste" and then edit it?
Thank you
Thanks.
Video description has link to download sample App & has the JSON formatting provided.
Flow approval attachments - ua-cam.com/video/ShNhn-jSBC0/v-deo.html
Thank you Reza,finally i solved that problem, do u have any tuturial about this kind of flow or any help-----> I have a column “Department“, which 7 department, any department has a responsibile to approve the file, how can i create a flow in the first level and send approval email to who is responsible of the department, i mean assigned to group dynamiclly who is responsibile that has been selected for that file.
I have done 18 videos on approvals. All are in a playlist on my channel. Look through those. I may not have an exact scenario but something close
Hi Reza,
Great video, very informative and detailed. Howver, i am facing an issue when i create a list with "persons" column. I want the approvers to be listed in order how i type them, however when i add all the approvers, after i save the task, it sorts by A-Z, then it starts the approval process based on this sorting, not how i inputed them.
Please if you can support me how to overcome this issue with the persons column, not by writing the emails manually. Thank you in advance!
Is it sorting it in SharePoint? Not sure why it would do that.
@@RezaDorrani yes, the moment i click save it automatically sorts in sharepoint A-Z. Then that order is the definitive one which flow is using to send the requests for approval.
@@Videos-ky6rq Does not seem to happen in my case. Not sure why.
@@Videos-ky6rq Another option you can try is change the approvers col to single line of text .
Put email address of approvers semicolon separated in there. You would need to make some updates in flow logic then.
@@RezaDorrani yes seems strange for me as well. Anyway, this was more convenient to use, rather than inputing email addresses each time. However seems i am left with that solution.
Thank you for your swift reply and support. Big fan of your videos :)
Hey Reza, love your content! If you wanted each approver to see the previous approvers comments in the approval notification they receive, how would you go about implementing that? Thanks again for all of your awesome videos, it has given me so much!
Maintain an approval history variable (I have shown this in some of my approval videos).
Whenever an approval task is assigned, you can add the approval history info to the approval task description.
Thank you so much for another great lesson. Can you please guide me when I unselect the approval comments column from the view then why do approval comments not show on the timelines? It's showing properly on the timelines in your video even though the comments column is not part of the view.
The JSON code needs the column in the view. This is by design.
Comments is part of my view (it is just moved to corner)
This is great! Thank you for providing this solution. I have added dynamic emails (3) into the approver array. When there are only two approvers so one of the dynamic approvers is listed as "null" How would I make the flow set to approve if the last approver is null?
I will have to look at your flow in action to provide any guidance. I would recommend you post your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Really really helpful demo. I'm attempting to do this in my office, for a slightly different request, but my challenge is needing 60% approval for the request to be approved. Any tips to accomplish this with a similar flow?
I have done many approval based videos. They are all placed in my approvals playlist. Il recommend checking them out.
I am new to Power Apps and Power Automation. I have watched this video and the power app video. How do I integrate this Power Automation into the Power App? I want the review/approval process to be done in the App. I know this is a basic question, but I am new to all of this!
Check my playlist on power apps and power automate integration. I have done a video videos on that topic.
AA Reza, greatly appreciate the shearing of your invaluable knowledge and guidance. I have few questions pertaining to the membership tiers of bronze, silver & gold. Please let me know how to best to contact you.
You can ask the questions right here in comments or DM me on linkedin
Great step by step approval. how do i clear or delete all the *test* approvals please
Im not aware of how to delete approval requests. You would probably need to delete the approval info from Dataverse Tables.
Thank you so much Reza.
At the level of the "SELECT" data operation I do not see the dynamic content "CLAIMS"
You will need to use an expression.
Something like item()?['Claims']
@@RezaDorrani Thank you
Thanks Reza for wonderful presentation... Can you please share the Expense Report Approval Flow + JSON Column Formatting? It is missing in the link...
I am working on it :)
Should be posted by end of this week.
Link now has all the data. Try it out!
Thank you
HI Reza, thanks for the amazing video, just a quick one. What if there is an invoice which needs to be attached in the email how do you do it? thanks again for the amazing videos
Most welcome!
Check my playlist on approvals. I have shown how to attach files to approval action.
Hi Reza,
I love your channel, I learn a lot with it, thanks for your generosity sharing with the community.
I'm doing a project similar to this, but I have a question.
In my case there are 3 types of request High, Low and modification and depending on which option is chosen, it is necessary to fill in certain fields so that the approvers can evaluate the approval.
in your example there is the table "Expense Reports" and a second table "Expense Types".
In my case it would be the tables "Dictionary Request" and "Type of Request".
This table is the one that has the 3 types of request: Addition, Deletion and Modification and their corresponding approvers.
How can I make the requester see only the fields that he has to fill in depending on the type of request he makes?
Should I create more tables with the necessary data for each option? If so, how do I link it to the "Dictionary Request" table?
Thanks
You could use power apps to show and hide fields based on selections made - I have done videos on forms where I have shown some of this.
@@RezaDorrani Hi, I made it originally with power apps, but I was wondering if there is any chance also intjis other way.
@@margaretscott2976 I did videos on sp list formatting. It is very limited though. You can check those as well
Consider me a new subscriber Reza. I’m just starting out in these flows and approvals. I’m loving it so far. Two questions if I may and I hope you will answer them for me.
1. You have approval history time being converted to Pacific Standard Time, what expression do I need to have my own time (UK)?
2. I also noticed that if approved don’t have pictures on their profiles, the order changes to those with pictures first then those without. I’ve changed the column settings accordingly but in the formatting json it still shows the pictures in Gallery view. Can you help?
Thanks.
1 - Check expressions documentation for that expression. It has all time zones listed. I also did a dedicated video on flow expressions which may help.
2 - Has nothing to do with profile pictures. I have seen a few sites where it does not respect the order. Not sure why. I have not experienced that issue.
I was the 500th person to like this, thank you Reza
Thank You so much. Wow! This video has done well. I did not expect this response :)
Thank you so much Reza for sharing your ideas and knowledge! By the way, one can refresh your knowledge about arrays at the same time!
How about extending this workflow template to include reminders, escalations and a time-out, for example? ;-)
I have a full playlist on approvals that includes reminders, escalations, time-out & more.
Check it out here - ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html
thank you very much Reza. I was wondering how i can create an email reminder if request has not been actioned "approve or reject".
ua-cam.com/video/ZupQ0AbDl0I/v-deo.html may help.
Hi, Reza, thanks for sharing such great contents with us. I have an issue where I try to insert the 'Claims' token in the select data operation but cannot find the 'Claims' dynamic content. Where can I find it?
At what time in the video do I use the claims token?
@@RezaDorrani I have the same problem. Time 15:14
@@abdouramaneyoussoufou8789 use item()?['Claims'] expression
From a data privacy point of view, I see the following problem:
1) I understand that the applicant is only able to see his tickets within the application.
--> However, if this applicant somehow finds out the link to the underlying list on sharepoint, this applicant is able to see all entries of any employee, right?
2) This can be restricted so that only self-created entries are visible.
--> Nevertheless, then the approver will not be able to see the entries anymore
3) We could enable the approver to see any entries.
--> However, this has the following two problems: 1) if the approver is the same time applicant (e.g. for request made by himself) he can see all entries made by other approvers; 2) Any approver would need to be separately given access, which does not work in a bigger organization.
Do you agree with my above notes or do you see any simple way of solving the data privacy issue?
Depends on the permission setup.
You could setup item level permission. Creator & approver has access to item.
@@RezaDorrani Gonna try that out, thanks a lot Reza!
Hi Reza, great video and thank you for taking the time to upload. How can be this be done when the approvers are not always the same people?
Approvers in this video are being dynamically fetched from SP. They are not always the same people as the config list can be updated.
I have done many approval-based videos covering a wide variety of scenarios which may help. Check ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html
@@RezaDorrani ok thanks but the users must still be updated somewhere.
What I am trying to set up is an approval flow for when a document is created or modified in a SharePoint library. Within the library the person who creates/modifies that file can select that file and choosing the "Automate" option in the library can send the file for approval to different approvers by entering their email addresses (I have set up an option (send document for approval).
The problem I have is that I want to set the sequence of approvals. One of the email users approves the file first and then an email is sent to the second approver to approve the file.
At the moment when I enter the email addresses it sends to both for approvers for approval at the same time.
I have pretty much followed the video below and added in email notifications in the flow:
SharePoint Online - Document Library Dynamic Approval Workflow With Power Automate - UA-cam
@@jamesodonnell5034 I will have to look at your flow in action to provide guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Great video Reza, I've a question, is it possible to get the comments from the approval in the Sharepoint Item comments?
I guess you mean the new comments feature in SharePoint. I believe Yes using APIs but I have not tried it.
Helo Reza, Thanks for the very handy and useful videos you provide. A little side question: in this video you show "card like" badges (see around minute 16'39", with the "Sponsorship for event" item). Is that a special lay out or does this require specific settings in the view of the screen. I like this lay out because is visuales information in a quick and easy fashion.
The card like format uses JSON View Formatting in SharePoint.
Video description includes links to download sample flow and JSON schema for card like formatting.
@@RezaDorrani In the meantime I've found your other great video's on the JSON-stuff for alternative lay outs and screen presentations! Thanks Thanks Thanks, again !
Hi Reza. Thanks very much for the informative video! Using this at my current work and your videos have been a lifesaver for me.
Am wondering what will happen if at any level of the multi level approval workflow if someone clicks reassign to someone else? Will the flow still work?
Glad to hear that!
Yes it will work with reassign. Easiest way to check it out is by testing it.
Wow this is so information thank you Reza
Your most welcome!
Hallo Reza,
Thanks for this great video.
I want to add a html table to my apppover email.
Did you create a video on this.
Kind regards
Ron van der Laan
Html is currently not supported for approval emails. You would need to use Markdown language. I have not done a video on that.
@@RezaDorrani hallo Reza,
Thanks for your respons.
Ron van der Laan
Many thanks for the tutorial! Great as always! :)
May I ask, if it is possible to use the organization details (visible within outlook, teams, sharepoint) and automatically add the person one reports to as approver (line manager)? Alternatively, (and maybe the option with less errors) I could also think of a form where the line manager needs to be added by the applicant and the request is automatically sent to the person added.
Possible. You could provide a person type column where user can select the approver.
@@RezaDorrani Many thanks Reza - gonna try that out! :)
Reza, great Vid. But can you make a video where the creator of the ticket can select 2 individual approvers right from the form and then the ticket goes to each one of them, once approved, the status in the list is updated to approve and the name of those two approvers is displayed in the Approvers column?
or if you've created one like this, plz provide a video link.
Thanks in advance!
I make videos when I get multiple requests on a particular topic.
Every quarter I ask subscribers for topic suggestions on the Community Tab of my UA-cam channel.
Subscribers vote for topics and the highest voted topics get added to my backlog.
Make sure you post this in the next topic suggestion post. If it gets a lot of votes, I will add it to my backlog.
@@RezaDorrani Thank you so much for responding. Yes I'll vote this in the community channel
Thank you for useful materials :)
Everything is clearly explained, but even though I watched the videos several times and downloaded your flow, I have a problem with downloading from the list of two approvers?
Do you have any more explanations for that or do you use this variable in other videos?
I have a full playlist on approvals which covers a wide range of scenarios: ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html
As for your issue, I will have to look at your flow in action to provide guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani Thank You very much :) I found answer in your movie ua-cam.com/video/5Mypn4oCJdw/v-deo.html
Thank you for sharing Reza. Will it be possible to set a reminder duration for each level dynamically? Example: one the first loop for the 1st approval, if the user did not make a decision within 2 days -> send 1st reminder. After 3 days if also no decision has been taken it should go to the second approval. The number (2 days) will be dynamic as the user can change it from an SP list anytime when needed.
Possible! I did a video on reminders which may help - ua-cam.com/video/ZupQ0AbDl0I/v-deo.html
Hi Reza! This is brilliant. But I did not manage to read the expression for the value of Approval Status field at 16:18. Could you please share this whole expression? Should I use the same expression for Approver index field? Thank you!
Video description has link to download the sample flow. Take a look at the expression in the flow.
@@RezaDorrani I've got an error when trying to import the flow but I found the expression in the project json file. One more question: why are you setting the Status variable to Approved / Rejected after the Update item actions in the end of the flow?
Thank you! You saved my day with this flow
@@hi-chernik Probably not needed. Honestly, it's been a year since I did this and hence do not remember.
Thank you for all of your wonderful videos Reza! I do have one question, is it possible to update a column (Completion Status) after each approver approves their task and to have their name displayed in an assigned to field if it is pending their approval? Any help is much appreciated!
Possible. I have a playlist on approvals covering a lot of scenarios. Not sure if I have covered this scenario though.
Thanks for the video, it's a great idea! Do you have a video or some way to, for example, have 3 users to approve 1 document and if the first 2 approve it is approved immediately
I do not have a video on that scenario.
My approvals playlist has a lot of use cases though. You would need to mix and match.
ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html
Thanks Reza excellent as always
My pleasure!
Thank you so much Reza. This tutorial video was really insightful.
My question is, can we display different details or information for each approver using this flow?
Can you please elaborate more on different details or information for each approver?
Video showcases complete tracking of status for each approver + an approval history timeline.
@@RezaDorrani I think he's referring to the approval message/detals/summary each approver receives. Is there a scenario where they each get a different detailed approval message ?
@@kingsleyudeagha Possible but it would involved more complexity in the flow.
One could use expressions and accordingly display approval message per approver.
@@RezaDorrani my thoughts also. Nice work Reza! Thank you really, it's inspiring.
Reza, thank you for what you do - I've been following your videos for the past several months and you are an inspiration. I love this flow, but I have a question. I'd like to try to apply this to a vacation travel request for my organization. When I follow the standard pattern that you outline at 0:58, I have 4 pre-approvers before reaching the final approver. If I follow the 'yes' branch with that many levels, by the end I cannot create the last condition control to complete the approval (not sure if this is a Power Automate limitation). My question is this: is it possible allow the flow continue to the final approver if any of the pre-approvers reject the request?
That would require re-design of the logic. I do not have a video reference on this scenario and would have to try it out to provide guidance. I would recommend posting your issue/query with screenshots on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Ok, I will try that. Thank you very much for the reply!
Hi Reza, thanks for sharing such useful video and this is exactly what I need for my job, but may I know the expression details for "Approver Index" in power automate flow?
Video description has link to download flow. Check the expression details in there.
@@RezaDorrani 😀thank you!
Hi Reza, great idea having the Approval in an Apply to each, probably will have the same problem i have with serial Approvals where in Teams Approvals it wont show the full path/route of the approval i.e. each person in the approval and who it is currently with. I great feature but only works if all Approvers are in the same Approval Action in the Flow.
Thanks.
I did not understand your question though.
@@RezaDorrani Guess what im asking is if you look in Teams approvals as the person submitting the Expense claim do you see all the recipients of the Approval and where its up to or just the current approver that the loop is on?
@@GoWstingray Only current. But we could use the approval description area and show that information.
@@RezaDorrani its a pity its not like Sharepoint 2010 worflow approvals where you could set stages in either parallel or serial hope they introduce this feature one day. Great video much food for thought! Thanks
@@GoWstingray May be it comes in future :)
Reza, Thank you so much for posting this detailed video for dynamic multi-level workflow! I have a question though.
How would you handle the workflow if you only needed a single Expense Types? And can that group of approvers be a default choice every time an item is created without the requestor having to choose an option from the Lookup column?
Example: When a new item is created, a default choice is made to populate the list of approvers.
If anyone knows how this might work, I would really appreciate a response!
You want the user to pick the approvers? I have a video topic I am working on which shows this. Coming next week!
@@RezaDorrani Hi! Sorry no. What I am trying to do is have the list of approvers selected by default when the item is created. The user does not have to pick anything. The reason for this is because I only need one dynamic workflow, not a choice of three.
Using an example from your video: User creates a new item. Expense Types: Training is the default choice. So the workflow would be james taylor, Reza Dorrani and Sarah Tabor.
@@Jeff-en5bf That you can easily hardcode directly in the flow itself.
@@RezaDorrani I have tried adding an Update Item step earlier in the flow and setting it during the Update Status step. The Approvers People column never populates with the list of people. I am just not understanding why it works when it is selected by the creator.
@@RezaDorrani I think I got it. I set the Get Approvers Filter Query to Title eq 'Name of Title'. Instead of it looking at the Lookup field at all, its looking directly at the one list item.
Thanks Reza for amazing video, love the format card and timeline so easy for anyone to understand, I love how to store approver in an array and amazing expression. But I don’t understand why you use Select action and use claims?
I used the Select action with claims token since I needed to update the expense request item with the approver information.
In order to update person type columns, we need just the Claims token.
@@RezaDorrani Sorry I cannot follow you, where is the list with the column Claims to update?
I am using the last part of the video to include the procedure to a Purchase Order approval, where I have different approvals depending on which department is requesting the purchasing.
@@MarianoHLX Video description has link to download sample flow and setup lists.
@@MarianoHLX please check Video description. It has link to my GitHub repo.
Thank you Reza.
Question:- is there a way to track if an approval workflow has been reassigned to another user and then to write that information back to their approval workflow log.
You would have to query Dataverse Approvals based tables (premium feature) to know if approval was reassigned.
Reza! This is amazing and such a great video. I have one question, I have 3 approvers and everything works beautifully but it's changing the status to approved after the 2nd approver. Do I need to change the increment variable/varcounter after start/wait for approval to "2" instead of 1?
It should work as demonstrated in the video. Video description has link to download the sample flow.
Amazing! Thank you very much.
Thanks for watching.
Wow, this is very insightful. how do I leverage this on my project? I wanted to ask I am working on your project and I am using Microsoft Forms to create an appraisal form however i want to use Power Automate to manage both the employee who has been appraised and the line manager who is providing feedback. any advise as to how i can used PA?#
Video description has link to download sample flow. You can give that a shot. I do not have a specific video on your use case though. I will recommend checking on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/ in case someone has done something similar.
This exact scenario was so helpful! I just need to know how to add a reminder for each approver. Any help?
Check approvals playlist on my channel. I have done a video on reminders.
@@RezaDorrani I am very new trying to create flows and following videos step by step. Not sure how to take reminders and make it fit into the flow you’ve shown. I’ve looked at your playlist but still struggling.
@@Peanut_memes123 I would recommend giving it a try and posting issues/queries with screenshots on forums at powerusers.microsoft.com
Hi Reza! This is a huge help for the project I'm working on. I am new to creating workflows, but I think I can do this. I'm still a little confused about the tiles. Can they be built without SharePoint designer? Or is SharePoint designer where the code is added? Are new tiles automatically generated every time a new expense report is generated? Do you have a video for building a page with the tiles? Sorry for all the questions.
Thanks.
The tiles look is built using JSON formatting. Video description has link to the JSON code.
I have a playlist on Sharepoint list formatting using JSON on my channel. Check that one.
SharePoint designer is not required.
@@RezaDorrani thank you!
Great video, how about a video using business process flow?
I have BPF as one of my backlog items.
Thank you so much for this awesome tutorial Reza. Is it possible to change the approvers mid flow (if someone didn't respond in a timely manner ) without having to cancel/resubmit and also keep the previous approvers outcome?
Assume at the time of submission, only one person is identified as an approver. Is it possible to grab the newly delegated person from the updated SP list and apply it to the running flow?
Currently there is no cancel approval action. So not sure if there is a way in which this can be achieved. May be check on forums in case someone has a workaround
powerusers.microsoft.com
@@RezaDorrani Will do. Thank you Reza!
Thank you Reza for such a great video. How can an approver decide if he wants to send to someone for further approval?
I have not done any video on that use case.
Its not an out of the box option in approvals.
Hi Reza, many thanks for creating this tutorial. I would like to include PowerApps into the multiple approval workflow. Would this be possible, if so how?
Check my approvals playlist. I have videos with Power Apps and flow approvals.ua-cam.com/play/PLTyFh-qDKAiFUGTtwSwFT79Y7_jq_Aipe.html
Hi Reza, as usual a very insightful and easy to follow tutorial. I have a question - I've built a similar flow for 3 static approvers and I record action of each approver in a sharepoint list item with attributes like approver name, time, comments and decision. For each document, I also create a approvral-id which is a running number that is applied to each approver action. What I'm looking for is to create a PDF document of the approval items under a approval-id and store in a sharepoint directory. Is there a easy way to create PDF from sharepoint? Whatever I've researched so far is telling me to create Word templates with fields and then use to first create a MS word doc and then convert it to PDF.
I have a video on exporting to PDF.
ua-cam.com/video/Da4do2DxmJE/v-deo.html
Technique can be applied to any use case.
Thanks Reza, what if I was working with a specific memorandum as an attachment (as opposed to the expense report that seems to be an embedded list)? Action, I upload it to a sharepoint folder, that then kicks off the serial multiple approval, (I would actually prefer to label all other participants in the workflow as "Recommenders" and only the final email address is the approver. I would like this flow to be selectable from Teams (as a Teams approval). If the recommender or approver is reassigned, I would like a comment field for the recommender / approver to comment on the reason. I am battling to figure out how to get past your Update item stage though because Im working with a pdf file rather than an list.
I do not have a video on this use case. Possible for sure. But I would have to try it out myself to provide any guidance.
I will recommend you check on the forums at powerusers.microsoft.com/ in case someone has done something similar.
Hi Reza, fantasti videos / downloads available. I've got some great use out of it so far. The very last step (using the variable to update approval history) I am having some trouble with though. I get the error message, "Bad request. The variable 'varApprovalHistory' of type 'Array' cannot be initialized or updated with value of type 'String'. The variable 'varApprovalHistory' only supports values of types 'Array'."
Have you got any ideas what could be causing this? I'm going to post in the power users forum if there is not a quick solution that springs to mind from you.
Thanks!
Did you try with the sample flow provided?
I have not run into this issue hence not sure. Forums would be a good option.
@@RezaDorrani I got the same error. I changed it to append to array which got rid of the error, but duplicated my response history when there is more than 1 approver. I then tried deleting that step from the flow, which also happens to be the last step, and that fixed it. Not sure why more people didn't report this but it fixed it for me.
Great solution by the way. I made my own adaptions for my own use case and it works really well and looks professional, without having to go to Power Apps.