Configure flow control in cloud and desktop flows including loops

Configuring flow control in cloud and desktop flows, including loops, is an essential aspect of developing automated workflows using Microsoft Power Automate’s Robotic Process Automation (RPA) capabilities. In this article, we will explore how to configure flow control and implement loops to create efficient and dynamic flows for your RPA tasks. Let’s dive in.

Understanding Flow Control in Power Automate

Flow control refers to the ability to direct the flow of execution in a workflow. It allows you to make decisions, perform conditional actions, and repeat specific steps based on certain conditions. Power Automate provides various control actions and expressions to enable flow control within your workflows.

Conditional Actions using Control Actions

One common scenario in RPA development is executing different actions based on specific conditions. To achieve this, Power Automate includes control actions like “Condition” and “Switch.” These actions allow you to define conditions using expressions or comparison operators and route the workflow accordingly.

For example, let’s consider a desktop flow where we want to automate customer support ticket resolution. We can use the “Condition” action to check if the ticket is high priority. If it is, we can assign it to a senior support agent; otherwise, we can assign it to a regular agent:

Condition: @equals(triggerBody()['Priority'], 'High')
- If Yes: Assign To: Senior Support Agent
- If No: Assign To: Regular Support Agent

Similarly, the “Switch” action allows you to compare a value against multiple cases and execute different actions based on the matching case. You can use this action to implement multi-branch scenarios efficiently.

Implementing Loops for Iterative Tasks

Another vital aspect of flow control is the ability to perform iterative tasks. Loops help in automating repetitive actions and processing collections of data. Power Automate offers different loop actions based on the type of task you need to perform.

For Each Loop

A common loop used in RPA development is the “Apply to each” action, which performs a set of actions on each item within a collection. You can use this loop to iterate through an array, a table, or the results of a previous action.

For instance, if we have a cloud flow where we want to send personalized emails to a list of customers, we can use the “Apply to each” loop to iterate through the customer list and send an email to each customer:

Apply to each: Customers
- Send Email to: Current Customer

This loop ensures that the defined actions are executed for every item in the “Customers” collection.

Do Until Loop

Sometimes, you may need to perform a set of actions until a specific condition is met. The “Do until” action allows you to define a condition, and the loop continues executing until that condition becomes true. This loop is useful when you have to repeat actions until a certain criterion is fulfilled.

Imagine a scenario where you want to continuously check a website for product availability. You can use the “Do until” loop to script this behavior:

Do until: @equals(outputs('GetProductAvailability')['Available'], true)
- Refresh Product Availability
- Wait for 5 seconds

In this example, the loop continues executing the actions until the product availability becomes true.

Conclusion

Configuring flow control in cloud and desktop flows, including loops, plays a crucial role in building efficient and dynamic workflows using Power Automate’s RPA capabilities. By leveraging control actions like “Condition” and “Switch,” you can make data-driven decisions within your workflows. Additionally, loop actions such as “Apply to each” and “Do until” allow you to automate iterative tasks and repetitive actions.

Remember, Power Automate provides a vast array of control actions and expressions that allow you to implement complex flow control logic. Explore the Microsoft Power Automate documentation for more information and gather inspiration for your RPA development journey.