Create Dynamic Word Document with Power Automate & Microsoft Forms

Рет қаралды 26,180

Күн бұрын

Learn how to create dynamic Word documents using Power Automate and Microsoft Forms. In this video, I will demonstrate a solution that utilizes Microsoft Form branching and variable data. I will make it easy for you to repurpose Form data into an array that can be filtered upon. With this solution you can create documents with optional sections, either as a plain text control or using repeating controls in Word. Even if you're not interested in this specific solution, make sure to watch the video to understand how to better utilise Microsoft Form data in future projects.
00:00 Intro
01:34 Microsoft Form Overview
02:25 SharePoint List Overview
03:32 Flow Overview
03:55 Word Document Plain Text Controls
05:55 Building the flow
06:50 How to repurpose Microsoft Form Data
17:07 Filtering for required sections
24:40 Repurposing array data for Word
36:29 Repeating control Array
40:00 Populate and test the Flow
43:02 Outtro
Sample (Legacy Import) Flow: github.com/DamoBird365/PowerA...
Sample Word Template: github.com/DamoBird365/PowerA...
Using Objects in Power Automate • Power Automate Switch,...
JSON Objects & Arrays Tutorial • How to write expressio...
Create Documents from Power Apps • Create Word, Excel, HT...
Word Repeating Controls • How to Populate Repeat...
Create New Excel File • Create a new Excel Fil...
Populate Word Non Premium • Populate a Word Docume...
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Пікірлер: 90

@ricardobunge5957 Жыл бұрын

Excellent! Thorough explanation, great techniques, and very streamlined. Another brilliant contribution - thanks Damien!

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

Thank you Ricardo 👍 it was quite a challenge to demo all of this but hopefully quite useful. It’s a great way to repurpose the forms data too and make it user friendly.

@stevenhampson8657 11 ай бұрын

Appreciate all the detail in the video, and highlighting out the exact content. Also great that you showed where a potential issue was with the first solution and then demonstrated a more robust solution. Thanks Damian. I could watch you go into selects and filters all day and still be learning!

@DamoBird365 11 ай бұрын

Cheers Steven, if you have any potential use cases, feel free to drop me a line. I'll talk select all day long.

@mrbrushyy. Жыл бұрын

Super useful! Thank you!

@ExcelStore Жыл бұрын

Просто и понятно. Спасибо!

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

Спасибо! 👍

@davidadams421 Жыл бұрын

"The exciting Word part...", you do make me laugh! Another outstanding video. I do get the sense that we're all benefitting from a lot of troubleshooting you had to do behind the scenes! Your mastery of data manipulation is inspiring. Very well done.

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

I thought most folk would hunt the word bit out but glad you watched it. When I create a video, only about 25% of it is watched as folk like to find the answer they’re looking for. Either that or I bore folk 😂 I enjoy the troubleshooting / rabbit hole bit too. 👍 thanks for watching.

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

I am thinking I should maybe skip building the expressions and just fire them in rather than type it in each time. Might make the videos shorter but folk can pause if they want to see it. I never know 🤷‍♂️ any thoughts on where I can improve?

@davidadams421 Жыл бұрын

@@DamoBird365 I certainly get a lot of value seeing how everything is constructed and I find your videos compelling from start to finish. And I'm sure I'm not alone on this. But if you have the stats, then maybe there's an opportunity to satisfy both audiences? Introducing: Quick Tips and Deep Dives. Quick Tips are short and sharp, achieve a single use case, expressions are displayed, not constructed. Maybe even the flow itself is shown instead of being constructed? Then you have the Deep Dives that achieve some broader solution, longer form, discuss gotchas, construct expressions (and flow elements) and describe why the expression is needed e.g. referring to the needs of the end product. If your deep dive solutions are novel enough, you could get three or four videos from the same solution e.g. 1 x deep dive, 3 x quick tips. Everybody wins.

@acradic Жыл бұрын

@@DamoBird365I loved all of the details -- don't change a thing. 😀😀😀

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

Thank you 😊 👍

@vigotov1 11 ай бұрын

Amazing thank you for your hard work it's very professional

@DamoBird365 11 ай бұрын

Cheers mate - very much appreciated.

@gitaiganor4100 Жыл бұрын

Wow this was a great great Video, thank you. Very deep and clear explanation.

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

Thank you Gitai 👍 I’m pleased to see you enjoyed it. Have you got a use case?

@gitaiganor4100 Жыл бұрын

Hi, yes. My use case goes like this: Sending Word docs, that are based on a Word templates through a Power Automate WF as part of the employees termination process. For each emp. , the signatures that are required for the termination activity, are different. Also some of the text inside the main body of the doc. should be dynamic - as per the specific emp. A Word document is being sent to the manager , through the Power Automate mailing activity, so he can sign it up. Since the final doc is being send out of the company , it needs to be sent as pdf - after it being printed from the Word doc. Hope I explained it clearly enough.. Anyway your Vid. Showed me how can this be done through Forms (ie stupid form) and Power Automate(smarter than in my case, and being used efficiently) Thank you

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

Wow, that is cool. I knew that dynamic documents would be a requirement for someone, glad you’ve found it useful. You found the video very quickly. 👍

@CINsyg 5 ай бұрын

Really great video, love your use of select instead of apply to all

@DamoBird365 5 ай бұрын

Cheers Carsten, I like to keep the flow efficient where I can.

@CINsyg 5 ай бұрын

@@DamoBird365 its massive how much its improves performance, i resently rebuild a flow that processed a lot of users. By using the select over apply to each, it ran hours faster, and was done in few minutes

@NatalieBarker-s6x 12 күн бұрын

Thanks for this video! It's great and super helpful! I'm a bit lost on how I create the 'list' document with sections and the pipes in it. I don't understand how to create this list, what is the obvious thing that I'm missing?

@heatherchambers4570 Жыл бұрын

Great tutorial - thanks! What would you recommend instead of a Form for capturing user input for more than 200 items?

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

That’s a lot of info! Internally, Power Apps, externally Power Pages.

@heatherchambers4570 Жыл бұрын

@@DamoBird365 thanks for the suggestion!

@joanconnelly9547 2 ай бұрын

Brilliant! Thank you so much, this is very helpful. I am wondering if you can help me think of a way to add dynamic images w/o having the control show a box on the printout? We have several departments entering form data (each dept has a separate form) and sometimes they need to upload an image. We create a list for all of the input from the form, including any attachments they may have uploaded. Do you know of a way we can eliminate the control if there is no image?

@DamoBird365 2 ай бұрын

I’m not sure. Have you tried asking on the forum powerusers.microsoft.com/

@joanconnelly9547 2 ай бұрын

@@DamoBird365 Not yet, but will do!

@701eeepc Жыл бұрын

Nice solution, except for the premium action :) ...In summary, you create the dynamic part via PA instead of using a lot of metadata into SharePoint library like you did a past video

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

Certainly that is the other option for populating a word doc 😉, applying the logic from this video, with optional parts and apply it to column metadata. I am not sure what the text limits are on the alternative method. So it might not be as suitable for long optional sections but always worth exploring 👍

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

Here's the link for anyone that's wondering kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gbx5iqeDz7avhZ8.html 👍

@davidadams421 Жыл бұрын

I did think this myself but I'm not sure that's the right approach for this particular solution because the end product is a stand alone document, not one of many similar documents. There's no point creating a content type + metadata for one single document, imho. You could use the Encodian connector's 'Populate Word Document' action instead, it's a non-Premium connector but you do have to setup an account to get the required API key, and there are restrictions on use, from memory

@user-gq4de3zs9c Ай бұрын

Damian - I've learned some valuable information from you! Thanks. How would I end the power automate and send the file created to the "Responsible Person" email address I have in my dynamic tags? With that I have a great solution thanks to you.😎

@DamoBird365 Ай бұрын

Do you mean how do you attach the file to a send email action? Glad my videos have been of help 👍

@user-gq4de3zs9c Ай бұрын

Yes, but I figured that out also from one of your other videos.

@joanconnelly9547 Ай бұрын

Thank you so much Damien, I was able to use this technique to create a word template with over 180 questions and answers from different sources (forms to list) and the .docx is created in less than 30 seconds. My only issue is that I now exceed the 500-limit license for actions. Do you have any advice on where I can compromise performance for functionality? Again, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. You are greatly appreciated!

@DamoBird365 Ай бұрын

That’s a big flow 😱 have you looked at child flows?

@joanconnelly9547 Ай бұрын

@@DamoBird365 aren't they only available when using Solutions? I'm not familiar with Solutions and I'm under a deadline and worried that I'll take a lot of time to get familiar. :( the flow will probably grow - it's performance at 27 seconds is awesome - using your techniques!

@DamoBird365 Ай бұрын

It would but not as difficult as it sounds. If you’re new and not following best practices for dev, test, prod, a solution if anything is a container (an open editable 📦 box) of flows, apps, tables, amongst many other components you choose to include. If you add a flow, you can call a child flow, which is a flow with a manual trigger.

@Esmithy1899 5 ай бұрын

Great video very helpful Can you make one that shows have to have the yes or no check boxes responses generated on a word template?

@DamoBird365 5 ай бұрын

I don’t have a video but I think I’ve used a checked symbol in the past.

@smoola Жыл бұрын

Excellent Would appreciate a Power app vesion

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

I’ve got an example of document creation from Power Apps kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gpxnoJuozMqYcZ8.html hope that is of use?

@richardhedley6751 14 күн бұрын

Watching some of your videos and very interesting ways presented and very detailed, basically great. Question please, is this scenario doable? Storing an MS Word doc (template) as .xml, then PA time. Format JSON(XML()) then parse, get w:document and then manipulate !values! and even more add items in the array (more letters as in merging idea as well), with new items a number sequence for more items. Once manipulated, add the new w:document content within the right section of the collected xml. Then, create a new document with the new content.

@LewisButlera 8 ай бұрын

Great video, one issue I'm having is I can't seem to get it to work with pictures, if someone uploads a picture to a form do you know if there's some way to transfer it to the word doc as well? There is a photo option but it's having issues carrying it across from the form.

@freshrain777 5 ай бұрын

Hi there, excellent video. I learned a lot. A quick question for you. I created an online form to gather responses and uploads(images). I then took that to SharePoint where I had a word document used as atemplate that is creating files. How do I take the images from forms and add them directly to the new word document?

@DamoBird365 5 ай бұрын

You would need to use a premium word connector if I am honest. This method wouldn’t support images. The alternative is html.

@freshrain777 5 ай бұрын

@@DamoBird365 thank you. I will start learning html. Cheers

@DamoBird365 5 ай бұрын

@freshrain777 I’ve covered different methods here Create Word, Excel, HTML Documents & More with Power Automate & Power Apps kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gpxnoJuozMqYcZ8.html

Жыл бұрын

My flow called "Notify me if Damien mention "repurpose" more than 10 times in his new YT 📺video to like and comment it" has been triggered. 👍

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

It’s a bit of an epic video this one. I usually only do 20 mins but this was double. Not sure if it was too much. Would love some feedback.

Жыл бұрын

@@DamoBird365 I don’t mind how long it is as long it bring a ton of learning, thanks for your time to sharing it 👍

@geralddahl9159 Жыл бұрын

Thx for this thorough presentation. I think you said a link to the flow exists? If so, I can’t find it - can you share it again for me, please?

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

You’re right and I haven’t yet uploaded. I will do and let you know 👍

@DamoBird365 Жыл бұрын

Hi Gerald, files are now available on my GitHub, links in description 👍

@user-ez4pu1dx3e 5 ай бұрын

On the form can you have free text fields so someone can answer something/add info on the form and it drops that text into the dynamic fields in the dynamic document?

@DamoBird365 5 ай бұрын

Yes, 💯 have fun building.

@chriscambra4588 9 ай бұрын

Can you substitute a checkmark or "X" in place of a choice from a Microsoft Form. For example, I'm trying to autofill a form like using your example but if a user selects a choice it comes out as an "X" or checkmark on the form I pre-created/

@DamoBird365 9 ай бұрын

There is a checkbox symbol that you can copy into Power Automate.

@Paul_Spence 5 ай бұрын

Fantastic video! Thanks for sharing, I now have a Word .docx that isnt editable though within the content controls. Is it possible to edit the document after it is produced? If so how? I can guarantee that the data entry from time to time will have mistakes at some stage so my returned .docx needs to be editable.

@DamoBird365 5 ай бұрын

Nice 👌 your docx should be editable. When you configure the content controls I believe there is an option to lock them. I wonder if you’ve got that ticked?

@Paul_Spence 5 ай бұрын

No i wasn't locking content just yet through the control. It appears that i can edit/type within the control but not within the text pulled through from PowerAutomate in a control. So if I have made a typo within my intial data entry in Microsoft Forms then I can only choose to remove the content control and manually type the clause myself with my dynamic content. Great time saver but still limitations. 👍@@DamoBird365

@DamoBird365 5 ай бұрын

I've never noticed that before. If you go into the desktop client, click developer and then click design mode, you can then edit the text. If you find of a way to do this direct, let me know. There was a similar discussion here powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Using-Flows/Populated-Word-Template-and-Removing-Content-Control-without/td-p/2094007

@Paul_Spence 5 ай бұрын

Would you believe it, adding a space into the plain text content control has fixed the issue. Thanks for your help. 👏 @@DamoBird365

@DamoBird365 5 ай бұрын

😱 that is fantastic! Thanks for the update.

@user-lw8do8tu4e 5 ай бұрын

how do i create a sharepoint list following format of what has been done here, i have found this tutorial super helpful but am stuck on where i need my list to input to power automate and am not sure how i set this up

@StrattonVA 3 ай бұрын

Must I use SharePoint or am I able to use my OneDrive?

@DamoBird365 3 ай бұрын

OneDrive is the connector for creating pdf albeit I think you can now use graph api.

@user-gq4de3zs9c Ай бұрын

Damian - If I don't want to save responses in Sharepoint and instead just pluck values into the Word template, how could I use join(json... on the multiple choice items? I know how to do text or single value items, but get errors when I try to use join(json( Also, do you have another video on adding the newlines vs comma separated?

@DamoBird365 Ай бұрын

Are you looking for something like damobird365.com/easily-address-escaped-characters-in-forms-response/ ? This demos multichoice but not converted to a string kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rN-He5l02NDTlmw.html

@johabogda 8 ай бұрын

Hi! Does this flow also work if my sections have multiple answers, and therefore multiple branches? (Very new to Power Automate & desperately need it - also hoping for a Premium account soon to fully create this flow ;) Thanks!

@DamoBird365 8 ай бұрын

It will hopefully work but you’ve not chosen a simple flow to start with. Good luck and let me know how you get on 👍

@Luka0012 11 ай бұрын

Hello all. Could anyone please confirm that you need a Premium license to develop this workflow. I am new to this but as far as I realised, you need a Premium features to parson the data and assign it to the specific places. Is that correct?

@DamoBird365 11 ай бұрын

Yes, premium required for this as it uses the word connector, however there is a non premium method, more hassle and less functionality, but it might work for you kzfaq.info/get/bejne/h9BohqyarLC2npc.html

@reneenyong4638 5 ай бұрын

hii! thanks for the great video! wanted to ask is there any way to generate template based on user choice 1. user fill up a microsoft form to select which template they want 2. there is a sharepoint that will locate over 1000 of word templates 3. based on user choice, the word template will be populated with their information And the placeholder for all templates is the same i am facing trouble to handle the dynamicfileschema, it would be great if you can do a vid on this topic! thanks a lot

@DamoBird365 5 ай бұрын

I’ve actually got a solution for dynamic schema but haven’t blogged/videos yet. If the control names are the same, using xml and zip, it’s possible to do. It’s complex but definitely doable 👍

@reneenyong4638 5 ай бұрын

@@DamoBird365 thanks for the suggestion! I have actually thought of this way but I’m not sure is the xml id of the attributes based on the control name? For example if each templates have the employee id as an attribute, is the xml id for all remain the same? If possible, could you make a vid on this🥹 I can’t wait to explore your solution! thank you so much for your considerations!!

@reneenyong4638 5 ай бұрын

@@DamoBird365 thanks for the suggestion! I have actually thought of this way but I’m not sure is the xml id of the attributes based on the control name? For example if each templates have the employee id as an attribute, is the id for all remain the same? If possible, could you please make a vid on this🥹 thank you so much!!

@DamoBird365 5 ай бұрын

@@reneenyong4638 the dynamic schema id can be retrieved using the name. 👍

@reneenyong4638 5 ай бұрын

@@DamoBird365 wow! I will go and try

@Husainshaikhh 7 ай бұрын

Using option 2, I want to do it in the table format with 2 columns, then how can we do it? I am trying but power automate is making a single array

@DamoBird365 7 ай бұрын

Check out: How to Populate Repeating Controls in Word via Power Automate kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oqiIhtZ2rtK7n58.html

@alexoverdijking2022 10 ай бұрын

Great video! Is there a way to insert the dynamic paragraphs into different sections of the document instead of into the same content control? For example, if you wanted the Purpose section on Page 1, and the Amount section on Page 3.

@DamoBird365 10 ай бұрын

I don’t see why not? Give it a go and let me know how you get on.

@ricardotavera1330 10 ай бұрын

Would you have to create a separate dynamic box in the word template? I too have the same question. Also, you mention that you have other videos related to this. Meaning do you have a video about linking the list items to the word template? @@DamoBird365

@alexoverdijking2022 10 ай бұрын

@@DamoBird365 The part I am stuck with is how to split up the paragraphs into separate outputs in order to place them into different places in the word document. Is there a best practice for this? Opposed to having the full flow for each section.