How do I go about creating a flow action? (1 Viewer)

[Xarzu]

How do I go about creating a flow action?

I am on a quest to use Power Automate to Parse a CSV File and Add Content to a SharePoint List.

As luck would have it, the company, "Encodian" has an article entitled, "Parse a CSV File and Add Content to a SharePoint List" (link is here: ( h t t p : / / t i n y u r l . c o m / d a t s r y t e )


It uses an "action" from Encodian called "Parse CSV" but, unfortunately, my company does not want me to use any 3rd party plug-ins.

And so now I am on a quest to find out how Encodian did what they did. I want to dig down to the next level and code a "action" for Power Automate.

How does one do this and how does one get the knowledge to code on this level? SharePoint and Power Automate are obviously Microsoft Products that promote the idea of producing solutions without coding but they most have also open the door to parties that want to code their own plug-in with some sort of SDK. Any ideas?

So, how do I go about creating a flow action?

 

[GPGeorge]

How do I go about creating a flow action?

I am on a quest to use Power Automate to Parse a CSV File and Add Content to a SharePoint List.

As luck would have it, the company, "Encodian" has an article entitled, "Parse a CSV File and Add Content to a SharePoint List" (link is here: ( h t t p : / / t i n y u r l . c o m / d a t s r y t e )


It uses an "action" from Encodian called "Parse CSV" but, unfortunately, my company does not want me to use any 3rd party plug-ins.

And so now I am on a quest to find out how Encodian did what they did. I want to dig down to the next level and code a "action" for Power Automate.

How does one do this and how does one get the knowledge to code on this level? SharePoint and Power Automate are obviously Microsoft Products that promote the idea of producing solutions without coding but they most have also open the door to parties that want to code their own plug-in with some sort of SDK. Any ideas?

So, how do I go about creating a flow action?

Start with the Power Automate stuff in your MS 365 account.

There may be a desktop version, but I've not had any occasion to look into that.

 

[theDBguy]

When I was learning how to code in SharePoint, I had to use Visual Studio and C#. I imagine you can use the same things for Power Automate. Do you have access to those tools?

 

[GPGeorge]

CoPilot in MS 365 can go a long way towards helping you.

 

[Xarzu]

Start with the Power Automate stuff in your MS 365 account.
View attachment 111864

There may be a desktop version, but I've not had any occasion to look into that.

​

Grover Park George, nope, that is not it.​

Just to be clear, I am NOT talking about creating a flow. I am talking about creating a flow action. Encodian is a company that has created a flow action. For example this screen shot shows the flow action that Encodian has created called "Parse CSV"

 

[Xarzu]

When I was learning how to code in SharePoint, I had to use Visual Studio and C#. I imagine you can use the same things for Power Automate. Do you have access to those tools?

I have visual studio code as it is free. Imagination does not pay the bills. How does one learn to dig deeper and code Power Automate. They market themselves as being codeless but they should leave the door open to those who want to actually code.

 

[GPGeorge]

​

Grover Park George, nope, that is not it.​

Just to be clear, I am NOT talking about creating a flow. I am talking about creating a flow action. Encodian is a company that has created a flow action. For example this screen shot shows the flow action that Encodian has created called "Parse CSV"
View attachment 111878

The native flow action in MS 365 has the same name are the one Encodian offers, but apparently there are some differences? Perhaps the developers at Encodian can tell you how they did that. I suspect, though, that it will involve coding in Visual Studio, or the free version, Visual Studio Code, as theDBGuy suggested. If you have a copy of the Encodian flow action, perhaps you can reverse engineer it.

 

[theDBguy]

I have visual studio code as it is free. Imagination does not pay the bills. How does one learn to dig deeper and code Power Automate. They market themselves as being codeless but they should leave the door open to those who want to actually code.

I asked Bing Chat, and this was its response. I hope it helps.

To create a custom action in Power Automate, you can use the Actions SDK to extend the automation capabilities of the tool. Here are the steps to create a custom action:

1. Install the .NET framework, Visual Studio, and the latest version of Power Automate Desktop.
2. Create a new Class Library (.NET Framework) project in Visual Studio 2022.
3. Delete the autogenerated Class1.csfile and create a new class inside your project to represent the custom action. The class should have public access and inherit from ActionBase class.
4. Include the Microsoft.PowerPlatform.PowerAutomate.Desktop.Actions.SDK and Microsoft.PowerPlatform.PowerAutomate.Desktop.Actions.SDK.Attributes namespaces.
5. Add an [Action] attribute above your class. The attribute should have an Idparameter that specifies the name of the custom action.
6. Define the input and output parameters of the custom action by adding properties to the class. Each property should have an appropriate C# attribute, either [InputArgument] or [OutputArgument], to dictate its type and how it’s presented in Power Automate Desktop.
7. Build the project to generate a .dllfile.
8. Sign the .dll file with a trusted certificate.
9. Add the .dll file to a .cab file and sign it as well.
10. Upload the .cab file to the custom actions section in Power Automate cloud flow.
11. Add the custom action to Power Automate Desktop using the asset library.

Here is a video tutorial that explains the process of creating custom actions in Power Automate Desktop using Visual Studio 2022 and Action SDK package Ad1. I hope this helps!