Microsoft Flow makes everything Awesome. Yes, including InfoPath #microblog

This is a write up of various ideas and thoughts that I've shared over Twitter separately, but needed to be linked together and the example steps needs to be explained in a bit more detail.

Plan

3. so we can write a http trigger flow that takes list items (or use anything with Flow's connectors), and write output with the expression xml( {json} )
4. InfoPath will happily call this Flow, and we now have server side superpowers in InfoPath.

— John LIU (@johnnliu) November 17, 2017

On Reading many XML Forms in a Forms Library

If you are thinking about how to upgrade libraries full of InfoPath XML files into just list columns or database.
Think about using the XML/XPath expressions in Flow, loop through the XML and extract them into SQL/child SPList connector
flow is great tool to take infopath forward

— John LIU (@johnnliu) November 17, 2017

Crazy InfoPath and PowerApps cross-app idea

with game state managed with Microsoft Flow, with JSON and XML dual binding.

This is how a InfoPath cross PowerApps game of O and X can be build, with Flow managing the game state.

Bonus: XML and JASON databinding. 😄 pic.twitter.com/6NX6uS9JPB

— John LIU (@johnnliu) November 17, 2017

API Management TIP

from @darrenjrobinson

That ones a game changer for me. Looking forward to seeing how you use it.

— darrenjrobinson (@darrenjrobinson) November 17, 2017

Flow Details

In this Flow, we will do something fancy.  We will use the new Flow Management connector to list all the Flows in my environment.

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Configure the HTTP Request method must be GET
The response must be XML - use xml() to convert JSON into XML output.

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Check this in Postman

This is how you test a webservice.  You poke it with Postman.

See this returns XML.

The rest is done in InfoPath

Connect it via REST connection.

This is pretty amazing.  InfoPath is listing in a repeating section the names of all the Flows I have in my environment.

Result

• Because of Flow, InfoPath got server side superpowers it never had
• Flow gain the ability to work with Managed Metadata today.  And so did InfoPath.  Only 7 years after MMD was shipped without InfoPath support.

Flow is awesome.

pic.twitter.com/RcUnxn6SsP

— Simon Waight (@simonwaight) November 17, 2017