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.
Configure the HTTP Request method must be GET
The response must be XML - use xml() to convert JSON into XML output.
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.
— Simon Waight (@simonwaight) November 17, 2017
Discussions