Help Needed - I'm Going Mad!

[Black_Square]

Hello,

I am new to Power Automate and not tech savvy so please be patient with me! I am trying to automate a process in which I scan a receipt to my phone, which then saves the .pdf to a specific OneDrive folder. I then want that .pdf to be attached to an email and sent to a colleague. This feels as though it should be straight forward but I am having an absolute nightmare trying to configure this.

Please help!

[Andrew_J]

@Black_Square,

I have been using Power Automate for years and dispite every process being simple to write it is less so to put into action.  Try the following for the recipt photo to email.

https://powerautomate.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/handle-expense-reports/

https://make.powerautomate.com/galleries/public/templates/a8bbcb55b1fd4c1d81a364e48aa24ad4/send-oned...

I do not know what mail app you use so you might need to change the one on the tempalte above to the one you use.

Hopefulyl the above is what you need, but if not I cannot help any further as I use something called https://www.receipt-bot.com to do all the grunt work for this.

Regards,

Andrew

[Black_Square]

Thanks Andrew. I will have a play and see what happens!

[Black_Square]

Just to check, does that flow actually attach the image file though?

[Andrew_J]

@Black_Square 

I do not know, as I said I do not use it, I have tried to help, it is up to you to go and see if it works for you, if it does then great if it does not then you need to find out how to do what you want.  I operate on self learing first ,then if I cannot resolve it coming to a forum like this.  As you are a new member I would need to ask a lot more questions.

Regards,

Andrew

[Black_Square]

Ok, so the template you sent does not work as I need it to work with outlook 365. I have just tried to create my own workflow, using the exact same triggers, but the trigger 'File Name' is not listed. Also, I have spent a full day and night trying to get this to work, and I can't. That;s why ive come here for help.

[Black_Square]

To be more specific, the only triggers available under Dynamic Content are: ID, Name, Name without extension, display name, path.

I cannot see any option to attach a file or even just to provide a URL to the file.

This seems like such a basic flow, that's why I cannot understand why it is so difficult.

[DJ_Jamba]

You're not alone. I go mad with some of this stuff (only on days that end with 'y')...
Unless I'm misunderstanding your question, it is a relatively easy 2-step process using the One Drive for Business connector When a file is created:

To name the file, I used formula: formatDateTime(utcNow(),'yyyyMMddhhmmss')

Receipt_FORMULA.pdf
File content can be selected from the trigger action.

If required, you can clean up by deleting the uploaded receipt using the OneDrive for Business Delete file action:

[Black_Square]

Hello,

Thank you so much for your help. I have made some progress, and I can get the email to send with the attachment, although the attachment won't open. Here are all of my settings:

Thank you!

[DJ_Jamba]

In your OP, you mentioned the file was being created in OneDrive!
But that doesn't matter, it's a similar process in SharePoint.
It looks like you're on the right track, however the Attachments name field in the Send an email action is truncated in your screenshot.
It needs to be NameOfFile.pdf
Yours looks odd: '}}

[Black_Square]

Yes, I started out with one drive but now I'm using Sharepoint. Yes, I noticed that truncated attachment name.

However, this is what it initially looks like:

and then when I close that window and re-open it for some reason it truncates. I fricking hate this app!!

any suggestions - I'm getting desperate now! 😄

[Black_Square]

Basically, the attachments have no file extension.

[DJ_Jamba]

just custom build a unique filename - I proposed an example earlier:
In the filename field add the following formula:
concat('Receipt_',formatDateTime(utcNow(),'yyyyMMddhhmmss'),'.pdf')

[DJ_Jamba]

Good practice is to make sure the name of the file is alphanumeric with no spaces but make sure .pdf is at the end
YourFileName.pdf

Receipt_20240303175533.pdf

WhateverYouWant.pdf

[Black_Square]

Just tried that and no luck:

Why is this so difficult!?!

[DJ_Jamba]

I don't think you added the code in a formula. Instead you pasted the code into the attachment name field.
Click on the little fx button and apply the code as a formula

[Black_Square]

Thanks for all of the help!!

I did the below and it still continues to copy the original file name minus the extension:

[DJ_Jamba]

In your send an email action in the attachment filename field, please type bob.pdf then test it out

[Black_Square]

In the Name Field or in the function window?

[DJ_Jamba]

Just directly in the attachment name field (not via formula)

Keep the attachment content field as you have it