populate word template without using the new PREMIUM connector

[gazzo1967]

Hi all

Can some one help with populating a word template with out using the new premium connector?

Gary

[Pstork1]

Unfortunately, that functionality requries the use of WordOnline and Microsoft has decided that is a premium features.  I am not aware of any way to populate a word template without using a premium feature.

[v-alzhan-msft]

Hi @gazzo1967 ,

The action "Populate a Microsoft Word template" is a PREMIUM action and there is no any other action in microsoft could populate word template.

Best regards,

Alice       

Community Support Team _ Alice Zhang
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[gazzo1967]

@v-alzhan-msft 

is or isnt?

And if i upgrade my licience to include this does it mean all users in my organisation need to be upgraded?

And if i use it in a power app does that mean all users have to have a premium Powerapp licience?

Gary

[v-alzhan-msft]

Hi @gazzo1967 ,

The action "Populate a Microsoft Word template" is a PREMIUM action and there is no any other action in microsoft could populate word template.

And yes, if you upgrade your licience to include this , all users in your organisation need to be upgraded,

if you use it in a power app, all users have to have a premium Powerapp licience.

Best regards,

Alice       

Community Support Team _ Alice Zhang
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[gazzo1967]

@v-alzhan-msft 

Thank you for the response.

So for clarity.

Using the connector triggered by a Power app means that everyone has to have a premium licience.

If i trigger the connector through sharepoint and not powerapps does that mean veryone still needs a premium powerapp licience?

Also if i upgrade my flow licience i can use the connector in my flows but everyone else would need to have the upgraded flow licience too?

GAry

[Pstork1 · Accepted solution]

Let me clarify a bit.  

If you use a Premium feature in a Flow it depends on how the Flow is used whether all users need to have the premium license or not.  In the case of a Flow that is started from a PowerApp, then the Flow runs in the context of the user who is running the PowerApp.  That user will need to have a Premium license. But that doesn't mean you need to upgrade all your users to a premium license.  Only the users who use the app will need the Premium license. But any user who uses a PowerApp that starts a Flow that uses a Premium feature will need a Premium license.  Users who don't use the App, ie for whom the app has not been shared, will not need a Premium license.

[gazzo1967]

@Pstork1 

Thank you for the response.

Unfortunately most of my organisation (1300 approx) would need to use it which now makes it unaffordable.

i was hoping that a small number of us would have the upgrade (the ones who build the flows) and the rest would use them.. 
its unfortunate its a good connector/trigger but as per usual MS has priced it out of the reach of organisation (public/government).

It would have been useful if it was done on the developer account.

Ah well having to look at another solution to do a workarund using html

Again Thank you

[ericonline]

Hm...

1. There are DEFINITELY ways around the Word Premium connectors
   1. Requires Sharepoint
   2. Add .docx file to Sharepoint content types
   3. Add every field in the .docx as a column in the Sharepoint list
   4. Etc.
2. There are also some low cost options for Flows 
   1. Rather than trigger FROM PowerApps, why not just trigger "When a record is created" in Sharepoint?
   2. Then the Flow runs under a single person's context

Am I mistaken here @Pstork1?

[Pstork1]

@ericonline 

1) Adding the fields as metadata and then using them as document properties might be possible.   But I'm not sure it will populate correctly in an automated system, because it usually populates when you open the Doc in the client and that would bring us back to the Word online connector again.

2) Doing it with a trigger on the List item or document that starts a Flow might also work, at least technically.  The issue is whether it violates the spirit of the licensing. You could still have a problem when true up time comes for the enterprise agreement since its clearly designed to go around the licensing restrictions.

[ericonline]

Hi @Pstork1 

1. I have old Flows (pre-Premium Word Connector) running that take items from a Sharepoint list and convert to PDF using this method. Maybe I'll post the How-to here.

  - There are limitations (each field in the .docx MUST have a corresponding column in the Document Library)

  - Doesn't work well for variable numbers of items (1 or many images, etc.)

2. I don't think using a Sharepoint list item trigger is against any spirit of licensing. I certainly don't agree with your assertion that its "clearly designed to go around the licensing restrictions". 

  - Its simple and straightforward

  - Its not a hack

  - Its logical

  - Once you exceed thresholds, you're charged accordingly

  - Etc.

If I was suggesting some wild thing that edits a swagger file or in another way obviously skirts licensing thats one thing. If i'm using simple logic to create a solution, thats quite another.

If you have some licensing docs I can review to understand your point of view better, I'd like to see them.

Good discussion!

[Pstork1]

1) The How-To would be appreciated.  I would like to play with this a bit more myself since its a common request.

2) My point was its clearly designed to provide a way to create PDFs for any individual who adds an item to the list without requireing a license for the premium connector.  When asked about whether premium licensing is required the use case Microsoft normally quotes is that if a user gains an advantage from the connector then they need to be licensed, whether they invoke the connector directly or not.  I'm not saying what you are doing is a hack.  I'm saying its designed to provide a service to users that normally requires a license, without requiring a license.  MS might let it slide.  They also might not.  It would depend a lot on the auditing at the true up.

[gazzo1967]

@ericonline 

The way that i did it was to produce a html template with assigned variables {fieldname}

the utilised intialising an Array and using a replace expression

replace(body('Get_file_content'),'{TraineeRollNumber}',body('Get_item')['Title'])

Created a file in one drive

coverted then created a sharepoint file

thats a short version 😛

works a dream 🙂

[Lukas1]

@gazzo1967, that's what I do as well. But I am having a hard time to create stuff like headers and footers in the html file. Did you find a way to get this done?

[vsolanon]

Hi @gazzo1967 I was wondering if you could please share how the flow was created. I am currently looking for a solution to create a word template without using the new Premium connector. Thank you in advance! 🙂

[gazzo1967]

@vsolanon 
The reason behind my original ost was that the 'populate word doc' connector is a very simple way to produce PDFs (which was my goal)>
but i found a different way to do this utilising a HTML template instead. This is alot more work and time intensive but achieves my solution.
Gary

[Jay-Encodian]

@gazzo1967 

This may be of interest, saves all the hard-work building the HTML and you can update the doc at anytime: Populate a Word or PDF Document using Power Automate 

HTH

Jay

[JimBrown]

You could use Power Automate per Flow licensing which would only cost $100/mo. for the flow.  I would be careful around using Premium connectors without a license.  You could run into multiplexing issues with the licensing.  If Flow is triggered by any upstream user action, that user would need to be licensed.  i.e. The user writes a record to a SharePoint List and the List update triggers the Flow.  The cheapest Power Automate and Apps licensing for Enterprise level solutions is the Per Flow licensing for Power Automate.

[FraserM]

This is also a paid solution.  A quick read of the original post already states that this won't work.
This appears to be a common tidbit of info left out when discussing the mentioned product.
Walking a fine line between helping the community & advertising your product... just sayin

[Jay-Encodian]

Hey@FraserM 

Where does it state that this wouldn't work? The Encodian connector isn't premium, its standard... we also provide a 'Free' SKU containing no functional limitations but limited throughput.

I understand your point ref the fine line; but would you rather be aware of your options or not?

This thread includes miss-leading statements such as 'there is no any other action in Microsoft could populate word template.'... but this can be done with Encodian connector.

Cheers J