PowerApps · Default Fields to Specific Users

[momureithi]

Hello,

I have an approval flow, whose journey begins from an app created on PowerApps. A user logs in to the app inputs the required information and submits the request. The details of the request are pushed to a SharePoint list, which then triggers the approval flow.

PowerApps -> SharePoint -> Power Automate / Flow

While on the app, the user is able to specify the different actors required for the approval. Now, since some of these approvers are static, how can I "hard-code" their names on the app controls so that users do not have to keep inputting these specific usernames?

Thanks.

[jlindstrom]

So if some users are static and are always included are they included for each approval or is it different based on some condition (like the type of process?) how do you know which static users should be included in an approval request?

[momureithi]

Hi @jlindstrom. Let me clarify this a bit further.

So, what I'm trying to achieve is automate a sign-off process. E.g. I have a 'change request' doc that needs to be signed off, on a normal day I'd circulate the doc to the different approvers for their signatures.

For this 'change request', there is a list of 7 approvers. Out of the 7, let's say 3 are dynamic depending on ownership of the change. The other 4 are static depending on their roles in the org. for instance head of information security, director of I.T., etc. On the app's request form, I have allowed the requestor to search for dynamic users, in O365. However, I do not want the requestor to keep searching for or inputting static users. How can I default their respective fields with their names?

[jlindstrom]

I would recommend that you set up this structure in your sharepoint lists

define a process list where you can set up a master list of approval processes.

then relate a list of approvers to that. relate the approver to the process via a lookup type field.

Create your process record, then create a related approver record for each of the static approvers.

You could also put a field on the process to store the number of additional approvers that the users can select during the approval.

With this you have what you need.

In your app, the user selects the process, and you can get all of the related static approvers and give the user the ability to select additional approvers and limit the number that they can select (add a gallery and disable the new button if the count is => the number of additional approvers on the process.

[momureithi]

Thank you for this @jlindstrom. I was thinking if there was a way I can do this from PowerApps using the User function? Any chance?

[jlindstrom]

You can get user information from the User()  function for current user, and you can use the o365 user connector to look up user information, like getting manager information.

like this

Office365Users.SearchUser({searchTerm: SearchTerm.Text})

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/canvas-apps/connections/connection-office365-users

So getting the information about the running user and other users is not going to be a problem. However, that doesn't give you what you need for your process, like who the static approves should be or how many additional approves that you should be able to provide when requesting approval.

My suggestion was to define the process and static approves and the number of additional approvers---there needs to be some kind of logic that tells the app who should be approving the request. You can either hard code that or provide a structure in the data that give you that.

Maybe there is more details that I don't understand.

For example--say I want the user's manager to approve, sI can use the o365 user connector and retrieve the user's manager. If I want it to the the manager of the X dept, I need some table or source that I can look up the manager to include on the approval.