How do I make sure the user enters a 3 letters as their input so that I can add a loop that brings them back to the user input request if they enter anything else?

[min27241]

Currently, I'm working on a simple test project and I know I can get a user input but there doesn't seem to be a way to restrict them from providing unusable inputs. It must be a 3-letter acronym that they provide. How do I restrict their input?

[Rhiassuring]

Where are they inputting? SharePoint? An MS Form? A Power App? A Power Automate form? 

[RobElliott]

@Rhiassuring I suspect it's a text input on the trigger. @min27241 if it is then there's no way to limit the input to only 3 characters or show the input panel again.

Rob
Los Gallardos

[RADical]

Assuming you're using the "Manually trigger a flow action" to input text, there is no data validation available in the trigger. If there is a limited set of 3 character acronyms they can provide, you could create a drop-down list of preset options for the users. Also, there is no way to restart a flow to the trigger action in a loop with just a single flow. You'd have to create a separate flow with an http request received trigger to trigger a secondary flow when the length of the trigger body is not equal to three characters.

That said, there are other alternatives like creating a form in Microsoft Forms and using when a response is received as a trigger. In the Form control, you can specify certain restrictions and add caption to only enter 3 characters. Add an action after the response is received trigger to get the response from the form and then count the length of the input from the form using something like length(body('ResponseValue')). If it doesn't meet the criteria, send the form responder an email or Teams message telling them that their input was invalid blah blah blah...and then they'd have to go back and resubmit the form with the correct input.

[RADical]

@min27241 Here's an example of using two flows to satisfy what you're looking for from my suggestion above:

1st flow:

2nd flow:

[min27241]

Hey, thanks for the response, but why does this look more modern, detailed, and different compared to my Power Automate? I don't have half of those options available in mine.

[RADical]

@min27241 The HTTP actions require a premium license, but all the others should be standard in Power Automate. If you don't have a premium license you can sign up for a 30-day trial. You are using Power Automate for Cloud right?