Open Word Template based on Table values, populate that Template based on other columns of that table, and save it

[goncaloperes]

In Power Automate Cloud, after manually triggering a flow, one is listing the rows in a table of an Excel file.

The table looks like this:

- ID

- Template

- Country

- Notes

- Address

- Email

- Phone

- Full Name

Now, based on the data from that table, more specifically the column "Template", one would like to:

1) Access a specific SharePoint folder/directory, and open the file for that specific Word template.

For example, if the column has the name "Portugal", it should retrieve the Template "Portugal.docx".

2) Populate the Word Template based on the fields that the template requires one to add. Those fields should be elements in the table.

Note: Some templates do not need the Address, others do not need the phone number,...

3) Save the file with the name "ID - Document.docx", with "ID" being one of the columns in the table.

How to achieve that?

[goncaloperes · Accepted solution]

There are various ways to solve this, such as:

1) Using a Switch.

2) Using a Condition.

I ended up using the option 1, however, depending on the use case, one might want to use option 2.

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Option 1

I've used, is with a Switch inside the Apply to each. In Power Automate Cloud (PAC), apart from the Default (If no case contains a matching value), one can add 25 Cases (see note below on this). If those are not enough, one can add another Switch in the Default, and so on.

1. Apply to each
2. Switch (if "Template" column is equal to a given value)

2.1. If it is equal to that value, for example, "Portugal", then, inside the Case:
2.1.1. Populate a Microsoft Word template (selecting the template file "Portugal.docx")
2.1.2. Create file (don't forget to specify the extension, such as ".docx")

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Option 2

Another approach is to use Condition.

1. Apply to each
2. Condition (if "Template" column is equal to a given value)

2.1. If it is equal to that value, for example, "Portugal", then, inside the condition:
2.1.1. Populate a Microsoft Word template (selecting the template file "Portugal.docx")
2.1.2. Create file (don't forget to specify the extension, such as ".docx")

2.2. If is not equal to that value:

2.2.1. Create a new condition, with another value. And apply the same logic as above till one runs out of templates.

However, there is a limit to how many nested if conditions one can have (this can be problematic if there are a lot of templates, as one can easily hit that limit).

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Notes:

• Do not be fooled: even though in the Flow Editor one can add 27 cases in the Switch, that will lead to the error: "Flow save failed with code 'AllowedSwitchCaseLimitExceeded' and message 'The template action 'Switch' at line '1' and column '1787' is not valid: the number of cases used '27' exceeds the maximum number allowed '25'.'".
As an alternative, one can add another Switch in the Default, and that will work.
• If, eventually, one will need to convert the file to PDF, then this is a good approach: https://www.enjoysharepoint.com/convert-word-to-pdf-using-power-automate/