how to run automatically

[piergi]

Hello everybody,

I did my first flow and it works well.

Now I wonder how can I run this flow automatically.
I cant find any command like ...".when a file is created or modified"..

Could you give me some useful tips to apply?

Thanks a lot for your precious help

[eric-cheng]

Hi @piergi ,

You can trigger a PAD flow from a cloud flow.  Please refer to this link here for requirements and setup.

 

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[piergi]

Hi @eric-cheng 

many thanks for your reply.

Following the link you have enclosed, I found imposible to go ahead at step 4.

The icon Desktop flow is not available, since it belongs to PREMIUM.

I have a Microsoft account linked to M365 home (up to 6 users)

Could this be the limit in my case?
do you think an alternative solution exist?
thanks again for your attention

[MichaelAnnis]

There is a “Wait for file” command, but the only options are “to be created” or “to be deleted”.

I use this when I export reports from our system.  The bot runs the script which saves the report as an excel file.  So I delete the old file, export the report, and then say, “Wait for file to be created” before continuing through the rest of the bot.  But the original Run command is still manual, because I do not have premium. 

Unattended automation is only available through premium, I believe. 

[Ahammad_Riyaz]

Hi @piergi ,

File created or modified you can only trigger from flows   flows.microsoft.com

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[piergi]

Hi @Ahammad_Riyaz 

thank you for your reply
I think this solution is not applicable in my case since I have no SP connection on my Microsoft 365 Home.

Then I understood that in PAD only chance is to do a manually click🙄

[Ahammad_Riyaz]

Hi @piergi ,

For you it will not may be, for others it will help if they having cloud access.

Regards

Ahammad Riyaz

[tkuehara]

Hi @piergi 

What you could try to do in your case is to create a "caller flow". It would basically run infinitely while calling the other flow. Here's an example (please ignore the 1=1 part, unless you actually want an infinite loop):

The above is the "caller flow": it controls periodicity (loop condition) and interval (wait). If you want to run for a specific timeframe each hour, for example, you'll only need to make the changes accordingly (like loop from 9AM to 5PM, waiting for an 1h interval between executions).

Your "called flow" would be your current flow.

This way you'll only need to play a single time after you login your desktop (for infinite loops) or each day/week (depending on the loop interval).

[piergi]

@tkuehara 

very interesting, thank you 
I'll try it asap and I'll let you know

[piergi]

Hi @tkuehara 

I am trying but deal with some issue

Where can I find, for PAD, a similar section of te URL below with command, sintax, function and so on.?
Thanks

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerquery-m/power-query-m-function-reference

[tkuehara]

Hi @piergi 

You can check it here: Actions reference - Power Automate | Microsoft Docs

[piergi]

Hi everybody,
just a question.

Is there a way to copy an existing flow wit a different name only to make some test?
So I could try a new solution without destroying what already works

[MichaelAnnis]

Open the PAD you want to copy into Edit Mode, then, File Save As

[piergi]

Hi @tkuehara 

this logic seems to be ok.
thanks a lot

Regards

[piergi]

Hi @MichaelAnnis 

although files has beeb copied into my OneDrive, nothing with the filename put into Save As appears on the PAD dashboard

Is there some manual editing step to do opening one of this file?
It seems PAD does not recognize the new GUID, rigth?

[piergi · Accepted solution]

@MichaelAnnis 

I am sorry, but now after restarting the pc (it is likely that relaunch PAD is not enough) files copied appear.
Thanks

[MichaelAnnis]

Yeah, this is a bug.  Instead of restarting my computer, I do these steps:

1) Close out all visible PAD windows

2) Open Task Manager

3) Kill an Power Automate program(s) still running; there is usually just one

4) Reopen Power Automate, and now both my old and new flows are there.