topic Re: Power Automate Tips, Tricks & Best Practices in ArcGIS Survey123 Questions

Power Automate Tips, Tricks & Best Practices

AnthonyRyanEQL — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 22:20:35 GMT

Hi there,

Is there a blog, document or something that has a list of tips, tricks & best practices when using Power Automate with Survey123?

I'm finding some gotchas as I put my first flow together.

Some of things I would like to know are:

Should you use a built-in named user or enterprise user using an AD service account with SAML/SSO for the authentication in the Surevy123 connector?
Appears only the owner of the survey can be used as the authentication in the connector to see it. The Portal permission/security model of content sharing, create webhooks, etc isn't being used when other built-in accounts have those permissions (similar to geoevent server).

There would be plenty more but these 2 above define the landscape of how user access/permission is defined especially when having to pass this to cyber security teams, etc for endorsement.

Re: Power Automate Tips, Tricks & Best Practices

abureaux — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 22:36:39 GMT

Aw man. I really want to put something like this together...

There isn't anything that comprehensive for S123 atm.

Should you use a built-in named user or enterprise user using an AD service account with SAML/SSO for the authentication in the Surevy123 connector? This is up to you. I use a built-in named user for my Enterprise connector (Essentially, my Portal's service account). The only big thing would be to choose a single account that isn't going anywhere (I.e., Don't use Fred, because Fred may leave the company in the future. Use a dedicated "service" account that will never get up and walk away).
Appears only the owner of the survey can be used as the authentication in the connector to see it. The Portal permission/security model of content sharing, create webhooks, etc isn't being used when other built-in accounts have those permissions (similar to geoevent server). Correct. Again, I use a single service account for all of these tasks. Two accounts in total, actually. One is a built-in Portal account (mentioned above) and the other is an MS account for Power Automate (plus a myriad of other applications). As I tell my boss often, all these mission critical services need to be set up such that if I ever leave, the tower of cards doesn't come crumbling down.

Re: Power Automate Tips, Tricks & Best Practices

abureaux — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 22:55:24 GMT

May as well drop a few Power Automate tips while I'm here:

Learn to use ParseJSON instead of referencing the flow Trigger. This will save you a LOT of headache. On that same note, get Visual Studio Code as it helps format the JSON.
You can set up templates for yourself to make creating new flows incredibly fast. For example, all of my surveys have templates with a basic structure that never changes. I also have a couple of Power Automate "templates". All I do is change a few fields, and within 1-2 minutes a newly published survey can be delivering Feature Reports.
Sometimes Power Automate's search feature gets borked... I.e., You type in a field name that you know is there, but nothing appears (check out the example below)

This is easily resolved by going to "Expression" > type "=" > go back to "Dynamic content" > delete the "=" > scroll through the list and you will find the missing variable (this disables the 'type to search' feature, but un-hides all hidden variables)
Sometimes, you may wish to grab something from your Trigger. When you format a label in S123, that is what appears in Power Automate's Dynamic Content list, NOT your easy to read name. A reasonable workaround is actually to decrease your browser's size until Power Automate shifts from a floating menu to an integrated menu (see below). The integrated menu allows you to hover over an item to see the FULL label

Re: Power Automate Tips, Tricks & Best Practices

AnthonyRyanEQL — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 23:03:16 GMT

Thanks for confirming this. We get a little worried when either the PSA or admin account is used to do the authentication and not sure what information is actually stored.