Overview and features

• Automate repetitive processes
• Define approval steps from a SharePoint configuration list in order not to change in the Power Automate flow
• Gives an overall picture of the workflow – Keep history of all actions in a separate SharePoint list
• Manage approval process from a SharePoint configuration list
• Standardize all notifications by creating one single location to send email and create approval
• Save development time and most importantly standardize approval processes
• Approve from either SharePoint List or Power Automate
• Choose notification option to assigned approvers from the following options:
  • Notify through email – user must approve from SharePoint list. This is useful in case there is some fields that he needs to set before submitting to the next step.
  • Notify through email with options – User can respond with any of the selected Options from Email.
  • Create approval with options – User can respond with any of the selected option from Email or from flow client app.
• Assign approval to manager get from Active Directory
• Send custom notification to requester
• Send notification to chosen people on CC
• Integrate with MS Teams

Solution architecture

• SharePoint Lists

1. Trigger List: this is a custom SharePoint List used to trigger the flow. It contains all the fields necessary to keep track of the flow status, and all the fields required for business (Form fields). We will name this list: Flow Trigger
2. Configuration List: this is a custom SharePoint List that contains all the process steps and what will happen on each step. We will name this list: Flow Status
3. Flow History List: this is a custom SharePoint List that will contain all approval actions and history. This list will also trigger a Flow that will send email notifications and create approvals. We will name this list: Flow History

• Power Automate Flows

1. Main Flow process: this is a Flow triggered when a new item is created or modified on the Main List. It checks the current data and accordingly fetch what is the next step from the Flow Status List. We will name this Flow: Flow Trigger – Main Process
2. History Flow Process: This is a Flow triggered when a new item is created in the list Flow History. In this Flow we will provide a unified location to send notifications and create approvals. We will name this Flow: Flow History – Main Process

SharePoint Lists (back end)

Flow Trigger

Name	Type	Description
Title	Single Line of Text
WorkflowCurrentStatus	Lookup	Used to retrieve current process Id from configuration list Flow Status
WorkflowCurrentStatusID	Number	Used to contain Id of lookup field WorkflowCurrentStatus. This will be set by workflow and needed for ease of using a Text Field instead of lookup
Requester	People Picker	People only field. Used to contain the summary status of the request
RequestClassification	Choice	Choice field used to set the current status
ApprovalStatus1	Choice	This field is updated by user. Contain choices for first level submitter. Usually options available for requester
ApprovalStatus2	Choice	Contain choices for second level submitter. Usually options available for approver.
ApprovalStatus3	Choice
ApprovalStatus4	Choice
ApprovalStatus5	Choice
ApprovalStatus6	Choice
ApprovalStatus7	Choice
ApprovalDate1	Date With Time	Contain the date of level 1 submit. (In this example when Requester change the status from Save as draft to Submit for Approval) This is changed by Flow
ApprovalDate2	Date With Time	Contain the date of level 2 submit. (In this example when ApprovalStatus2 is changed from In Progress). This field is updated by Flow.
ApprovalDate3	Date With Time	Contain the date of level 3 submit. (In this example when ApprovalStatus3 is changed from In Progress). This field is updated by Flow.
ApprovalDate4	Date With Time	Contain the date of level 4 submit. (In this example when ApprovalStatus4 is changed from In Progress). This field is updated by Flow.
ApprovalDate5	Date With Time	Contain the date of level 5 submit. (In this example when ApprovalStatus5 is changed from In Progress). This field is updated by Flow.
ApprovalDate6	Date With Time	Contain the date of level 6 submit. (In this example when ApprovalStatus6 is changed from In Progress). This field is updated by Flow.
ApprovalDate7	Date With Time	Contain the date of level 7 submit. (In this example when ApprovalStatus7 is changed from In Progress). This field is updated by Flow.
ClosedDate	Date With Time	Contain the closure date. At this point the request is completed, either approved or Rejected. This field is updated by Flow.
Comments	Multiple lines of text	User updated field. Make sure to set as Plain Text!!
CommentsHistory	Multiple lines of text	Contains history of all approval actions and comments. This field is updated by Flow.
EmailSelectedFlowID	Number	For Internal use with Flow.
EmailSelectedUserOption	Single line of text	For Internal use with Flow
LastSubmitAction	Single line of text
LastSubmitBy	People Picker
LastSubmitDate	Date With Time
AssignedTo	People Picker	Contain the current peoples assigned to request

Flow Status

List Columns

Name	Type	Description
Title	Short Text	Name of the approval step
Assign to Requester Manager	Yes/No	Set to Yes in order to assign the request to the Requester Manager set in AD. In case no Manager is set. The request will be assigned to whoever is set in field Assigned To
Notify Requester in CC	Yes/No	Set to yes in order to send a notification to the requester on the action taken on this step
Notify Options	Choice	Email: Send Email a normal email. User must login to the form in order to approve EmailWithOptions: Send Email with approval options. User can approve directly from Email. ApprovalWithOptions: Create and wait for approval with custom responses
Approval Options Flow Status	Multiple lines of text	Set Flow status ID Corresponding to each Approval Option. This a Json object with the following schema { “type”: “array”, “items”: { “type”: “object”, “properties”: { “ApprovalOption”: { “type”: “string” }, “Id”: { “type”: “integer” }, “ApprovalAction”: { “type”: “string” } }, “required”: [ “ApprovalOption”, “Id” ] } } Id: point to the Id of the step that will be in case ApprovalOption is selected ApprovalAction can only take the below values: Continue Review Approved Rejected This instruct the workflow on the type of action being done. This will be explained further in Part 2 Following a sample of data: [{ “ApprovalOption”: “Approve”, “Id”: 4, “ApprovalAction”: “Continue” }, { “ApprovalOption”: “Reject”, “Id”: 6, “ApprovalAction”: “Rejected” }, { “ApprovalOption”: “Send for Review”, “Id”: 1, “ApprovalAction”: “Review” }]
Approval Options	Short Text	No need to fill this field manually as it will be filled by workflow. This fields contains the custom responses separated by ,
Assigned To CC	People	The people that will be notified on CC on this step
Assigned To	People	People that will be assigned on this step

Sample Data

• Assign to requester manager = Yes => the request will be assigned to the requester manager. In case the requester manager does not exist, the request will be assigned to user “dany” (Assigned To = Dany)
• Notify Requester in CC = Yes => the requester will be notified on CC
• Assigned to CC = “Tony” => User “tony” will be notified on CC
• Notify Options = “ApprovalWithOptions” => the notification type that will be send to the assigned user will be created as Create and Wait for an approval with custom responses
• Approval Options Flow Status

Flow History

List Columns

Name	Type	Description
Title	Short Text
EmailTemplateKey	Short Text
Requester	Person
Subject	Short Text
Body	Long Text
CurrentItemUrl	Short Text
relatedCaseID	Short Text
Key	Short Text
ItemDescription	Long Text
ItemTitle	Short Text
ModifiedAction	Short Text
SiteURL	Short Text
ListName	Short Text
CommentsHistory	Long Text
WorkflowCurrentStatusID	Double
WorkflowCurrentStatus	Short Text
SiteFlowURL	Short Text
SiteFlowID	Short Text
NotifyRequester	Yes/No
RequestClassification	Short Text
EmailSelectOptions	Short Text
ModifiedByUser	Person
ModifiedByDate	Date With Time
EmailOptionsHeaderText	Short Text
EmailOptionsSelectionText	Short Text
FlowName	Short Text
ListTitle	Short Text
Comments	Long Text
BodyApproval	Long Text
Approvers	People
CC	People
To	Peaple

Sample Data

Conclusion