PL-500T00: Microsoft Power Automate RPA Developer

Module 1: Take your first steps with Power Automate for desktop

Learn how to get started with the Microsoft Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer. The console helps you create and handle flows, while the flow designer is the development environment of the platform.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Explore the console and the flow designer.
• Learn how to use the core features of the Power Automate for desktop platform.
• Create and run a flow.

Prerequisites

• Power Automate for desktop should be installed.

Module 2: Power Automate for desktop development essentials

Learn how Power Automate for desktop handles common development concepts and tasks, such as actions, variables, conditionals, and loops.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Create a flow from scratch using the flow designer
• Learn how to use actions and variables
• Understand the testing and debugging features of the flow designer
• Configure the error handling properties of individual actions
• Comprehend the use of UI elements and images
• Use subflows to compartmentalize and reuse parts of a flow

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer.

Module 3: Build your first Power Automate for desktop flow

This module introduces the basics of Power Automate for desktop flows and explains how to build the first flow to help automate a repetitive task.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Learn about Power Automate for desktop flows.
• Learn how to create a new desktop flow.
• Record actions that are performed in the desktop-based Contoso Invoicing application.
• Perform a test run of the new desktop flow.

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of Microsoft Power Automate.
• Recommended – View lab instructions on a separate device or in a printout.

Module 4: Define input and output parameters in Power Automate

This module defines input and output parameters for desktop flows, which will allow your flows to be more comprehensive and useful.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Create a desktop flow with predefined inputs.
• Record actions that are performed in the desktop-based Contoso Invoicing application by using these inputs and capturing application data for output.
• Perform a test run of a new desktop flow with a new set of inputs.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of Microsoft Power Automate and Power Automate for desktop.

Module 5: Integrate desktop flows with Outlook connector in Power Automate for desktop

This module will show how to build on an existing gateway to integrate Microsoft Outlook with a desktop UI flow.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Create a new solution to package the complete invoice processing solution.
• Create a new cloud flow that initiates the invoicing process through receipt of an email.
• Integrate a desktop flow into a cloud flow.
• Test the new cloud flow.

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of Microsoft Power Automate. This module builds from the Build your first Power Automate for desktop UI flow, the Use input and output parameters, and the Create a Gateway to Desktop UI flow modules.

Module 6: Connect a cloud flow to desktop flows in Power Automate for desktop

Gateways allow desktop flows to connect to other services and use robotic process automation (RPA) to its fullest potential. This module explains how to use those gateways as a foundation for integrating other technology with cloud flows.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Create a cloud flow.
• Configure the on-premises data gateway to enable the cloud flow to run the desktop flow on your device.
• Add the desktop flow to the new cloud flow.
• Test the new cloud flow.

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of Microsoft Power Automate. This module builds from the Build your first Power Automate for desktop flow and the Use input and output parameters modules.

Module 7: Use AI Builder to process invoice forms in Power Automate

This module explains how to integrate AI builder into an existing API-based flow to facilitate a robust automated process.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Build a new AI model for form processing.
• Train the new AI model to process Contoso Invoice forms.
• Integrate the new AI model into an existing cloud flow.
• Test the updated cloud flow and associated AI Builder-based predictions.

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of Microsoft Power Automate. This module builds off the Build your first Power Automate for desktop UI flow, the Use input and output parameters, the Create a Gateway to Desktop UI flow, and the Integration with Outlook connector modules.

Module 8: Use the Teams connector in Power Automate

A fully automated process joins many concepts and capabilities in Power Automate. This module shows how to bring those concepts together to build a robust automation that involves multiple programs.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Integrate a Microsoft Teams-based approval model and the associated conditional logic into an existing cloud flow.
• Integrate the desktop flow for entering the invoice information into the approval process.
• Integrate Microsoft Outlook-based approval/rejection notifications into the invoice process.
• Test the end-to-end invoice processing cloud flow.

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of Microsoft Power Automate. This module builds off the Build your first Power Automate for desktop flow, the Use input and output parameters, the Create a Gateway to Desktop flow, the Integration with Outlook connector, and the Use AI builder to process invoice forms modules.

Module 9: Run a Power Automate for desktop flow in unattended mode

When building robotic process automation (RPA), you can’t always monitor the flow. This module demonstrates the solution for this issue by explaining how to run your UI and API flows unattended.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Run a basic desktop flow in unattended mode.
• Run a desktop flow and cloud flow scenario in unattended mode.
• Learn best practices and setup for unattended desktop flows.

Prerequisites

• A paid unattended RPA license to do the exercises in this module; unattended trial licensing is not available. Basic understanding of Microsoft Power Automate. This module builds off the Build your first Power Automate for desktop UI flow, the Use input and output parameters, the Create a Gateway to Desktop UI flow, the Integration with Outlook connector, the Use AI builder to process invoice forms, and the Use Teams connector and adaptive cards modules.

Module 10: Optimize your business process with process advisor

With the process advisor capability in Power Automate, you can record existing business processes and analyze them to increase efficacy by tracking completion times and mapping various actions that are involved. The first step to automating a solution is knowing the process, and process advisor helps simplify that task.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Create your first recording.
• Edit recordings and group actions.
• Analyze recordings and interpret results.

Module 11: Handle variables in Power Automate for desktop

In flow development, you may need to reuse information in various actions. Variables act like storage bins that save valuable information for later use when a flow is running.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Create, edit, and manipulate variables.
• Examine the variables pane.
• Become familiar with various variable data types and their properties.
• Configure input and output variables.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer.

Module 12: Automate repetitive tasks using loops in Power Automate for desktop

Loops are used to automate repetitive tasks by executing a block of actions multiple times.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Use simple loops to perform a given number of repetitions and iterate through data
• Deploy loop conditions in order to repeat actions until a condition is met
• Iterate through the items of a list using for each loops
• Explicitly end loops when required

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer, and how to handle list and data table variables.

Module 13: Adjust process behavior using conditional actions with Power Automate for desktop

Conditional actions allow you to modify flow actions at runtime, based on information available in the environment.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Use “If” conditionals
• Deploy “Switch” conditionals in order to compare a single variable with multiple possible values
• Explore additional options when evaluating conditions
• Provide default and alternative behaviors for flows based on the environment data

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer.

Module 14: Configure flow control in Power Automate for desktop

The ability to alter the order in which actions and functions are implemented is called flow control. Power Automate for desktop enables flow control through the flow control actions.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Learn how flow control works.
• Learn how to use the flow control group of actions to direct and manipulate the flow.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer.

Module 15: Generate Power Automate for desktop flows by recording

The recorder can be used to automatically generate blocks of actions, based on the user’s interaction with the workstation.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Use the recorder to generate actions automating local Windows UI-based tasks
• Deploy the recorder to automate interactions with a web browser
• Preview and edit the automatically generated actions during and after the recording

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer.

Module 16: Configure exception and error handling in Power Automate for desktop

Exception handling is a mechanism that allows Power Automate for desktop to handle and recover from unexpected circumstances and issues that might occur during a flow run.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Configure the exception handling properties of individual actions.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer.

Module 17: Control file and folder handling in Power Automate for desktop

Manipulating files and folders is a fundamental part of most business processes. Power Automate for desktop provides the files and folders actions to help accomplish this task.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Learn how to create flows that manage files and folders.
• Learn how to manage the properties of multiple files and folders.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer, and familiarity with managing files, folders and paths.

Module 18: Web automation in Power Automate for desktop

Web applications are critical components of most organizations. Power Automate for desktop supports the automation of all major browsers through its browser automation actions.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Learn how to configure browser automation actions.
• Learn how to extract data from web pages.
• Create a flow that extracts gainer stocks from the MSN website.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer, UI elements and variables.

Module 19: Use Power Automate for desktop to interact with windows and applications

UI interfaces and their components are identified through UI elements, which can be captured and used in UI/Windows-related actions.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Learn about the concept of UI elements.
• Discover the window and element-handling capabilities of Power Automate for desktop.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer.

Module 20: Excel automation in Power Automate for desktop

Power Automate for desktop provides an extensive variety of Microsoft Excel actions to help you read and manipulate Excel files.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Open Excel files and attach a process to an already opened file.
• Use the Excel group of actions to read data from and write data to an Excel file.
• Create and edit worksheets.
• Save and close Excel files

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer, and familiarity with Microsoft Excel.

Module 21: Automating email handling in Power Automate for desktop

Using email services is common in business procedures and critical for most organizations. Power Automate for desktop provides various actions that enable email handling for webmail services, Microsoft Outlook, and Exchange servers.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Become familiar with the email, Outlook, and Exchange actions.
• Create a flow that retrieves, processes, and sends emails.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer, flow development and variables.

Module 22: Automate system, workstation, and services actions in Power Automate for desktop

Power Automate for desktop supports the automation of miscellaneous tasks, which are fundamental to the Microsoft Windows operating system, through the system, workstation, and services actions.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Automate system-related tasks with the system and workstation groups of actions.
• Automate the management of Windows services with the service group of actions.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer.

Module 23: Communicate using message boxes in Power Automate for desktop flows

Message boxes can be used to interact with a user to either request input, or to provide output.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Familiarize yourself with the various preset message box actions

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer.

Module 24: Text manipulation in Power Automate for desktop

Power Automate for desktop provides actions to help you manipulate text and datetime values. These text and datetime actions help you adopt a standardized data format in your flows.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Learn how to use the text group of actions.
• Create methods that help you process and edit text.
• Manipulate text type variables for input and output in actions and flows.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer, and familiarity with manipulating text.

Module 25: Simulate mouse and keyboard actions by using Power Automate for desktop

Learn how to create flows that simulate mouse movement and clicks, as well as typing and key presses. This module also describes how to select and locate a specific image or area on the screen with the mouse.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Learn how to create a flow that simulates human interaction with a PC
• Learn how to automate simulated mouse movement and clicks
• Learn how to select and locate a specific image or area on the screen with the mouse
• Learn how to emulate typing or key presses

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of how to use the Power Automate for desktop console and flow designer, and familiarity with handling images in Power Automate for desktop.

Module 26: Combine Power Automate desktop and cloud flows

This module describes how to combine a Power Automate desktop flow with a Power Automate cloud flow. It demonstrates how to call an existing Power Automate desktop flow from a cloud flow to enhance its functionality and save time when designing large, complex flows.

Learning objectives

• In this module, you will:
• Create a cloud flow in Power Automate that calls a Power Automate desktop flow.
• Use the values of variables from Power Automate in a Power Automate desktop flow.
• Use the resulting variables from Power Automate for desktop in Power Automate actions.

Prerequisites

• Either a paid or trial Power Automate license.
• A work or school account to sign into your Windows device with administrator privileges and Power Automate.
• A device that runs Windows 10 or Windows Server 2019.
• Microsoft Edge (version 80 or later) or other supported browser.
• An environment with a Dataverse database.