UPCOMING WEBINAR
Creating an Office document from MS Flow – a feature that has long been wished for in the SharePoint community. It seems that with Flow users are finally able to automatically do this. But can the documents that are generated with the standard functionalities add real business value and can they be set up in a hassle free manner? In this webinar you learn what it takes to automatically create documents that add value from MS Flow and how you, in a powerful, intuitive and flexible manner, can boost your Flow, Azure Active Directory and SharePoint Online possibilities.
More information & registration at https://www.dox42.com/Events/dox42-Webinar-Create-documents-that-add-value-from-MS-Flow
Creating an Office document from MS Flow – a feature that has long been wished for in the SharePoint community. It seems that with Flow users are finally able to automatically do this. But can the documents that are generated with the standard functionalities add real business value and can they be set up in a hassle free manner? This blog post shows you what it takes to automatically create documents that add value from MS Flow and how you, in a powerful, intuitive and flexible manner, can boost your Flow, Azure Active Directory and SharePoint Online possibilities.
Imagine this scenario: You are working in HR and your responsibility is to generate candidates’ employee contracts. You can’t relate to this situation? No problem, the functionality described in this post works with any scenario – all you need is a SharePoint Online, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Flow and dox42 Online!
The HR department provided you with the following requirements for the document:
- Include from SharePoint List: personal information, position, salary, special agreements
- Include Special Agreement in rich-text format
- Load MS Word text blocks (stored in a SharePoint library) based on dependencies, e.g. remuneration policy for developers or sales managers
- Exclude certain information based on conditions
- Dynamic table of contents
- Repeated sections for attachments
- Possibility to include data from external sources (Dynamics, employee data base, etc…)
- Possibility to sign document electronically
- Template updates possible for business users without technical proficiency
- Store templates in SharePoint Online
- Output format PDF, stored automatically in SP List with meta data
- Document generation to be triggered from MS Flow
The document should look like this:
The way to go? Making use of the power of MS Flow, SharePoint Online and Azure Active Directory authentication combined with the flexible, intuitive and powerful possibilities of the document generation engine dox42 Online!
This will not only allow you to integrate all your data sources and sub documents into your templates, but to also automatically create the contracts from a Flow, and store them in a SharePoint library with the corresponding meta data and the impersonation information of the AAD logged in user. And the best thing is, it is so intuitive, that it could be set-up or adjusted by a non-tech business user anytime. Let’s have a closer look:
Our starting point is our candidates SharePoint List. We included the required information, and the rich text field for the special agreement:
In a Flow-less scenario (pun intended 😉 ), dox42 allows you to generate the contract from a SharePoint List item, by clicking one of the calls in the context menu (see screenshot below). Behind those calls are REST links that we set up with the dox42 Server beforehand. Upon this manual trigger, dox42 pulls all relevant information for that list item into the correct template and generates the contract. Your templates can of course be stored in SharePoint Online. Watch how to set up your dox42 templates easily, and without deep technical skills here.
Once a contract is generated, chances are that your candidate data needs adjustment, for example due to re-negotiation. In our scenario the candidate only accepts the offer if she can choose which Porsche to receive as a company car 😉 Consequently, the HR employee updates their list item. And that’s the perfect starting point for the MS Flow magic to kick in! As soon as a list item is updated, the contract is automatically generated and stored in a SharePoint library of your choice, including meta data and AAD impersonation information:
The screenshots below show the generated Employee Contract PDF, including the candidate information, a dynamic Table of Contents, the Restrictive Covenant that was added from a separate Word document, as well as the Special Agreement pulled from the List item in Rich Text Format:
The corresponding Word template includes blue dox42 data fields and conditions:
And how do you ensure the technical set up for this powerful document generation Flow?
Firstly, dox42 Online allows native integration with SharePoint Online and Microsoft Flow and utilizes the full security of Azure Active Directory Authentication.
All you need to do is the following:
Order your dox42 Online account and start creating your dox42 templates in MS Word using AAD authentication in your data sources. Afterwards store them in a SharePoint Online library.
Next, register your dox42 Online tenant in Azure Active Directory, before you start with the set-up of your Flow, which comprises the creation of a custom connector. For that, click on Custom Connectors in the “Data” menu of your Flow Management:
After that, authenticate yourself with your Azure Active Directory App ID, which you registered in your dox42 Online and AAD admin centers. To complete the setup, simply import a dox42 REST call that triggers document automation, test your settings and you are good to go:
Now you need to configure your flow in the “My flows” tab. Choose the automated setting that whenever an item is created or modified in your SharePoint List, your custom connector triggers the generation and stores the document in a library:
In this set up you can be as flexible as you need. You may want to automatically send a PDF document via email, sign it electronically or dynamically create PowerPoint presentations or Excel sheets? No problem, dox42 can do it all for you!
You are good to go and the HR department can let their document generation flow! 😉 They can free up resources to focus on important tasks rather than being stuck in repetitive document processes, or being limited in their ability to generate powerful documents.
Curious to try it yourself?
Register for our dox42 Online Flow webinar on November 27th at 10 am CET or contact us on info@dox42.com and request your free 30 day trial now!