Microsoft 365 Community Community Demos, 9 Jul 2020

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From YouTube: How to provision a SharePoint list with ExecuteSiteScriptAction in Power Automate

Description

In this 12-minute Maker/Developer focused demo, John Liu provisions a SharePoint list by calling a special API end-point called ExecuteSiteScriptAction. The action can be used and reused by to create a custom list. Also use it to apply branding, change a LOGO, activate a feature, configure regional settings for a site and add users to SP Groups. The new function consolidates a number of busy work steps into one action. This PnP Community demo is taken from the General Microsoft 365 Development Special Interest Group (SIG) - Bi-weekly sync call recorded on July 9, 2020.

Demo Presenter(s): John Liu | @johnnliu

Supporting materials:
• How to provision SharePoint list and resources with only standard Microsoft Flow using ExecuteSiteScriptAction | http://johnliu.net/blog/2020/6/how-to-provision-sharepoint-list-and-resources-with-only-standard-microsoft-flow-using-executesitescriptaction
• Site design JSON schema | https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/declarative-customization/site-design-json-schema
• @pnp/sp/site-scripts | https://pnp.github.io/pnpjs/sp/site-scripts/
• Site Designs Studio V2 | https://github.com/pnp/sp-site-designs-studio

Learn more:
• Learn more about the SharePoint developer community at: http://aka.ms/m365pnp
• Visit the SharePoint PnP Developer Community YouTube channel: https://aka.ms/spdev-videos

A

This demo is about calling a special API endpoint called execute side, script, action and I'm gonna color from Microsoft flow, which is now Cole Powell to me, because I think you could do everything in Microsoft flow. What we can do there is a link actually so yeah. Let me just I just run through it, so the side, script action, let us access what's in the shape more than SharePoint sites group, which is part of the SharePoint site design. You can use it to create a custom list. This is with custom columns.

A

You can use it to create content types. You can add the content type to your custom list. You can apply printing change logo. You can actually also activate features. So if you know the feature do it and you can activate that on the site, you can use it to trigger a flow, but I will put a question mark here because we're already in the flow executing a size group. Why do we want to execute another flow? That seems like it's like?

A

Okay- maybe maybe not that one, but but also you can use it to configure regional settings for your site and use it to add user principles to SharePoint groups. So a bunch of super powerful- and these are things that you know we could use the REST API to do it's just to doing the REST API. You have to make multiple calls. You have to go a list and then ko another endpoint to check you the columns there then create that column and then do another like it just goes on and on.

A

Let me show you that link. So that is the link. That's yet the site's group side. This fan JSON stream schema, which has all the actions the top one is creating a SharePoint list. You can use any of the enums that you memorized. So there is the top-level side action create SP list. You can give her a listening, and then you can create these sub actions where you can add little verbs like set the description, change, the title and and SP field.

A

That's a sub action, so there's a whole bunch of them and then you can apply theme and so on now you might say: hey wait. This is not new. Is it well the size correction here E and with the set of sub actions these are part of the size group and which is part of the site design and traditionally to apply it to a site. You need to write the size group at the size group to SharePoint, then add the size group to site design and then apply the whole site design to a size.

A

So there's like several steps. What execute size script action does this action? Is it lets us shortcut this whole thing and just run this, so you can basically create a size group code. This endpoint give it this JSON, which we all learn. It's just text with screw squiggly brackets and you will execute the size group actions without you having to create a whole size group and then register in the site, design and then apply it once and then throw the whole thing away seems very wasteful.

A

So if you want to just create some sort of custom list, you can build a JSON running and then just code. The endpoint get your list back and then keep going so I want to show a few places where the site script is available. The RPM, PJs and I think I. Think Patrick was in the cool. Rpm PJs has an a a a point for execute ice-cream action, so you can use it in here. In fact, that is the size group.

A

So if you are coming from JavaScript, if you're using SharePoint framework, so SPF X- and you want to just go some sites group- you could do this totally completely allowed inside. While you can't do it, it's inside the library so p.m. PJ is supported. Let me pop over to my demo real quick, so so here's my airflow and that this is a flow with a bunch of I made a really big. So it's a button flow I'm, just gonna run it to trigger manually.

A

Firstly, I need a SharePoint site, site collection URL. So let me just go, add PMP one and just to show you is not magic. This side doesn't exist, it's a four, oh four, five, no fun, then before I call the sub scream I'm, actually gonna code, this SP site manager. So this is yeah another endpoint, but this basically allows me to use that URL use a web template give the owner I'm the owner, and this is going to help me create a site collection and you can code this from any site.

A

So this is this action. Is the sin catch EDP to SharePoint action, which is a standard flow action? Now, in fact, this entire flow? You stand the license. You do not need premium license to KO any of this. So that's that one! That's the first one, that's all in my blog, so I. If you're curious about these little bits. So that's that little is bit the second bit are. There is a few more actions. Firstly, we use a compose action to build again a JSON which is text with squiggly things.

A

We're using the SP pre ASP list verb we're going to call a custom tracking with the underscore, because we don't want spaces in your names by right. Afterwards, we want to call this a title and change it, so it doesn't have a space, we're gonna, do description at field and another field, a complex feel like a choice column, which requires some XML.

A

We could do that and also you can decide if you want the field to be undo, if you want to add the field to the default view and whether you want it to be in quiet. So this whole thing is the side script action and you can actually have multiple I. Just have one action here and then oops next thing click quick, the to code, this endpoint. We need the whole side strip encoder as a string, so in Java school it means to take the JSON and stringify it right.

A

So you turn the the JSON of this script definition into just just encode the string in flow. We use a function called string string brackets with the JSON that will turn that to a string if I string and then I will put that inside and new JSON with witches has this action definition. Then we are going to call execute Oscar action again now at this time on the new site that I just created. So this is using a custom site has some value, which is the the URL from earlier?

A

It's a post cause execute a script action. This is the not-so-secret endpoint it's arm anyway, it's out there and then just pass it pass this thing. Okay, so let me run this whole thing.

A

A

So the flow is running and you see the flow actually runs quicker than me waiting on that dialog to come up, so it took us three seconds to create a site it and took about a second to apply the custom list. So if I come over here and just f5 now you see that site is created.

A

If I pop into the site content, you will see the Konkan type. So the custom list is here with the underscore in the title: the custom columns whole bunch a little. You know all the fun stuff that you expect so.

A

Super powerful I think in my mind, lots of lots of scenarios to think about than me and also actually let me let me show you one more bit so there is one more action I didn't show. There is another end point on the same area: it's under the side: script utility. There is a guess: I stood from wet. You can call that and give it the web URL. You need to specify if you want a list definition, but what I will give us back is the script.

A

So SharePoint is able to look at the customs current site and give us back the size group for it, and then we contend that stringify JSON back into the size group. So you see this is the script that that SharePoint is able to create. So it's kind of two ways you can use it to read an existing site and then I'll pull out inside definition and they use it to clone it to a new site or or you could. You know predefined your scroop and then just your sign-in flow to create.

A

So you can see this is the side script that spewed up. You didn't do that the scroll properly, so that's if you run die, it's gonna create a list without the with the space in it and you're done. You're gonna hate that this anyway, so yeah lots of ideas. So you can maybe build a SharePoint list, template libraries using a bunch of JSON files. So if your users say hey I need this type of this, you can click. We were talking about the fabulous 40 in the chat comments. Yeah.

A

You could totally have 40 list templates. The these list templates this JSON. This can include a few, so you can customize your view and get make it really fancy. So all day, more than SharePoint lists, real customization can be embedded in your site, design, so really powerful. You could create this list. I have very custom views. It should work really well with the upcoming Microsoft lists, which is, oh, you know SharePoint list space. So I. Can you imagine the out-of-the-box. You know about 10 templates that you can pick.

A

They are pretty much essentially in my head. They are pretty much essentially site design scripts. They are run. You can use it. If you have a power app that has that needs certain type of SharePoint lists as a backing. You can use this to deploy with a flow that checks if the list of things is then created and then have your power abstract, the other term.

A

So this is me my background is a consultant and often I go to a new customer and they don't have access to as you and they want some sort of SCI provisioning with flow and no edger required no premium license required. You could be super productive with just these pieces. You could be a SharePoint for a more wet pad and code that on JavaScript or you can use flow as one.

A

So you can right now user from p.m. PJs and flow. Maybe maybe you could come up from PowerShell or CLI. Maybe I think other uh design the code. They will be interested, but always good to see new endpoints, and then they encapsulate a lot of functionality and the whole list is created on the server. So you don't need to worry about this back and forth of call it multiple API endpoint. You just call one endpoint and then it creates the whole list.

A

So that's super powerful that that's all my talk is about blossom cool, really cool stuff. Thank you. John always appreciate a mention to PJs and any demo so great to see that.