💥 Mastering String, Date, and Number Manipulation in Power Automate

🔎 Introduction: Why Manipulating Strings, Dates, and Numbers Matters in Power Automate

Include the keyword: manipulating strings, dates, and numbers in Power Automate

Explain that transforming and working with data is essential for:

• Creating dynamic content (e.g., emails, files, reports)
• Formatting timestamps and user inputs
• Calculating values and performing conditional logic
• Interfacing with external systems that require strict data formats

🧵 String Manipulation in Power Automate

H2: Common Use Cases for String Manipulation

H3: Real-World Examples

• Extract names from emails
• Format file names dynamically
• Trim user input
• Combine fields in reports

H3: Most Used String Functions

• concat()
• substring()
• replace()
• trim()
• toLower(), toUpper()
• split()
• length()
• indexOf()

Use tables with syntax, description, and examples.

📆 Date and Time Functions in Power Automate

H2: Real-World Use Cases for Date Manipulation

H3: Examples

• Schedule reminders
• Calculate due dates
• Format dates for APIs
• Display friendly timestamps in emails

H3: Powerful Date Functions

• utcNow()
• addDays(), addHours()
• formatDateTime()
• ticks()
• startOfDay(), endOfDay()
• subtractFromTime()

Include common patterns like calculating expiry dates, last day of month, and creating time windows.

🔢 Number Manipulation in Power Automate

H2: Use Cases for Numeric Data Handling

H3: Common Scenarios

• Totals in loops
• Currency calculations
• Threshold comparisons
• Converting strings to numbers

H3: Core Number Functions

• add(), sub(), mul(), div()
• int(), float()
• mod()
• rand()

🧪 Combining String, Date, and Number Logic

H3: Examples

• “Reminder: Your invoice of ${{amount}} is due on {{formatDateTime(dueDate)}}”
• Generate file name: concat('Invoice_', triggerOutputs()?['InvoiceID'], '_', formatDateTime(utcNow(), 'yyyyMMdd'))
• Calculate days until deadline: sub(ticks(dueDate), ticks(utcNow()))

🧠 Advanced Tips and Gotchas

• Handle nulls using coalesce() or if(empty())
• Watch out for timezone mismatches
• Use int() when looping with numeric comparisons
• Combine expressions in Compose for readability

✅ Best Practices

• Always test edge cases (empty, null, special characters)
• Use Compose for complex expressions
• Name actions clearly
• Group similar logic into scopes for clarity