Scope : is it really that useful?

In Power Automate, the "Scope" action is used to group a set of actions together and define the error handling behavior within that scope. It allows you to specify how errors are handled and what actions should be taken if an error occurs within the defined scope. Let's dive into an example to illustrate the use of the Scope action:

A simple Use Case: Expense Approval Workflow

Scenario: You want to create an expense approval workflow where employees submit expense reports, and managers review and approve them. In this workflow, you need to handle errors that may occur during the approval process.

Start with a trigger: Begin your Power Automate flow with an appropriate trigger, such as when a new item is created in a SharePoint list or when an email is received.

Add a Scope action: Drag and drop the "Scope" action from the actions list to create a new scope within your flow.

Configure the Scope action:

Name the scope, such as "Expense Approval Scope."

Specify the error handling behavior by choosing one of the following options:

"Run actions on success": If no errors occur within the scope, the actions following the Scope action will be executed.

"Run actions on failure": If an error occurs within the scope, the actions following the Scope action will be executed.

Optionally, you can configure the "Configure run after" option to specify whether the actions following the Scope action should run even if the scope fails or succeeds.

Add actions within the Scope: Within the scope, add the actions required for the expense approval process, such as sending approval requests to managers, updating the status of the expense report, or sending notifications to employees.

Handle errors: To handle errors that may occur within the scope, you can use the "Terminate" action or other suitable error handling actions. For example, you can add a "Condition" action to check if the approval request was declined by the manager. If it was declined, you can send a notification to the employee and terminate the workflow within the scope.

Add actions outside the Scope: After the Scope action, you can include actions that should always be executed, regardless of the outcome within the scope. For example, you may want to update a log or send a confirmation email to the employee, whether the approval was successful or not.

By using the Scope action, you can encapsulate related actions within a defined scope, specify error handling behavior, and ensure that the flow continues to execute based on the success or failure of the actions within that scope. It helps to organize and structure your workflow while providing more control over error handling and exception scenarios.