Tutorial: Create schedule-based automation workflows using Azure Logic Apps

Applies to: Azure Logic Apps (Consumption)

This tutorial shows how to build an example logic app workflow that runs on a recurring schedule. Specifically, this example workflow checks the travel time, including the traffic, between two places and runs every weekday morning. If the time exceeds a specific limit, the workflow sends you an email that includes the travel time and the extra time necessary to arrive at your destination. The workflow includes various steps, which start with a schedule-based trigger followed by a Bing Maps action, a data operations action, a control flow action, and an email notification action.

In this tutorial, you learn how to:

  • Create a blank logic app and workflow.
  • Add a Recurrence trigger that specifies the schedule to run your workflow.
  • Add a Bing Maps action that gets the travel time for a route.
  • Add an action that creates a variable, converts the travel time from seconds to minutes, and stores that result in the variable.
  • Add a condition that compares the travel time against a specified limit.
  • Add an action that sends an email if the travel time exceeds the limit.

When you're done, your workflow looks similar to the following high level example:

Screenshot that shows the high-level overview for an example logic app workflow.

Prerequisites

Create a Consumption logic app workflow

  1. In the Azure portal, sign in with your Azure account.

  2. On the Azure home page, select Create a resource.

  3. On the Azure Marketplace menu, select Integration > Logic App.

    Screenshot that shows Azure Marketplace menu with "Integration" and "Logic App" selected.

  4. On the Create Logic App pane, on the Basics tab, provide the following information about your logic app resource.

    Screenshot showing Azure portal, logic app creation pane, and info for new logic app resource.

    Property Required Value Description
    Subscription Yes <Azure-subscription-name> Your Azure subscription name. This example uses Pay-As-You-Go.
    Resource Group Yes LA-TravelTime-RG The Azure resource group where you create your logic app resource and related resources. This name must be unique across regions and can contain only letters, numbers, hyphens (-), underscores (_), parentheses ((, )), and periods (.).
    Name Yes LA-TravelTime Your logic app resource name, which must be unique across regions and can contain only letters, numbers, hyphens (-), underscores (_), parentheses ((, )), and periods (.).
  5. Before you continue making selections, go to the Plan section. For Plan type, select Consumption to show only the settings for a Consumption logic app workflow, which runs in multi-tenant Azure Logic Apps.

    The Plan type property also specifies the billing model to use.

    Plan type Description
    Standard This logic app type is the default selection and runs in single-tenant Azure Logic Apps and uses the Standard billing model.
    Consumption This logic app type runs in global, multi-tenant Azure Logic Apps and uses the Consumption billing model.
  6. Now continue with the following selections:

    Property Required Value Description
    Region Yes West US The Azure datacenter region for storing your app's information. This example deploys the sample logic app to the West US region in Azure.

    Note: If your subscription is associated with an integration service environment, this list includes those environments.
    Enable log analytics Yes No This option appears and applies only when you select the Consumption logic app type. Change this option only when you want to enable diagnostic logging. For this tutorial, keep the default selection.
  7. When you're done, select Review + create. After Azure validates the information about your logic app resource, select Create.

  8. After Azure deploys your app, select Go to resource.

    Azure opens the workflow template selection pane, which shows an introduction video, commonly used triggers, and workflow template patterns.

  9. Scroll down past the video and common triggers sections to the Templates section, and select Blank Logic App.

    Screenshot that shows the workflow template selection pane with "Blank Logic App" selected.

Next, add the Recurrence trigger, which runs the workflow based on a specified schedule. Every workflow must start with a trigger, which fires when a specific event happens or when new data meets a specific condition. For more information, see Create an example Consumption logic app workflow in multi-tenant Azure Logic Apps.

Add the Recurrence trigger

  1. On the workflow designer, under the search box, select Built-in.

  2. In the search box, enter recurrence, and select the trigger named Recurrence.

    Screenshot showing Azure portal, workflow designer, search box with 'recurrence' entered, and the 'Recurrence' trigger selected.

  3. On the Recurrence shape, select the ellipses (...) button, and then select Rename. Rename the trigger with this description: Check travel time every weekday morning

    Screenshot that shows the ellipses button selected, the "Settings" list open, and the "Rename" command selected.

  4. Inside the trigger, change these properties as described and shown here.

    Screenshot that shows the changes to the trigger's interval and frequency.

    Property Required Value Description
    Interval Yes 1 The number of intervals to wait between checks
    Frequency Yes Week The unit of time to use for the recurrence
  5. Under Interval and Frequency, open the Add new parameter list, and select these properties to add to the trigger.

    • On these days
    • At these hours
    • At these minutes

    Screenshot that shows the opened "Add new parameter" list and these selected properties: "On these days", "At these hours", and "At these minutes".

  6. Now set the values for the additional properties as shown and described here.

    Screenshot that shows the additional properties set to the values as described in the following table.

    Property Value Description
    On these days Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday This setting is available only when you set the Frequency to Week.
    At these hours 7, 8, 9 This setting is available only when you set the Frequency to Week or Day. For this recurrence, select the hours of the day. This example runs at the 7, 8, and 9-hour marks.
    At these minutes 0, 15, 30, 45 This setting is available only when you set the Frequency to Week or Day. For this recurrence, select the minutes of the day. This example starts at the zero-hour mark and runs every 15 minutes.

    This trigger fires every weekday, every 15 minutes, starting at 7:00 AM and ending at 9:45 AM. The Preview box shows the recurrence schedule. For more information, see Schedule tasks and workflows and Workflow actions and triggers.

  7. To hide the trigger's details for now, collapse the shape by clicking inside the shape's title bar.

    Screenshot that shows the collapsed trigger shape.

  8. Save your workflow. On the designer toolbar, select Save.

Your logic app workflow is now live in the Azure portal but doesn't do anything other than trigger based on the specified schedule. So, add an action that responds when the trigger fires.

Get the travel time for a route

Now that you have a trigger, add an action that gets the travel time between two places. Azure Logic Apps provides a connector for the Bing Maps API so that you can easily get this information. Before you start this task, make sure that you have a Bing Maps API key as described in this tutorial's prerequisites.

  1. In the workflow designer, under the Recurrence trigger, select New step.

  2. Under Choose an operation, select Standard. In the search box, enter bing maps, and select the action named Get route.

    Screenshot that shows the "Choose an operation" list filtered by "bing maps" actions, and the "Get route" action selected.

  3. If you don't have a Bing Maps connection, you're asked to create a connection. Provide the connection details as shown and described, and then select Create.

    Screenshot that shows the Bing Maps connection box with the specified connection name and Bing Maps API key.

    Property Required Value Description
    Connection Name Yes BingMapsConnection Provide a name for your connection. This example uses BingMapsConnection.
    API Key Yes <Bing-Maps-API-key> Enter the Bing Maps API key that you previously received. If you don't have a Bing Maps key, learn how to get a key.
  4. Rename the action with this description: Get route and travel time with traffic.

  5. In the action, open the Add new parameter list, and select these properties.

    • Optimize
    • Distance unit
    • Travel mode

    Screenshot that shows the "Get route..." action with the "Optimize", "Distance unit", and "Travel mode" properties selected.

  6. Now enter the values for the properties shown and described here.

    Screenshot that shows additional property values for the "Get route" action.

    Property Required Value Description
    Waypoint 1 Yes <start-location> Your route's origin. This example specifies an example starting address.
    Waypoint 2 Yes <end-location> Your route's destination. This example specifies an example destination address.
    Optimize No timeWithTraffic A parameter to optimize your route, such as distance, travel time with current traffic, and so on. Select the parameter value, timeWithTraffic.
    Distance unit No <your-preference> The unit of distance for your route. This example uses Mile as the unit.
    Travel mode No Driving The travel mode for your route. Select Driving mode.

    For more information about these parameters and values, see Calculate a route.

  7. On the designer toolbar, select Save.

Next, create a variable so that you can convert and store the current travel time as minutes, rather than seconds. That way, you can avoid repeating the conversion and use the value more easily in later steps.

Create a variable to store travel time

Sometimes, you might want to run operations on data in your workflow, and then use the results in later actions. To save these results so that you can easily reuse or reference them, you can create variables that store those results after processing. You can create variables only at the top level in your workflow.

By default, the Get route action returns the current travel time with traffic in seconds from the Travel Duration Traffic property. By converting and storing this value as minutes instead, you make the value easier to reuse later without converting again.

  1. On the designer, under the Get route action, select New step.

  2. Under Choose an operation, select Built-in. In the search box, enter variables, and select the action named Initialize variable.

    Screenshot that shows the "Initialize variable" action selected.

  3. Rename this action with this description: Create variable to store travel time

  4. Provide this information for your variable as shown in this table and in the steps below the table:

    Property Required Value Description
    Name Yes travelTime The name for your variable. This example uses travelTime.
    Type Yes Integer The data type for your variable
    Value No An expression that converts the current travel time from seconds to minutes (see the steps under this table). The initial value for your variable
    1. To create the expression for the Value property, click inside the box so that the dynamic content list appears. If necessary, widen your browser until the dynamic list appears. In the dynamic content list, select Expression, which shows the expression editor.

      Screenshot that shows the "Initialize variable" action with the cursor inside the "Value" property, which opens the dynamic content list.

      The dynamic content list shows the outputs from previous actions that are available for you to select as inputs to subsequent actions in your workflow. The dynamic content list includes an expression editor that you can use to select functions that perform operations in your expression. This expression editor is only available in the dynamic content list.

    2. In the expression editor, enter this expression: div(,60)

      Screenshot that shows the expression editor with the "div(,60)" expression entered.

    3. Within the expression, put your cursor between the left parenthesis (() and the comma (,), and select Dynamic content.

      Screenshot that shows where to put the cursor in the "div(,60)" expression with "Dynamic content" selected.

    4. In the dynamic content list, under select the property value, Travel Duration Traffic.

      Screenshot that shows the "Travel Duration Traffic" property value selected.

    5. After the property value resolves inside the expression, select OK.

      Screenshot that shows the "OK" button as selected.

      The Value property now appears as shown here:

      Screenshot that shows the "Value" property with the resolved expression.

  5. Save your workflow. On the designer toolbar, select Save.

Next, add a condition that checks whether the current travel time is greater than a specific limit.

Compare the travel time with limit

  1. Under the Create variable to store travel time action, select New step.

  2. Under Choose an operation, select Built-in. In the search box, enter condition. and from the actions list, select the action named Condition.

    Screenshot that shows the "Condition" action selected

  3. Rename the condition with this description: If travel time exceeds limit

  4. Build a condition that checks whether the travelTime property value exceeds your specified limit as described and shown here:

    1. In the condition, on the condition's left side, click inside the Choose a value box.

    2. From the dynamic content list that appears, under Variables, select the property named travelTime.

      Screenshot that shows the "Choose a value" box on the condition's left side with the dynamic content list open and the "travelTime" property selected.

    3. In the middle comparison box, select the operator named is greater than.

    4. On the condition's right side, in the Choose a value box, enter this limit: 15

      When you're done, the condition looks like this example:

      Screenshot that shows the finished condition for comparing the travel time to the specified limit.

  5. Save your workflow. On the designer toolbar, select Save.

Next, add the action to run when the travel time exceeds your limit.

Send email when limit exceeded

Now, add an action that sends you email when the travel time exceeds your limit. This email includes the current travel time and the extra time necessary to travel the specified route.

  1. In the condition's True branch, select Add an action.

  2. Under Choose an operation, select Standard. In the search box, enter send email. The list returns many results, so to help you filter the list, first select the email connector that you want.

    For example, if you have an Outlook email account, select the connector for your account type:

    • For Azure work or school accounts, select Office 365 Outlook.
    • For personal Microsoft accounts, select Outlook.com.

    This example continues by selecting Office 365 Outlook.

    Screenshot that shows the "Choose an operation list" with "Standard" category and "Office 365 Outlook" connector selected.

  3. When the connector's actions appear, select the action that sends email, for example:

    Screenshot that shows the "Send an email" action selected.

  4. If you don't already have a connection, sign in and authenticate access to your email account when prompted.

    Azure Logic Apps creates a connection to your email account.

  5. Rename the action with this description: Send email with travel time

  6. For the To property, enter the recipient's email address. For testing purposes, you can use your email address.

  7. For the Subject property, specify the email's subject, and include the travelTime variable by following these steps:

    1. Enter the text Current travel time (minutes): with a trailing space. Keep your cursor in the Subject box so that the dynamic content list stays open.

    2. From the dynamic content list, in the Variables heading, select See more so that the variable named travelTime appears.

      Screenshot that shows the dynamic content list with the "Variables" section and "See more" selected.

      Note

      The dynamic content list doesn't automatically show the travelTime variable because the Subject property expects a string value, while travelTime is an integer value.

      Screenshot that shows the dynamic content list with the "travelTime" variable selected.

  8. For the Body property, specify the content for the email body by following these steps:

    1. Enter the text Add extra travel time (minutes): with a trailing space. Keep your cursor in the Body box so that the dynamic content list stays open.

    2. In the dynamic content list, select Expression, which shows the expression editor.

      Screenshot that shows the dynamic content list with "Expression" selected.

    3. In the expression editor, enter sub(,15) so that you can calculate the number of minutes that exceed your limit:

      Screenshot that shows the expression editor with the "sub(,15)" expression entered.

    4. Within the expression, put your cursor between the left parenthesis (() and the comma (,), and select Dynamic content.

      Screenshot that shows where to put the cursor in the "sub(,15)" expression with "Dynamic content" selected.

    5. Under Variables, select travelTime.

      Screenshot that shows the dynamic content list with "travelTime" variable selected.

    6. After the property resolves inside the expression, select OK.

      Screenshot that shows the dynamic content list and "OK" selected.

      The Body property now appears as shown here:

      Screenshot that shows the dynamic content list with the expression resolved in the email action's "Body" property.

  9. Save your workflow. On the designer toolbar, select Save.

Next, test and run your workflow, which now looks similar to this example:

Screenshot that shows the finished example logic app workflow

Run your workflow

To manually start your workflow, on the designer toolbar, select Run Trigger > Run.

  • If the current travel time stays under your limit, your workflow does nothing else and waits or the next interval before checking again.

  • If the current travel time exceeds your limit, you get an email with the current travel time and the number of minutes above your limit. Here is an example email that your workflow sends:

    Screenshot that shows an example email that reports the current travel time and the extra travel time that exceeds your specified limit.

    Tip

    If you don't get any emails, check your email's junk folder. Your email junk filter might redirect these kinds of mails. Otherwise, if you're unsure that your workflow ran correctly, see Troubleshoot your workflow.

Congratulations, you've now created and run a schedule-based recurring workflow.

To create other workflows that use the Recurrence trigger, check out these templates, which available after you create a new logic app resource:

  • Get daily reminders sent to you.
  • Delete older Azure blobs.
  • Add a message to an Azure Storage queue.

Clean up resources

Your workflow continues running until you disable or delete the logic app resource. When you no longer need the sample workflow, delete the resource group that contains your logic app resource and related resources.

  1. In the Azure portal's search box, enter the name for the resource group that you created. From the results, under Resource Groups, select the resource group.

    This example created the resource group named LA-TravelTime-RG.

    Screenshot that shows the Azure search box with "la-travel-time-rg" entered and LA-TravelTime-RG selected.

    Tip

    If the Azure home page shows the resource group under Recent resources, you can select the group from the home page.

  2. On the resource group menu, check that Overview is selected. On the Overview pane's toolbar, select Delete resource group.

    Screenshot that shows the resource group's "Overview" pane and on the pane's toolbar, "Delete resource group" is selected.

  3. In the confirmation pane that appears, enter the resource group name, and select Delete.

Next steps

In this tutorial, you created a logic app workflow that checks traffic based on a specified schedule (on weekday mornings), and takes action (sends an email) when the travel time exceeds a specified limit. Now, learn how to build a workflow that sends mailing list requests for approval by integrating Azure services, Microsoft services, and other Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps.