Multi-line variable inserted into email as single line

[ericmabkv]

Hello community,

I have a simple PAD flow that will run a PS script and output the results to a variable.  The variable appears to have multiple lines as it should:

I then insert the variable into an email.  When the email is sent, the contents of the variable appear as a single line only.

How can I get the variable to appear in multiple lines in the email?

Thanks,

Eric

[MichaelAnnis]

Try a split text by NewLine.

Then try to rejoin it with JoinText...should look more like this:

Try putting JoinedText into the email and see if that works.

If it doesn't...let us know, we will look further into it.

Do you have access to change the python output?  If so, we may look into changing that code to do a new line character like <NL> or <br>, something that we can find with split text and replace rather than having the output show up like it is.

Good luck!

[VishnuReddy1997]

Hi @ericmabkv ,

You can also try this in this way.Please find the solution.

Code: 

Please copy the below code into your flow.

SET PowershellOutput TO $'''The user: Eric Test2 is not in Insperity
The user: Eric Test is not in Insperity'''
Variables.CreateNewList List=> Output_List
Variables.AddItemToList Item: PowershellOutput List: Output_List
Outlook.Launch Instance=> OutlookInstance
Outlook.SendEmailThroughOutlook.SendEmail Instance: OutlookInstance Account: $'''Varikutivishnuvardhan.reddy@acme.com''' SendTo: $'''Varikutivishnuvardhan.reddy@acme.com''' Subject: $'''Sample''' Body: Output_List IsBodyHtml: False IsDraft: False

(Note:- if you got your solution you can mark as solution and gives kudos)

Thanks & Regards

Vishnu Reddy

[ericmabkv]

This almost worked.  I had to use "." as a delimiter and I can see that the output was added to separate lines in the TextList, however when emailed it still appeared on one line.

[ericmabkv]

This option also did not work. I also tried splitting text then adding to list but all list formatting is lost when inserted into the email body.

[Deenuji]

@ericmabkv 

Could you please share screenshot of your full flow screenshot and outlook send email screenshot like below?

Thanks,
Deenuji Loganathan 👩‍💻
Automation Evangelist 🤖
Follow me on LinkedIn 👥

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[MichaelAnnis]

I really thought that was going to work.  Here is my Custom GPTs recommendation, but I haven't tested this:

To ensure that the variable's content maintains its multi-line format in an email when using Power Automate Desktop, you need to ensure that the email body is set to accept HTML formatting. This will allow you to use HTML tags to format the text, including line breaks. Here's a step-by-step process to modify your Power Automate Desktop flow:

1. Convert Newlines to HTML Breaks: Before sending the email, replace newline characters in your PowerShell script output with <br> HTML tags. This can be done using the Text.Replace action. The newline character is typically represented as \r\n (carriage return and newline).
   Text.Replace Text: %PowershellOutput% TextToFind: "\r\n" ReplaceWith: "<br>" Result=> FormattedOutput

   2. Send Email: When configuring the Email.SendEmail action to send the email, ensure you set the IsBodyHtml property to True. This will tell the email client that the body of the email is HTML and should render as such.
      Email.SendEmail.Send SMTPServer: "your.smtp.server" Port: 25 EnableSSL: True SendFrom: "your-email@example.com" SendTo: "recipient@example.com" Subject: "Your Subject Here" Body: %FormattedOutput% IsBodyHtml: True

      By setting IsBodyHtml to True and replacing newline characters with <br>, the email client will interpret the line breaks correctly, preserving the multi-line format of your variable's content in the sent email.

      It basically replaces the text with the HTML tab <br>.
      
      Good luck!

[Deenuji]

@ericmabkv 

Follow the steps outlined below if the text appears in a single line.

After splitting your PowerShell script, you will obtain your texts in list variables as shown below.

Then, create a variable named `strhtmlbody` with an empty value. Next,

Iterate through your `TextList3` variable and concatenate each list value with "<br/>" as illustrated in the screenshot below.

Finally, pass the same variable into the email body and enable the "Body is HTML" option as depicted in the second screenshot.

Code:

SET PowershellOutput TO $'''The user: Eric Test2 is not in Insperity
The user: Eric Test is not in Insperity'''
Text.SplitText.Split Text: PowershellOutput StandardDelimiter: Text.StandardDelimiter.NewLine DelimiterTimes: 1 Result=> TextList3
Outlook.Launch Instance=> OutlookInstance
SET Strhtmlbody TO $'''%''%'''
LOOP FOREACH CurrentItem IN TextList3
    SET Strhtmlbody TO $'''%Strhtmlbody% %CurrentItem% <br/>'''
END
Outlook.SendEmailThroughOutlook.SendEmail Instance: OutlookInstance Account: $'''deenu@office365journey.onmicrosoft.com''' SendTo: $'''deenucse@gmail.com''' Subject: $'''Sample''' Body: Strhtmlbody IsBodyHtml: True IsDraft: False

How to copy/paste the above code into your PAD?

Thanks,
Deenuji Loganathan 👩‍💻
Automation Evangelist 🤖
Follow me on LinkedIn 👥

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If I've helped solve your query, kindly mark my response as the solution ✔ and give it a thumbs up!👍 Your feedback supports future seekers 🚀

[VishnuReddy1997]

Hi @ericmabkv ,

I have not splitted the text. I have just created the list and added the variable to the list.

Just once go through my previous post.It working fine for me.

(Note:- if you got your solution you can mark as solution and gives kudos)

Thanks & Regards

Vishnu Reddy

[ericmabkv]

I have already attempted to replace \r\n with \br but that did not work either.  The preview of the output variable appeared correct but it did not retain the formatting when inserted into an email.  The email Body Is HTML is enabled as well.

[Deenuji]

@ericmabkv 
Have you tried my above suggestion?

if it’s not working, then please share the screenshot of your full flow(hide all sensitive data). I will assess your flow and assist you further.

Thanks,
Deenuji Loganathan 👩‍💻
Automation Evangelist 🤖
Follow me on LinkedIn 👥

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If I've helped solve your query, kindly mark my response as the solution ✔ and give it a thumbs up!👍 Your feedback supports future seekers 🚀

[ericmabkv]

Tried this as well with no change in result.

Variable output looks correct

Emails still all in one line.  

[ericmabkv]

Unfortunately this has no impact on the result as well.

[MarioP]

I was having a similar issue with a Web flow triggering a PAD and giving some data back which is sent by email as a list. I have collected these data in PAD in a list variable and joined the text with <br> as delimiter before giving back to the web flow.

[MarioP]

I was having a similar issue with a Web flow triggering a PAD and giving some data back which is sent by email as a list. I have collected these data in PAD in a list variable and joined the text with <br> as delimiter before giving back to the web flow.