Power Platform App Maker¶

Overview¶

Power Platform App Makers build solutions to simplify, automate, and transform business processes using canvas apps, model-driven apps, Power Automate, and Power BI.

Canvas Apps¶

Creating Canvas Apps¶

Start from: Blank, data source, template
Data sources: SharePoint, Dataverse, SQL, Excel
Controls: Buttons, forms, galleries, labels
Responsive design: Adapt to screen sizes

Formulas and Functions¶

// Filter gallery
Filter(Customers, Country = "USA")

// Patch record (update/create)
Patch(Customers, LookUp(Customers, ID = SelectedID), {Name: TextInput.Text})

// Navigate between screens
Navigate(DetailScreen, ScreenTransition.Fade)

// Conditional formatting
If(Value > 100, Green, Red)

Connectors¶

Standard connectors: Office 365, SharePoint, OneDrive
Premium connectors: SQL Server, Salesforce, SAP
Custom connectors: REST APIs

Model-Driven Apps¶

Dataverse Tables¶

Standard tables: Account, Contact, etc.
Custom tables: Business-specific entities
Relationships: 1:N, N:1, N:N

Forms and Views¶

Forms: Display and edit records
Views: List of records with filters
Business rules: Client-side logic
JavaScript: Advanced customization

App Components¶

Sitemap: Navigation structure
Security roles: Control access
Business process flows: Guide users
Dashboards: Visualize data

Power Automate¶

Flow Types¶

Cloud flows: Automated, instant, scheduled
Desktop flows: RPA (robotic process automation)
Business process flows: Guide users in model-driven apps

Common Triggers¶

When an item is created: SharePoint, Dataverse
When an email arrives: Outlook
On a schedule: Recurrence
For a selected item: Manual trigger

Actions¶

# Send approval
- action: Start and wait for an approval
  inputs:
    type: Approve/Reject - First to respond
    title: Approve vacation request
    assigned_to: manager@company.com

# Create SharePoint item
- action: Create item
  inputs:
    site: https://company.sharepoint.com/sites/hr
    list: Requests
    title: $(requestTitle)

Expressions¶

// Get current date
utcNow()

// Add days to date
addDays(triggerBody()?['DueDate'], 7)

// Conditional
if(greater(triggerBody()?['Amount'], 1000), 'High', 'Low')

Power BI Integration¶

Embedding Power BI¶

Canvas apps: Power BI tile or report visual
Model-driven apps: Embed in dashboards
Data refresh: Automatic or on-demand

Creating Reports from Dataverse¶

Connect Power BI Desktop to Dataverse
Create reports and publish
Share with app users

Solution Design¶

Business Requirements Analysis¶

Understand process: Current state
Identify pain points: Areas to improve
Define requirements: What success looks like
Choose components: Apps, flows, reports

Data Modeling¶

Identify entities: Customers, Orders, Products
Define relationships: One-to-many, many-to-many
Plan columns: Data types and validation
Security: Who can access what

Best Practices¶

Canvas Apps¶

Use collections for better performance
Delegate where possible (filter, search server-side)
Name controls descriptively
Use components for reusability
Test on mobile devices

Power Automate¶

Error handling: Configure run after, try-catch
Scope actions: Group related actions
Concurrency: Limit parallel runs
Use variables for clarity
Naming: Descriptive action names

Data Design¶

Plan schema before building
Use choice columns instead of text
Enforce data validation
Set up security roles properly

Study Tips¶

Key Concepts¶

Canvas vs model-driven apps
Dataverse as data platform
Power Automate flow types
Power BI integration
Connectors (standard vs premium)

Common Scenarios¶

Simple data collection → Canvas app with SharePoint
Complex business process → Model-driven app with Dataverse
Approval workflow → Power Automate
Data visualization → Power BI embedded in app

Remember¶

Canvas apps = Flexible, custom UI
Model-driven apps = Data-driven, automatic UI
Dataverse = Enterprise data platform
Power Automate = Workflow automation
Solutions = Package and deploy together