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Building A Power App: What's Next ?

By Ashwin Venugopal -
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  About As you begin to explore the realm of app development and start working on your first application, there will be several common factors to keep in mind. Let's examine some of the more basic concepts. Building For Different Devices When starting to create Canvas apps from scratch, you have the option to select either a Tablet or Phone layout. Experienced Power Apps developers often suggest that this choice is not crucial since they incorporate responsive designs into their applications, making them adaptable to various devices. However, for those new to the process, selecting the tablet or phone format initially provides suitable screen dimensions to work with. If your application will mostly be accessed by mobile users, opt for the phone option. If you intend to use your app in a web browser, within a Teams environment, or on a tablet, select the tablet option. The Power Platform does offer the capability to automatically create apps, for instance, from SharePoint lists thro...
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Building A Power App

By Ashwin Venugopal -
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  What Other Options Are There to Build a Power App? If you click Create tab from the Power Apps Dashboard and select Blank App, you have 3 choices: Blank Canvas App Canvas applications are designed for use on mobile phones or tablets. They can also function on desktop computers, but they display as though they are being viewed on a mobile device. One of the advantages of Canvas apps is that you can build them directly from a data source. Using different approaches to initiate the process, you can automatically create a screen for Browsing, Editing, and Viewing your information. Blank App Based on Dataverse They resemble Canvas Apps but are intentionally designed to be ‘responsive,’ which means they will adjust to the device being used and scale accordingly. The Dataverse, formerly known as CDS or the Common Data Service, has been established using reusable table structures found in a product called Dynamics 365. It aims to offer ready-to-use storage and relationships that cater to...
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Power Apps and Copilot

By Ashwin Venugopal -
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  Starting With Copilot   To initiate Copilot, go to the Home tab in the Power Apps Dashboard and begin outlining the application you wish to create in the prompt box located at the top. It will strive to provide you with all the necessary components and even launch a separate conversation where you can modify and request changes to data, controls, and various other features of your app. There is also a data setup phase after this step which allows you to adjust and configure your data structure using natural language. This enables you to instruct Copilot to modify your data. For example, you can insert additional columns, specify data types, include sample records, and modify them. When you are satisfied with your data, you can click on Create App, and your application will be created. You can return to your data anytime to make adjustments. Lastly, there is the Power Apps Studio Copilot that enables you to modify and refine your app instantly through natural language. You ca...
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The Power Apps Studio

By Ashwin Venugopal -
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  The Power Apps Studio To access Power Apps Studio, click on the Create Tab in the Dashboard. Occasionally, new features may be introduced, and elements might change, but the fundamental layout and structure will stay consistent. Each section serves a distinct purpose for the Citizen Developer. The Power Apps studio contain the following: App Authoring Menu There is Selection pane to switch between data sources and insert options. On the left pane in Power Apps Studio, you can switch between options such as- Tree View (like file explorer this allows you to navigate pages and controls in your apps) Insert (This is where you find controls you want to add to your apps) Themes (Change the underlying theme of your app) Data (You connect to sources of data for your app from here) Media (Import images, audio, video and other assets to the app studio) Power Automate - if you’d like to trigger automations from your Power App, you can do so from this icon. Variables (View global and lo...
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Power Apps Dashboard

By Ashwin Venugopal -
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  The Power Apps Dashboard The dashboard consolidates a selection of quick links to essential features of Power Apps to assist you in getting started swiftly. By clicking the Home Icon in the left navigation menu, a screen will appear. The primary sections to be aware of are outlined below: Start From Copilot- This is the newest feature of Power Apps and the Power Platform, enabling you to articulate the app you want to create using everyday language, while AI generates the app for you. It will offer a fundamental table and app structure to assist you in addressing your requirements. Copilot is continually enhancing, so this is certainly a tool worth revisiting from time to time. Other Ways To Create An App- We have several ways to initiate our app development process. We can begin with the data, which is a solid approach, or we can focus on page designs and app templates, heavily shaped by user experience. Your Apps- Below is a collection of apps commonly accessed within your Powe...
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Power Apps

By Ashwin Venugopal -
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  Citizen Development "Citizen development" describes individuals without formal developer training who possess the capability to create business applications, tools, or processes. Embracing the role of a citizen developer enables you to shift your focus away from considerations of hiring help for enhancing your business processes, worrying about expenses, or questioning whether a developer will grasp your needs, and instead empowers you to independently craft productivity solutions. By utilizing resources like those from Collab365, you can embark on your journey and swiftly uncover the advantages of the Microsoft Power Platform in saving your business both time and money. Modern businesses are adopting Agile methodologies and concepts to enhance their ability to respond and adapt swiftly. Facilitating shorter and more efficient paths to improved workflows, decision-making, and information processing aids them in achieving that goal. This is where the Power Platform, ...
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Deploy To Production

By Ashwin Venugopal -
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  Continuous Delivery Options When launching anything into production, it's essential to eliminate any uncertain elements. This is where Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CI/CD) become relevant. GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps (or Azure Pipelines) are two Microsoft options for implementing CI/CD. There are numerous other alternatives, such as Jenkins, TeamCity, and GitLab - the options are extensive. If our current CI/CD solution is compatible with deploying ASP.NET, it will also be capable of managing Blazor since Blazor essentially functions as an ASP.NET application. We should ensure that we establish tests as a component of our CI/CD pipeline. The great aspect is that there is no requirement for additional hardware to test our components, it will function as long as our CI/CD pipeline can execute unit tests (nUnit, xUnit). We can execute all builds and tests whenever a pull request is made. If both the build and tests are successful, a team member condu...
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