What this book covers
Chapter 1, Introducing Power Apps, gives a high-level overview of Power Apps, what it is, how it is licensed, and how to get started.
Chapter 2, Creating Your First Canvas Power App, is where we take our first steps into creating a canvas app. We will explore the types of canvas app that we can create, look at various use cases, and explore the options that we have available to us.
Chapter 3, Creating Apps from SharePoint, explores the relationship between Microsoft SharePoint and Power Apps, exploring how we can create apps from SharePoint data or even change the list forms using a canvas app.
Chapter 4, Publishing and Leveraging Power Apps, looks at how we can leverage our apps across multiple platforms. We will explore how we can use our apps on mobile devices, SharePoint, and Microsoft Teams.
Chapter 5, Exploring Controls, focuses on understanding the building blocks of our apps and how they can be used to create an engaging user interface. We will look at some of the use cases for the different controls as well as highlighting key properties to be aware of.
Chapter 6, Exploring Formulas, introduces how we start to build logic within our apps by using formulas to create functions and their properties.
Chapter 7, Exploring Reusable Controls, introduces a way of being able to reduce the development time of your apps by creating reusable combinations of controls from both a local app level and also across an entire environment.
Chapter 8, Working with Data, investigates how we can store and interact with data within our Power Apps, focusing on the functionality provided by collections and variables as well as introducing forms.
Chapter 9, Introducing Connectors, covers the way that we can connect our apps to services, both services within Microsoft 365 and services provided by other vendors. We will also look at the difference between standard and premium connectors, as well as creating our own custom connectors.
Chapter 10, Using GPS in Power Apps, looks at how we can start to use the GPS functionality afforded to us by mobile devices to track location data and use it within our app.
Chapter 11, Working with Images and Barcodes, looks at another functionality of mobile devices, using the camera, to add the ability to capture images and scan barcode data to our apps.
Chapter 12, Securing Your Power Apps, explores how various elements of security can be applied and what the impact is on the app itself. We will start from the data source and then consider how we can apply security to the various screens within the app itself.
Chapter 13, Working Offline, allows us to provide our app the capability to still function even when we lose connection to a data source.
Chapter 14, Using Power Automate with Power Apps, introduces how we can build leverage by using other parts of the Power Platform, in this case Power Automate. We will look at how we can offload the heavy processing to Power Automate as well as building some other basic automations.
Chapter 15, Using Azure with Power Apps, allows us to begin to integrate services provided by Microsoft Azure into our Power Apps by exploring some of the commonly used services and the connectors that allow us to utilize them.
Chapter 16, Data Visualization, introduces another part of the Power Platform, Power BI. We will investigate how we can visualize data using the chart controls in Power Apps, and then expand that to how we can utilize Power BI visuals.
Chapter 17, AI Builder, investigates how we can implement artificial intelligence to help an app’s users use the app more effectively, whether that is through processing images or forms, or through custom built models.
Chapter 18, Introducing Microsoft Dataverse, opens the door to the built-in relational database, Dataverse. We will see how Dataverse can be used to store data directly within the Power Platform. As introductory topics for understanding Dataverse in relation to Power Apps, we will investigate environments, solutions, and data migrations.
Chapter 19, Introducing Model-Driven Apps, takes us into data modeling within Dataverse and how key elements such as tables, columns, and relationships are created and managed. We will also explore a new way of modeling data from natural language with Power Apps AI Copilot.
Chapter 20, Creating Model-Driven Apps, builds on Dataverse to create a model-driven app that allows us to directly interact with the database and provide interfaces for the user with views, forms, charts, and dashboards.
Chapter 21, Exploring Environments and Data Policies, investigates how different environments can be used within your tenancy. This will not only introduce the segregation of assets, but also start to investigate Power Platform governance.
Chapter 22, Introducing the Future of Power Apps, gives us a look into the future of Power Apps and how artificial intelligence will help us to increase the speed at which we can create apps.
Chapter 23, Good Practices for Creating Power Apps, shares some professional experiences and learnings, which focus on the mindset rather than just the technical “how-to.”
Appendix, Answers, contains the answers to the self-assessment questions that are located at the end of every chapter.