Microsoft Power Apps Beginner: Creating Canvas Apps

Name: Microsoft Power Apps Beginner: Creating Canvas Apps
Author: Devan Walton

Discover how to create fully customizable apps with the Power Apps drag-and-drop editor and connect them to external data sources

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Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is Devin, and in these lessons, I will be showing you how to design and build a Plank Canvas app. I will show you a case study that demonstrates some of the affordances of a Canvas app and what its benefits are over a model-driven app or a power page. I'll also show you some of the essentials of using the Power Apps drag-and-drop interface to build an application, as well as how to add data to a Power Apps application and then how to display that data within the app. I'll also demonstrate how you can save an application, how you publish it, and then how you make it accessible to others. In this lesson, I will be showing you a case study that demonstrates some of the benefits of using a Canvas app and why you might select to build a Canvas app rather than a model-driven app or a power page. If you're looking to build an app that has a multi-step workflow that needs multiple pages, it is best to build a Canvas app. Model-driven apps and power pages are usually best if you're designing something that can be displayed on a single page. But if you need something like this Book of Room app where you have to navigate different screens where you are selecting a booking time, selecting a room, entering different types of data, you really need to do something that's flexible. A Canvas app is really your only option. Also if you're looking to design an interface with custom buttons that wouldn't be intuitive to add to whatever data you're trying to build around, for instance, in this interface we have buttons for incrementing the end time or incrementing the start time by discrete chunks of time, so adding like three hours to the end time. These buttons wouldn't be automatically made if we selected a model-driven app. Model-driven apps will usually just generate basic buttons that meet the essential needs of interacting with the data. If you want specialized buttons that interface elements in general that help and make life easier for your end user, then you're going to need to design a Canvas-driven app or a Canvas-blank canvas app. These Canvas apps allow you the flexibility to design these custom UI elements. Additionally, if you're pulling in multiple types of data from different data sources or you're looking to store data, take it in by whoever's interacting with your app in stored in multiple locations, it's best to do a Canvas app. The other options aren't so great at working with multiple data sources. You could potentially do it with a model-driven app, but it would be a little bit messy, and it might not be intuitive to use. With a power page, you would have a difficult time working with multiple data-vert. It wouldn't be impossible to do it on a power page, provided you are working with data-verse data. If you are working with third-party data connectors, you wouldn't be able to do it with a power page. You would have to do it with a Canvas app or a model-driven app. If you are looking to do essentially a multi-page app that's using multiple data sources, a Canvas app is your best option. Or if you're looking to tailor something to the specific needs of your end user's workflow, a Canvas app is your best bet. Stay tuned for the next lesson where I will show you how to utilize the drag-and-drop interface of Power Apps to do some basic layout options. Thanks for watching.

Beginner Provider : Devan Walton 4 Lessons · 28m in English

Course Description

In these lessons, we’ll provide a detailed walkthrough of building a basic canvas app from scratch in Power Apps using a drag-and-drop interface. We’ll demonstrate how to create a simple app with a text input, button, and label for displaying user-entered text. Then we’ll cover how to add an external data source by connecting to a sample SharePoint expenses tracker list. You’ll also learn how to import SharePoint list data into a canvas app using a gallery control, and how to configure dynamic text labels mapped to specific columns in the list.

Additionally, we’ll take you step-by-step through the process of saving a canvas app locally for further editing, as well as publishing it to the cloud so others in your organization can access the live app. By the end of these lessons, learners will have a strong foundation for getting started with building canvas apps in Power Apps that leverage external data sources like SharePoint.

What You'll Learn

Build a basic canvas app from scratch in Power Apps using a drag-and-drop interface
Create a simple app with a text input, button, and label for displaying user-entered text
Connect an external SharePoint list data source to a canvas app
Import SharePoint list data into a canvas app using a gallery control
Configure dynamic text labels mapped to specific columns in a SharePoint list
Save a canvas app locally and publish it to the cloud for others in your organization

Key Takeaways

The course provides a detailed walkthrough of building a basic canvas app from scratch in Power Apps using a drag-and-drop interface.
A simple canvas app can be created with a text input, button, and label to display user-entered text.
An external data source can be added by connecting to a sample SharePoint expenses tracker list.
SharePoint list data can be imported into a canvas app using a gallery control with text labels mapped to specific columns.
A canvas app can be saved locally for further editing and published to the cloud so others in the organization can access the live app.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is this course for?

It is a beginner course for learners who want a strong foundation for getting started with building canvas apps in Power Apps that leverage external data sources like SharePoint.

What will I build in this course?

You will build a basic canvas app from scratch using a drag-and-drop interface, including a simple app with a text input, button, and label, and an app that connects to a sample SharePoint expenses tracker list.

What data source does the course use?

The course connects to a sample SharePoint expenses tracker list and imports that SharePoint list data into a canvas app using a gallery control.

What topics do the lessons cover?

The lessons cover Understanding Canvas Apps, Building a Canvas App, Managing Data in Canvas Apps, and Sharing and Publishing Canvas Apps.

How do I share the app I build?

The course takes you step-by-step through saving a canvas app locally for further editing and publishing it to the cloud so others in your organization can access the live app.