Blog - Recent Posts

Dataverse - How to connect to SQL Server in Model Driven/Portal apps through virtual tables

If you want to build model-driven or portal apps and want to connect to data sources other than Dataverse, it's now much easier to do so with the 'Virtual Connector Provider'. This post walks through how to set up a virtual table based on a SQL Server table, and to use it in a model-driven/portal app.

Controls - How to add a clickable image / image button

A simple and common requirement is to add a clickable image. This post describes how to carry out this task including how to display the hand-icon when the user hovers over the image.

Data - How to get a row by ordinal number

It's now possible to retrieve records from a table, collection, or data source by ordinal number. The function that provides this functionality is called Index, and this post summarises how it works.

Model driven apps - SQL Server timeout errors

If you encounter SQL Server timeout errors in model-driven apps or the model-driven app designer, here's what to do.

Shortcuts to Power Apps Studio (https://create.powerapps.com/studio) no longer work - how to fix

If you access Power Apps through a shortcut, the link you use may no longer work. Here's how to workaround this problem.

Financial analysts - What's their assessment of Power Apps and the Power Platform?

The financial press seems to be taking more notice of the Power Platform and Power Apps. Here's what they think.

Windows - New version of Power Apps for Windows is now available

If you're currently using the Power Apps Player in Windows, it's worth taking a look at the new preview version.

Error - Troubleshooting the 'hmmm something went wrong' error

Here are the first things to try if you receive the 'Hmmm... Something went wrong' error.

Employment - How to quickly search all Power Apps vacancies at Microsoft

If you're looking for new employment opportunities, here's a quick way to search for Power App jobs at Microsoft.

Times - How to spoof the current timezone in Power Apps

If you're building apps with users from different time zones, here's a simple way to spoof the time zone for testing purposes.

Data - How to update SQL and other connection passwords

If the password or authentication credentials of an existing connection changes, this post describes how to update the connection.

Accounts - Will Power Apps soon support multiple work accounts in the same browser session?

A great upcoming feature is that Microsoft 365 will soon allow users to sign into multiple work accounts, and to switch accounts without needing to sign out and back in again. Will this feature apply to Power Apps?

Tools - Convert Excel to Collections Online

If you need to create a local collection based on data from an Excel spreadsheet, I've created an online tool to generate formula that builds a collection, based on data that's been copied from an Excel spreadsheet. Here are the details of how this works.

Idea - Extend the Substitute function to support the replacement of multiple words

It's difficult to build formula that replaces multiple words. Here's an idea to simplify this task by extending the Substitute function.

Visualisation - How to graphically indicate a percentage value

If you need to graphically display an indication of percentage, here's a simple snippet of HTML to carry out the task.