Blog - Recent Posts

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.

Windows 11 - Is it possible to run the Android Power Apps Player natively in Windows 11?

Windows 11 offers built-in support for Android apps. This post describes how to set up this feature in Windows 11 and answers the question - Can we install and run the Android player under Windows 11?

Scams - How spammers are using the Power Platform to send mass email messages!

Unfortunately, there appear to be rare cases where users take advantage of the Power Platform for dishonest purposes. Read this post to find out more, including how to report malicious activity.

Where does Power Apps store connection credential details?

When we create a connection from Power Apps to an external data source, how exactly does this work? Here's a brief summary.

Forms - How to add and edit records against SQL Server tables GUID primary keys

SQL Server tables can be set up with primary keys that are of data type GUID/uniqueidentifier. Power App forms do not work against these tables without some slight modification. This post describes how to add and edit records against tables with a GUID primary key column, using a form.

Model Driven Apps - How to display an automatic Power BI view of data from data grids

There's a new preview feature that allows users to display an auto-generated Power BI report from grids. This report includes charts and tables, and this post describes this new feature in more detail.

Firefox - The error "secure connection failed" SEC_ERROR_OCSP_INVALID_SIGNING_CERT appears when connecting to Power Apps

If the error message "Secure Connection Failed, Error code: SEC_ERROR_OCSP_INVALID_SIGNING_CERT" appears when attempting to use Power Apps with Firefox, here's how to diagnose and to fix the error.

Forms - How to highlight user modified field values on a form

This post provides a simple walkthrough of how to highlight form values that have been changed by a user.

Dates - How to convert dates from MM DD YYYY to DD MM YYYY and vice versa

This post describes how to convert dates in the US format "mm dd yyyy", to "dd mm yyyy" format.

Best Practice - Design and implement better solutions with the Northstar Architecture

If you're interested in finding out more about best practices, including what a good environment strategy looks like, and prescriptive advice on topics such as licensing, security, connectivity, business continuity/disaster recover, and DevOps, the Northstar Architecture is a great place to start, particularly for enterprise architects.

How does Microsoft update Power Apps?

If you're interested in finding out more about how Microsoft applies updates to Power Apps, here's a brief overview of the process.

Formula - How to format numbers with ordinal suffixes -  1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc

This post describes how to format a number with an ordinal suffix, or ordinal indicator. That is, the suffixes st, nd, rd, th that appears after a number (eg 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc).

Mangage Power Automate Flows more easily from the Power App designer

The "Power Automate pane" offers a better way to work with Flows from the Power App designer. This post describes this preview feature.