Blog - Recent Posts

Jan 22, 2021

SQL - How NOT to name database tables, columns, and objects

Tip - unexpected errors are less likely to occur when we adhere to simple naming conventions - eg, those without spaces and special characters. In this post, we'll examine a Power Apps bug that occurs when we reference columns that begin with a number.

Bug Sql Server Data
Jan 21, 2021

Formulas - How to cope with weekends and public holidays in date calculations

Performing date calculations that take working days and public holidays into account can be complicated. This post summarises and verifies the formula to calculate the number of working days between two dates, and the formula to add a given number of working days to a start date.

Formula Dates Times
Jan 20, 2021

Licensing - What license do I have?

A simple but important question that I see from time-to-time is - what license do I have? Here's where in the UI we can find this out.

Licensing General
Jan 19, 2021

Dataverse - How to Patch the 5 most complex data types

With Dataverse, the syntax to patch certain data types can look very complicated. In this post, we'll summarise the syntax to patch lookup, single choice, multi-choice, yes/no, single person/group, and multi person/group columns.

Dataverse Cds Data Patch
Jan 18, 2021

Controls - How to Transition/Show/Hide controls with a Sliding Effect

There's no built-in way to hide/show controls with a transition effect. The best workaround I suggest is to use a technique by Mr Dang. In this post, I highlight this technique and explain - what is an easing equation?

Controls
Jan 17, 2021

Formulas - How to calculate the distance between 2 points

We can calculate the distance between two longitude and latitude co-ordinates using a trigonometric calculation. It's a complex formula so in this post, we'll find out how exactly this works, including a verification of the result. We'll see how to perform this distance calculation in both kilometers and miles.

Formulas Location
Jan 16, 2021

SharePoint - How to Patch the 6 most complex data types

With SharePoint, the syntax to patch certain data types can look very complicated. In this post, we'll summarise the syntax to patch lookup, single choice, multi-choice, yes/no, single person/group, and multi person/group columns.

Formulas Patch
Jan 15, 2021

GPS - 3 Frequent Questions about Location Services

Help - my app isn't picking up correct location/GPS values! If the location features aren't working, it might be due to these reasons that I most commonly see.

General Gps
Jan 14, 2021

Settings - Old Layout vs New Layout (2021)

The settings area has now received a new look! Let's compare how the new look compares against the old, including a nostalgic look at what it contained, way back in 2017.

General Settings
Jan 13, 2021

SQL - How can we count rows accurately?

With SQL Server, the Count and CountRow functions produce delegation warnings. Without these functions, does it make it impossible to count records from large SQL Server tables? The answer is no! In this post, I'll describe a trick that enables us to carry out this task.

Sql Server Delegation
Jan 12, 2021

SQL - Have you seen these Power Platform options in SQL Azure portal?

From the SQL Azure Portal, there is now the option to create a Power App ontop of a SQL Table. Here's a closer look at this feature.

Sql Server
Jan 11, 2021

SharePoint - Beware of numeric calculated columns!

Help! - my numbers don't format correctly or they appear with loads of trailing numbers. If we encounter this problem, a likely cause is a bug that affects SharePoint calculated columns. This post examines this issue in more detail.

Sharepoint Data
Jan 10, 2021

SharePoint – 2 Mistakes to avoid when importing Excel data

At some point, many app builders want to use the SharePoint feature to import Excel data into a new list. There's a 'knack' to doing this and in this post, I'll describe the settings to make this process as smooth as possible.

Data Sharepoint
Jan 09, 2021

Settings - What does the Delayed Load setting do?

What does the delayed load setting do? In short, it improves the speed of our apps, particularly the start-up time. In this post, we'll examine traces to prove that this feature actually works, and find out why it's important to take heed of the 'inefficient delay loading' warnings that the 'app checker tool' identifies, to help us take full advantage of performance benefits that delayed load offers.

Jan 08, 2021

What to do when some part your app breaks, or starts behaving differently?

Why doesn't my app work today?? If your app worked fine yesterday and suddenly stops, or works differently today, it's possible that an update to Power Apps has broken your app. If this happens to you, here's what you can try to restore your app to a working state.

General