Easy CDS DataFlow management

[CatalinAdler]

Hi folks,

I am working on a PA solution which relies heavily on importing through dataflows.

I find myself struggling with a few issues, some of which are documented as intended behavior, but which just make life difficult.

1. CDS import data flows are not part of solutions, thus they cannot be easily deployed to the customer prod environment; they have to be recreated -> tedious, error prone, expensive....

2. CDS dataflows cannot be used/edited by anyone else but the owner; this makes co-working impossible; one dev writes the flow, you cannot have another one fix a bug/make an edit.....does not make sense.

3. Somewhat similar to (1), CDS dataflows cannot be exported/imported individually, to support moving them around.

I think some of these features (3) are already available for PowerBI dataflows, so what prevents them to be ported to CDS DataFlows?

How do you folks overcome these limitations?

Update 1: Found that dataflows can be made part of a solution (though not v intuitive); I wonder how they are managed during solution import, especially regarding connections.

[ChrisPiasecki]

Hi @CatalinAdler,

Have a review of Connection References. While they are a preview feature currently, they will make ALM for dataflows, flows, and canvas apps much better. 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/common-data-service/create-connection-reference

-Chris

[CatalinAdler]

Hi Chris,

I know ab conn refs and have already started using them for PowerAutomate Flows; seems to work fine for now.

But i do not think they work for DataFlows; I am also not seeing this feature referenced in the documentation as well.

- Catalin.