Hands-on with PowerApps: Building an end-to-end Solution with Ted Pattison Power Platform Summit

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This beginner level workshop to get hands on experience with PowerApps, AI Builder, Portals, Business Process Flows and the Common Data Service. This instructor led experience includes step-by-step instructions for someone new to these technologies to build a conference/event solution.

Summit PowerApps Lab with Charles Sterling and Ted Pattison

Download the word document here and please follow that on your laptop: 

Setup document file: 
https://github.com/CriticalPathTraining/SummitPowerAppsLab/raw/master/Summit%20PowerApps%20Lab.docx

Setup PDF file: (same file different format) 

https://github.com/CriticalPathTraining/SummitPowerAppsLab/raw/master/Summit%20PowerApps%20Lab.pdf

Lab Steps here: 

https://github.com/CriticalPathTraining/SummitPowerAppsLab/raw/master/AppInTwoHours.pdf

All the labfiles are here (including docs above)

https://github.com/CriticalPathTraining/SummitPowerAppsLab/archive/master.zip

Thank you very much and enjoy the lab!

About your presenters: 

Ted Pattison, MVP

Developer, Instructor and Microsoft MVP
Critical Path Training

Ted Pattison - Ted is a developer, instructor and 15-time MVP who specializes in building real-world business solutions with Power BI, PowerApps and Flow. Ted is an active contributor in the Power Platform community and the founder of Critical Path Training, a small technical training company which educates technical professionals on Power Platform technologies including Power BI, PowerApps, Flow, Microsoft Azure, SharePoint Online and Office 365. 

Ted is also the leader of the Tampa chapter of the PowerApps and Flow User Group and an insider member of Microsoft’s Power BI Influencers group.

To contact Ted Pattison: 

https://www.criticalpathtraining.com/

and

Charles Sterling 

Setup Time: 60 minutes
Lab Folder: C:\SummitPowerAppLabs\
Overview: This lab covers how to get up and running with the Power Platform by creating a new Microsoft 365 tenant with trial subscriptions to Office 365, PowerApps, Flow, Power BI and SharePoint Online. The act of creating and configuring this new Microsoft 365 tenant will yield an isolated testing and development environment for building and testing the apps and components you can build with PowerApps and Flow. One valuable aspect of creating your own new Microsoft 365 tenant is that you will have Global tenant administrative permissions allowing you to create multiple Microsoft 365 user accounts for testing your apps and flows in isolation from any other existing Microsoft 365 tenant.
Exercise 1: Setup a PowerApps Builders Environment
In this exercise, you will download a local copy of the student files from a GitHub repository named SummitPowerAppsLab
1. Launch a browser and navigate to the GitHub repository for this course at the following URL.
https://github.com/CriticalPathTraining/SummitPowerAppsLab
2. You should see the home page for the repository as shown in the following screenshot.

Note that you can examine the folders and the contents of individual files of this repository using the browser. However, it will be easier for you to download a local copy of the files from this repository as you work on these lab exercises.
3. Download the ZIP archive with the student files using the following URL:
https://github.com/CriticalPathTraining/SummitPowerAppsLab/archive/master.zip
4. Extract the contents of the zip archive into a local folder on your hard drive.

You can see that the student files contain Lab.pdf and Slides.pdf.
Task 2: Sign Up for an Office 365 E5 Trial
In this task you will create a new Office 365 trial tenant. As you work through the sign up process for this free trial, you will be asked to provide a user name and a password for an Azure AD user account that will be configured as the tenant Global administrator. You will log in with this account when developing and testing applications that use Power BI embedding. However, it's a good practice that you also test your applications with standard user Azure AD accounts that have no administrative permissions. The trial tenant that you are going to create will allow you to create up to 25 user accounts with Office 365 E5 subscriptions. Remember that any user with an Office 365 E5 subscription is automatically assigned a Power BI Pro license as well.
1. Navigate to the Office 365 trial sign up web page.
a) Launch the Chrome browser.
b) Copy and paste the following URL into the address bar of the incognito window to navigate to the signup page.
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=698279&culture=en-US&country=US
c) You should now see the form you need to fill out to create your new Office 365 E5 trial.
d) Enter your email address and click Next.

If you enter an email address for an organization account, the form provides the option to sign in. Do not click the Sign in button because you don't want to sign with an existing organization account. The purpose of this exercise is to create a new organizational account in a new Microsoft 365 tenant.
e) Click the Create a new account instead link.

f) Enter your First name and Last name.
g) Enter your mobile phone number as the Business phone number.
h) Provides values for Company size and Country or region and click Next.

Whatever Company name you enter will be used as the name of the Azure AD tenant that will be created during the sign up process.
i) When prompted to prove you're not a robot, select the Text me option and ensure Phone number of for your mobile phone.
j) Click Send Verification Code.

k) Retrieve the access code form your mobile device and use it to complete the validation process.

l) In the Create your business identity step, locate the textbox into which you will enter a domain name.

Note that the company name you enter in this textbox will be used to create an Internet domain name for a new Microsoft 365 tenant. For example, if you were to enter a company name of cptstudent, it would result in the creation of a new Office 365 tenant within a domain of cptstudent.onMicrosoft.com. The user name you enter will be used to create the first user account which will be given global admin permissions throughout the Azure AD tenant. If you enter a user name of Student, then the email address as well as user principal name for this account will be student@cptstudent.onMicrosoft.com
m) Enter a domain name for your new Microsoft 365 tenant.

n) If the domain name you enter is not available, modify the domain name until you can verify that it is available.
o) Once you have created a domain name that is available, click Next.

p) Enter a Name for your user account, a Password that you will remember and then click Sign up.

At this point, the Sign up process should begin to provision your new Microsoft 365 tenant and your new organizational account.
q) Once the provision process completes, take note of your new user ID and click the Go To Setup button.

You have just created a new Microsoft 365 tenant with a 30-day trial for 25 Office 365 E5 licenses. Note that some Microsoft cloud services within your new tenant such as the Microsoft 365 admin center, Power BI, PowerApps and Flow can be accessed immediately. Other Office 365 services such as SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and your Outlook mailbox will not be ready immediately and can take some time to provision.
r) If you see the Personalize your sign-in and email setup page, click Exit and continue later.

s) You should now be located at the home page of the Microsoft 365 admin center.

If you don’t see the home page of the Microsoft 365 admin center, navigate to https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal.
2. Inspect the set of active users in the current Azure AD tenant.
a) Locate the top Collapse navigation menu with the hamburger icon just under the Microsoft 365 App Launcher menu.

b) Toggle the Collapse navigation menu button to see how it collapses and expands the left navigation menu.

c) Navigate to the Active users view where you should be able to verify that the user account you are currently logged in as is the only user account that exists in the current tenant.

Remember that your account is global tenant administrator. You have permissions to configure any settings throughout the tenant.
3. Create a second Azure AD user account in your new Azure AD tenant.
a) On the Active Users page, click the button Add a user button to create a new user account
.
b) Fill in the Set up the basics form with information for a new user account. When creating this account, you can use any name you would like. These lab instructions will demonstrate this by creating a user account for a person named James Bond with a user name and email of JamesB@labs4summit.onmicrosoft.com.

c) Move below to the Password settings section.
d) Select the option for Let me create the password.
e) Enter a password of pass@word1 into the textbox labeled Password.
f) Uncheck the checkbox for the Require this user change their password when they first sign in option.
g) Click Next.

h) In the Product licenses section, make sure the Office 365 E5 license is set to On.

Note that the new account is usually assigned a trial license for Office 365 E5 plan. However, it’s a good practice to check and make sure the new user has been assigned a license for Office 365 E5.
i) Click the Next button down below.
j) On the Optional settings view, click Next.

k) On the Finish view, Click the Finish adding button at the bottom to create the new user account.

l) You should see the Finish view with a message indicating that the new user account has been created.

m) Click the Close button at the bottom of the Finish view to close the Add User pane on the right.
n) Verify that the new user account has been created and is displayed along with your primary Office 365 user account.

Now you have a secondary user account that does not have any administrative permissions. It's important that you test applications which use first-party embedding with standard user accounts to ensure your application doesn't require users with special permissions.
Task 3: Create a Trial Subscription for PowerApps Plan 2
In this exercise, you will configure your new Microsoft 365 tenant by creating a new subscription based on PowerApps Plan 2.
4. Navigate to the home page of the Microsoft 365 Admin center.
5. Create a new subscription for PowerApps Plan 2.
a) Click on Billing in the left navigation to expand the menu items underneath.

b) Click on the Purchase services navigation link.

c) Type "PowerApps" into the search box to search for PowerApps subscription plans.

d) Find the subscription with the name Microsoft PowerApps Plan 2.and click on it to select it.

e) Click the Start free trial button

f) When prompted to confirm your order, click Try now.

g) You should see an order receipt to confirm you have created the new trial subscription.

6. Configure your user account by assigning a PowerApps Plan 2 license.
a) Navigate back to the Active Users page in the Office 365 Admin center.
b) Click on your user account to edit it.

c) Click the Licenses and Apps link.

d) Enable the Microsoft PowerApps Plan 2 subscription and then click Save changes below.

After creating a new subscription for PowerApps Plan 2, it might take a minute or two before it shows up in the Product licenses dialog.
e) You should be able to confirm your user account has been configured with a Microsoft PowerApps Plan 2 subscription.

You will need the Microsoft PowerApps Plan 2 subscription to create a new PowerApps environment with a Common Data Service database. The PowerApps Plan 2 provides the licensing beyond the Office 365 license such as the ability to use premium connectors and custom connectors.
Exercise 2: Create a New PowerApps Environment
In this exercise, you will create a new PowerApps environment with a PowerApps portal.
1. Navigate to the PowerApps Admin center.
a) In the browser, navigate the PowerApps Maker portal at https://make.powerapps.com.

b) Drop down the menu with the gear icon in the upper right of the page and select the Plan(s) command.

c) You should be able to verify that you have Plan 2.

d) Drop down the menu with the gear icon in the upper right of the page and select the Admin center command.

2. Create a new PowerApps environment with a Common data Service database.
a) In the Power Platform Admin center, click the Environments link in the left navigation.

b) If you see an informational message about the default environment, dismiss it by clicking the X in the upper right corner.

c) Click the + New button to create a new environment.

d) In the New environment pane on the right, enter a Name of My Dev Environment.

e) Make sure you enable the option Create a database for this environment.
f) Once you have filled out the New environment pane, click Next.

g) Leave the default setting on the Add database pane as shown in the following screenshot
h) Click Save.

i) You should now see the new environment in the tenant Environments list with a State or PreparingInstance.

j) Refresh the Environments list every 30 seconds until you see that he State has turned to Ready.

3. Create a PowerApps portal in your new PowerApps environment.
a) Return to the PowerApps Maker portal at https://make.powerapps.com.
b) Refresh the page at https://make.powerapps.com by pressing {F5}.
c) Drop down the Environments menu at he top right of the page.

d) Switch over to the new environment you just created named Portal Lab.

e) Click on the Portal from blank (preview) tile to create a new PowerApps portal.

During the PowerApps portal preview, you can only create one portal per environment. If you want to create multiple portals, you will have to create a separate PowerApps environment for each one.
f) In the Portal from blank (preview) dialog, enter a portal tile such as My Portal Lab.

g) Enter a value for the portal Address. You might need to try several times if you pick an address that is already taken.

h) Once you have entered a Name and Address for your portal, click Create to begin the portal provisioning process.

Once you click the Create button, it will take quite a bit of time before your portal is ready to use and edit. The entire provisioning process for a new portal can take from 30 to 60 minutes or even longer.
4. Inspect the apps in My Dev Environment.
a) Click the Apps link in the left navigation to see the list of apps for My Dev Environment.
b) You should see the portal app in a greyed-out site which indicates that the portal is being provisioned.

Since the provisioning process is not instant, you will not be able to work on our portal for a while. Therefore, you will begin working on a Power Platform solution with work that does not involve this portal. However, you have started the PowerApps portal provisioning process so later when it's time to work with your portal, it will be ready.
Exercise 3 - Begin Work on a Conference Management Solution
Imagine you are organizing an internal conference (like Summit!) and you would like to build an app to allow internal attendees to browse sessions and see the details. You also will need a way for the conference administrators to input the session and venue information.
SOLUTION OVERVIEW: Power Platform technologies enable tech-savvy business users (aka “citizen developers”) to build a customized conference management solution. The application user interface and interaction logic are built in PowerApps, and the data is stored in the Common Data Service.
1. Review the key pieces of solution that you are going to build through this lab.
a) A PowerApps canvas app that conference attendees can use
b) A PowerApps model-driven app that conference admins can use to setup the data
c) A PowerApps Business Card Reader
d) A PowerApps Portal that external speakers can use to submit their session ideas
e) A Business Process Flow that assists users in session management
f) A Microsoft Flow that requests approval for sessions depending on capacity
2. Have a look at what you are going to build
a) When you are done, you will have created a canvas app that allows the user to browse conference sessions,

3. Import a Pre-existing Solution to Provide a Starting Point
a) Navigate to https://make.powerapps.com/ and make sure you are in My Dev Environment.
b) Select Solutions and click Import.

If you are prompted to log in, sign in using the same Office 365 account you have been using in this lab.
c) Select Choose File

d) Select ContosoConference zip file located in the resources folder and click Open.

e) Click Next.

f) Click Import and wait for the importing to complete.

g) You should see a dialog that indicates the import is in progress,

h) Click Publish All Customizations and wait for the publishing to complete.

i) Click the Close button to close the Importing Solution dialog.
In this lab you will add new CDS components such as entities, canvas apps and model-driven apps into the Contoso Conference solution. In many real-world scenarios you will create your own CDS solution and then you will add your components into that solution. In this lab, you have been provided with a pre-existing solution with an entity as a starting point and you will continue to add components into that solution.
4. Inspect what's already inside the Contoso Conference solution.
a) Click to open the Contoso Conference solution you just imported.

b) The solution should have one entity with the name Venue.

5. Create the Session entity.
a) Make sure you are at the summary page for the Contoso Conference solution.
b) Drop down the New menu and select the Entity command.

c) Enter Session for Display Name and click Create.

d) You should see a green information message indicating the entity has been created.

e) Close the green message by clicking the X at right-hand side.
6. Add the Track field to the Session entity.
a) Make sure the Fields tab is selected and click + Add Field.

b) Enter Track for Display Name and select Option Set for Data Type.

c) Click on the Option Set drop down and select New Option Set.

d) Enter PowerApps and click Add New Item.

e) Enter Microsoft Flow and click Add New Item.
f) Enter AI Builder and click Add New Item.
g) Enter CDS and click Add New Item.
h) Enter Power BI and click Save.

i) Check the Required checkbox and click Done.

7. Add the Description field to the Session entity.
a) Make sure the Fields tab is selected and click + Add Field.
b) Enter Description for Display Name.
c) Select Text for Data Type.
d) Expand Advanced options and set Max length to 1000

e) Click Done to add the new field.
8. Add the Venue field to the Session entity.
a) Add Display name of Venue.
b) Set the data type of Lookup.
c) Select Venue as the related entity

d) click Done.
9. Add the Speaker field to the Session entity.
a) Add Display name of Speaker,
b) Set the data type to Lookup,
c) Set User as the Related entity..

d) Click Done
Now that you have added a few fields with step-by-step instructions, you are now going to add several more fields without step-by-step instructions. Use the exact same steps that you used to create the first few fields when creating the additional fields.
10. Add eight more fields to the Session entity.
a) Use the following table to add eight additional fields to the Session entity.
Display name Date type Additional details
Start time Date and Time
End Time Date and Time
External Speaker Text
Capacity Whole Number
A/V Requirements Text Max length 1000
Room Setup Text Max length 1000
ADA Requirements Text Max length 1000
Session status Option Set Draft
Waiting Approval
Approved
Rejected
Published
b) When you are done adding the fields to the Session entity, which the view mode for fields over to Custom.

c) You should be able to see all the fields you added to the Session entity.
d) Click Save entity.

11. Add a new view to the Session entity
a) Select the Views tab and click + Add View

b) Enter a view Name of Published Sessions and click the Create button.

c) Click on Capacity to add it as a view header.

d) You should see the Capacity field has been added to the view.

e) Add the following fields to your view: Speaker, External Speaker, and Track.

f) On the right of the screen, select Edit filters

g) Click Add

h) Configure the filter as shown below where Session Status Equals Published.

i) Click OK to save the fitler.

j) Verify that the filter is configure for Session status is 'Published'.

k) Click Save and click Publish.

l) Close the browser tab.

m) Click Done

n) Verify you can see the Published Sessions view.

12. Customize the Main form of the Session entity.
a) Select the Forms tab and click to open the Main form.

b) The form should be opened in the new forms designer.

c) Drag the Description field and place it above the Owner field.

d) Drag the Session status field and place it above the Owner field.
e) Drag the Track field and place it above the Owner field.
f) Drag the Start Time field and place it above the Owner field.
g) Drag the End Time field and place it above the Owner field.
h) Drag the Speaker field and place it above the Owner field.
i) Drag the External Speaker field and place it above the Owner field.
j) Drag the Venue field and place it above the Owner field.
k) Drag the Capacity field and place it above the Owner field.
l) Drag the ADA Requirements field and place it above the Owner field.
m) Drag the A/V Requirements field and place it above the Owner field.
n) Drag the Room Setup field and place it above the Owner field.
o) When you are done, the form should match the following screenshot.

p) Click Save and then click Publish.

35. Publish all customization in the Contoso Conference solution.
q) Return to the PowerApps maker using your browser back button.
r) Select Solutions.
s) Click Publish All Customizations and wait for the publishing to complete.

At this point you must change over to the other PDF file with the rest of the lab instructions.