Learn how to extend the capabilities of Power Apps by building code components using Power Apps Component Framework
▶Book Description
Power Apps Component Framework is used by professional developers to extend the capabilities of model-driven and canvas apps. Extending Microsoft Power Apps with Power Apps Component Framework will take you through the basic as well as advanced topics using practical examples.
The book starts by helping you understand the fundamentals of the framework, its lifecycle, and the tools that you'll use to build code components using best practices and file management guidelines. You'll then learn how to extend Power Apps step by step and apply the principles and concepts covered in the book to build code components for field type attributes. The book covers different ways of debugging code components and guides you through the process of building code components for datasets. You'll also explore the functions and methods provided by the framework to enhance your controls using powerful sets of libraries and extensions. As you advance, you'll get to grips with creating and managing authentication profiles, discover different ways of deploying code components, and configure code components in model-driven and canvas apps. Finally, you'll learn some of the important features of the framework and learn modern web development practices.
By the end of this Power Apps book, you'll be able to build, debug, enrich, and deploy code components confidently.
▶What You Will Learn
-Understand the fundamentals of Power Apps Component Framework
-Explore the tools that make it easy to build code components
-Build code components for both a field and a dataset
-Debug using test harness and Fiddler
-Implement caching techniques
-Find out how to work with the Dataverse Web API
-Build code components using React and Fluent UI controls
-Discover different deployment strategies
▶Key Features
-Understand how to extend Power Apps' capabilities
-Enhance your skills with the help of practical code components used throughout the book
-Overcome common challenges, avoid pitfalls, and improve your code
▶Who This Book Is For
This book is for developers who are looking to build advanced skills for extending the capabilities of Power Apps. Basic knowledge of Power Apps and web development is necessary to get started with this book.
▶What this book covers
- Chapter 1, Introduction to the Power Apps Component Framework, teaches the basics of Power Apps component framework, who it is aimed toward, why it should be used, and how it is different from HTML web resources. It also details some of the advantages of using this framework and mentions the prerequisites for getting started with building code components using this framework.
- Chapter 2, Power Apps CLI, defines what Power Apps CLI is and provides you with a basic understanding of the npm package. It also describes how to get started with Power Apps CLI.
- Chapter 3, Community Tools and Resources, covers community tools that simplify building and managing code components. It also covers the community repository of all publicly available code components.
- Chapter 4, Project Overview and the Component Life Cycle, explains the types of projects provided by Power Apps CLI. It also explains the makeup of code components along with file and folder structures. It showcases the structure of the Control Manifest and index. ts files in detail. At the end of the chapter, it covers the component life cycle and how events interact with each other and their host.
- Chapter 5, Code, Test, and Repeat, explains the process of initializing a PCF project, editing the manifest file, and writing code to create components. It also showcases methods to add styling and preview images. It provides a step-by-step guide to create code components for a field and view.
- Chapter 6, Debugging Code Components, provides an overview of the test harness included with the framework and guides you through different debugging processes. It also provides information on how to debug a code component when it is already deployed to model-driven or canvas apps using Fiddler AutoResponder.
- Chapter 7, Authentication Profiles, provides an overview of authentication profiles and how to create them. It also describes the ways to manage them, from changing the default profile to deleting a profile. It shows the process to quickly deploy your code components to a preferred Microsoft Dataverse environment.
- Chapter 8, Introduction to the Dataverse Project, provides an introduction to the Microsoft Dataverse Project and how to initialize, add, and build your code components in that project. It also covers the process of building and deploying multiple code components in a single solution to the Microsoft Dataverse environment.
- Chapter 9, Configuring Code Components in Power Apps, showcases how to configure field and datatype code components on both model-driven and canvas apps. It also details differences in the rendering of code components on model-driven and canvas apps.
- Chapter 10, Diving Deep into the Features Provided by PCF, explains in depth about events, important features, and methods provided by the framework and how to use them in each scenario with examples.
- Chapter 11, Creating Advanced Dataset Code Components, explains advanced features, such as sorting, paging, opening a selected record, and integrating out-of-the-box options available on views and sub-grids that can be added to a dataset code component to enhance the user experience.
- Chapter 12, Enriching Your Dev Experience, provides guidance on the process of using modern web techniques to make your code look pretty and set up a pattern to analyze the code for potential errors. It will show you the process of setting up a testing framework. It will also teach you how to use React and Fluent UI by providing a step-by-step guide to create your own code component.
