Category: Power Apps

1. Introduction
2. Governance
3. The reasons that we’re here
   1. Lack of Version Control
   2. Deployment Instability
   3. Difficult to troubleshoot issues
4. Deploy managed solutions
5. Call to Action

Introduction

I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news—well, maybe just a little. My goal is to save you from yourself, so let me be clear: WE DO NOT CREATE UNMANAGED LAYERS IN PRODUCTION!

If you’re serious about maturing on the Power Platform, there are a few fundamental principles you need to grasp. I get it—the way Power Platform is set up, with everyone having a default environment, can feel like the wild west. But there are some non-negotiables. At the very least, you should be working with two environments—ideally, three: one for development, one for testing, and one for production-ready solutions. You know, a proper application lifecycle management (ALM) process—the same concept they drilled into us in college.

In theory—and in practice, based on what I’ve seen over the years (including my own mistakes)—you can do whatever you want. But at some point, you need to stop, take a step back, and ask yourself: Is a “hot fix” in production really worth the risk?

My answer? Absolutely not. And here’s why.

Governance

Yes, the G word—governance. Autonomy is great—until there’s a data breach. Then suddenly, we’re all asking how our favorite retailer leaked our PII (Personally Identifiable Information), and I’m staring at an email telling me to cancel my credit card, pack up, and start a new life.

Okay, maybe this article isn’t that dramatic—but it could be. Governance isn’t just a Power Platform concern; it applies everywhere. And while we champion secure backends like Dataverse, security only works if we take governance seriously. So, do yourself a favor—treat it like it matters. Because it does.

I have the privilege of working alongside some of the world’s premier experts in governance and compliance, partnering with some of the biggest names in business. And time and time again, we find organizations falling into one of two categories:

The Gentleman’s Approach

These organizations recognize the power of Power Platform but haven’t fully deployed it across their enterprise. They want to get ahead of the chaos by implementing governance before things spiral out of control.

Please Save Us

On the other hand, some organizations have already deployed Power Platform—without guardrails. Now, it’s out of hand, and they’re desperately looking for a way to regain control before things get worse.

If you’ve taken the Gentleman’s Approach, thank you. It makes life so much easier when we can focus on methodology and toolkits to set you up for long-term success.

If you’re in the Please Save Us camp, thank you as well. Acknowledging the problem and committing to steering your organization in the right direction is a crucial step.

The Problem with Poor Implementations

Here’s the thing—lack of governance in Power Platform leads to poor adoption. We have this powerful platform at our fingertips, but if security gaps, broken processes, or unchecked risks get in the way, no one wants to use it—or worse, no one can use it safely.

CIOs and the Tough Questions

Do CIOs make my job harder when it comes to governance? Yes. And they should. The tough questions need to be asked. Don’t just take my word for it—press me, challenge me, ask for sources. This is your organization, your investment, your future.

As a consultant, I care deeply about the services I provide, but at the end of the day, I will roll off your project at some point. My goal? To leave your organization better than I found it. And that is part of the reason we don’t create unmanaged layers in production!

The reasons that we’re here

Lack of Version Control

It’s right there, staring you in the face. You can do it. Just pop that flow open, add that missing action, and everything is right with the world—until it’s not.

Whatever the reason, you must operate with the mindset that tweaking production directly is not acceptable. You cannot predict unexpected behavior, and doing so completely undermines your version control and environment strategy.

If you have a production environment (and please don’t tell me it’s the default environment—that’s a conversation for another day) and some form of environment strategy, respect it.

Make your changes in the lower environments, test them, get sign-off, and deploy to production—the way it should be done.

Deployment Instability

In production, or at least in managed solutions within production, we have what are called solution layers. (I even included a nice, shiny image above to illustrate this—you’re welcome.)

When you create unmanaged layers, you introduce the possibility of deployment failures down the line. The artifacts and components in future deployments weren’t designed to handle the unexpected behaviors you introduced by manipulating a solution directly in production.

Save your deployments. Do it the right way.

Stick to the process—develop, test, get approval, deploy. Your future self (and your team) will thank you.

Difficult to troubleshoot issues

The degree of difficulty in troubleshooting can vary—but it becomes exponentially harder when you don’t even know what you’re looking for.

The unpredictability of removing a single component, a line of code, or an action in a flow can drive even the most rational person up a wall. One small tweak can have ripple effects you didn’t anticipate, turning a simple fix into a time-consuming nightmare.

Let’s avoid unnecessary cleanup, frustration, and sweat-inducing emergencies. Follow best practices, respect your environments, and don’t create an unmanaged layer in production.

Regardless of which camp you fall into, governance matters—whether you’re planning ahead or trying to clean up the mess.

Deploy managed solutions

This should go without saying—but I’ve seen it all. I’ve been on engagements where entire production environments were packed with unmanaged solutions, and it took months to convert everything to managed.

I want my clients to be set up for success, even if it means being a thorn in someone’s side. I get that introducing complexity, governance, and strategy might seem like extra overhead for IT. But trust me—it’s worth it.

Now, think about the alternative: years of unmanaged layers, uncontrolled deployments, and an unrestricted environment that you still call production. The overhead and nightmares that come with that far outweigh the effort of doing things the right way from the start.

If your goal is to build a mature Power Platform model, then you need a strategy in place. Create the necessary environments, security groups, and pipelines to establish a structured, secure, and scalable framework.

Call to Action

It All Starts with Education

Educate your business units, educate IT, heck—educate your dog if you have to. A mature Power Platform adoption is an organizational effort, not just an IT initiative. Do it the right way.

Use the Right Tools

You have plenty of tools at your disposal:

✅ The CoE Starter Kit – Provides a holistic view of your environment.

✅ Power Platform Admin Center – If you’re not ready for the CoE, at least establish a management strategy here.

✅ Security Groups (M365 or Entra ID) – Set them up early to enforce governance and access control.

One Rule Above All

Whatever you do, do NOT create unmanaged layers in production.

1. Introduction
2. The Logic Engine Behind Power Apps
3. Solution
   1. Canvas App
      1. Project Proposal Main Grid
      2. Project Proposal Entry Form
   2. Power Automate
      1. Handling Scope Logic

Introduction

One would think that by now, we’d all be settled on what Power Automate can do. But surprisingly, that’s not the case. It feels strange to still use the word “potential” when talking about Power Automate, especially since I’ve seen it achieve some pretty amazing feats. It has served as an integration point between the Power Platform and external systems, connected Azure and the Power Platform, and even acted as the logic layer for Power Apps. Yet, I still find myself in conversations with customers, exploring the true depth of its power and capabilities.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more about what Power Automate can do. This week we’ll be talking about Power Automate as the logic layer for Power Apps. Follow along to learn more!

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The Logic Engine Behind Power Apps

Power Apps is very capable. The problem is that the more complex your logic gets, the more complicated your formulas become. In my experience as a Power Platform developer, it’s rare to build a solution without involving at least one Power Automate flow. These flows are usually triggered by something happening in Power Apps—either directly when the app triggers an automation or once a record that was changed in the app meets certain conditions (like a CRUD operation in Dataverse, SQL Server, or SharePoint).

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Solution

Below is a refined version of your text, maintaining a casual style and clear flow:

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Our solution will include two components: Power Apps and Power Automate. We’ll be working on a “Project Proposal” process, where every proposal requires approval. Depending on factors like scope or budget, the proposal may need multiple approvers or just one. I won’t walk through the entire build here since this post is purely informational, but I will share screenshots and add details to illustrate each step.

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Canvas App

Project Proposal Main Grid

When you first open the app, you’ll see a main grid listing all project proposals. Each row shows basic details like project name, budget, primary approver, and scope. This screen lets you quickly scan and select any proposal for more information.

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Project Proposal Entry Form

This is where you enter all the core information for a new project proposal. It includes fields for basic details like project name, estimated budget, and scope. Once you fill out the form and submit, the proposal is added to Dataverse and triggers the Power Automate flow to handle scope logic.

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Power Automate

Handling Scope Logic

The crux of this solution is how we’re handling our logic. Sure, I could have written an expression with multiple If statements—maybe even nested ones—to get the result I wanted. But instead, I’m passing the necessary parameters to the Flow and letting Power Automate handle the conditional logic. If I ever want to add more conditions, I can do it in a visual way without diving into Power Fx.

Power Automate also offers other logic controls beyond simple If conditions, such as switch statements and parallel branches. This gives you a drag-and-drop interface to manage complex pathways—like sending notifications to different groups or looping through multiple records—without having to manually write or manage code. It’s all about making your logic more transparent and maintainable, so you can expand on it as requirements evolve.

Thank you for reading!!

1. Introduction
2. SharePoint/Microsoft Lists
3. Solution
   1. Available Templates
   2. Step 1: Create list from template
   3. Step 2: Be creative!!
   4. Extra

Introduction

Recently, someone asked me what I do for a living. My standard response is, “I am a Microsoft consultant.” I phrase it this way because the scope of Microsoft’s ecosystem is truly vast. Before I started consulting organizations on tools like Azure and Power Platform, I didn’t fully appreciate just how expansive Microsoft’s solutions really are.

The response I got was a little different than what I usually hear from business users, and I believe it was shaped as much by geography as by the products themselves. Milwaukee, WI, where I’m based, is a city historically known for heavy manufacturing, motorcycles, and beer.

This industrial legacy extends across Wisconsin, which has long been rooted in factories and industries, often relying on ERPs like Epicor or SAP. While Microsoft products are widely used here, they’re often limited to familiar tools like Word, Excel, and Outlook. However, Microsoft is far more than Word—it’s a robust platform that includes Azure cloud services, enterprise solutions like Dynamics F&O and Business Central, and the Power Platform. These tools empower both pro developers and low-code creators to build innovative solutions that drive business transformation.

Now, with the introduction of generative AI and Copilot, the Microsoft ecosystem has expanded even further, unlocking new possibilities for productivity and automation.

For those who still know Microsoft primarily for Word, I’m continuing a mission I started earlier this year: raising awareness of the incredible features included with Microsoft 365 licensing. Today, my focus is on the Business Standard license, specifically how it enables rapid development of custom business applications using SharePoint and Microsoft List templates. Let’s dive in and explore how you can make the most of these tools!

SharePoint/Microsoft Lists

One of the key benefits of a Business Standard license is access to SharePoint. SharePoint is an incredibly powerful tool, offering exceptional value for its cost. It serves as a collaborative workspace with features like built-in document management, intranet capabilities, and the ability to host and manage data in lists.

One of the key benefits of a Microsoft 365 Business Standard license is access to SharePoint, a robust tool offering exceptional value. SharePoint serves as a collaborative workspace with features like built-in document management, intranet capabilities, and the ability to host and manage data in lists.

While we won’t delve into all of SharePoint’s functionalities, let’s focus on its versatile lists feature. These lists are powerful tools for organizing and managing data, and you don’t need to access SharePoint directly to use them. The Microsoft Lists application provides an intuitive interface to work with these lists, making them a convenient and powerful data source for your business needs.

A significant advantage of Microsoft Lists is its accessibility across multiple platforms. You can manage your lists on the go using the Microsoft Lists mobile app, available for both iOS and Android devices. Additionally, while there isn’t a dedicated desktop app for macOS, you can use Microsoft Lists as a Progressive Web App (PWA) on your Mac. This setup allows you to work with your lists directly from your desktop, providing a seamless experience across devices.

This cross-platform availability ensures that you can access and manage your data whenever and wherever you need it, enhancing productivity and collaboration within your organization.

Solution

The template we’ll focus on today is the Asset Management template. While there are many templates to choose from, this one offers a great starting point for tracking and managing assets. It’s important to remember that you’re not limited to the fields provided in the template. SharePoint lists are customizable, and adding a new field to tailor the template to your specific needs is relatively easy.

If the out-of-the-box template meets most of your requirements but falls short in one or two areas, simply modify it by adding the necessary fields. This flexibility allows you to make the template truly your own while saving time and effort on development.

Available Templates

For posterity these are the templates available in SharePoint/Microsoft Lists:

1. Issue tracker

2. Employee onboarding

3. Event itinerary

4. Asset manager

5. Recruitment tracker

6. Travel requests

7. Travel requests with approvals

8. Work progress tracker

9. Content scheduler

10. Content scheduler with approvals

11. Playlist

12. Gift ideas

13. Expense tracker

14. Recipe tracker

15. Reading list

16. Apartment hunting

17. Job application tracker

18. Product support metrics

Step 1: Create list from template

In this step, we’ll select the Asset manager template. This will guide you through a wizard-like experience. On the next screen, you’ll see a preview of how the list will look when populated with data. From there, you’ll name your list and choose the option to create it. In just a few seconds, you’ll have a functioning data source for your asset management process.

Step 2: Be creative!!

The next steps are entirely up to you. There are countless stories waiting to be told through data. As a business application developer, I tell the story of business data using tools like Power Apps and Power Automate. A data or business intelligence analyst might choose to use Power BI to craft insightful reports from the same data. The key takeaway here is that we now have a central repository for our data—one that was created quickly, can be easily iterated upon, and serves as a foundation for exploring what’s possible with Microsoft 365 licensing.

If you’re a CIO or business user, this approach can help you realize the potential of the Power Platform. It’s perfect for spinning up a quick proof of concept (POC) to demonstrate not just the art of the possible, but the art of what is. And what is—that Microsoft is far more than just Word. It’s an expansive, powerful platform ready to transform the way you work.

Extra

Next, I’ll share images of an application and flow I built using this list as the foundation. By starting with the Asset Manager template, I was able to significantly reduce the time spent planning out the architecture and get straight to work. This allowed me to focus on the “extras”—how I wanted the app to look and how I wanted to structure my flows.

In total, it took me about three hours to build and iterate on the process, refining my ideas about how everything should function. By integrating this data source with the Power Platform, users can rapidly develop solutions tailored to meet specific needs, enabling faster delivery and greater flexibility.

1. Introduction
2. Shoutout to Keegan
3. Solution
   1. Step 1: Configuring the Basic Form
   2. Aside: Spoofing the System
   3. Step 2: Building the Flow
      1. 1. Trigger: When a row is added, modified, or deleted
   4. SharePoint Actions
      1. 2. Create new folder (Create Parent)
      2. 2. Create new folder (Create External Documents)
   5. Dataverse Actions
      1. 1. Add a New Row (Create External Document Location Record):
      2. 2. Add a New Row (Create Parent Document Location Record):
      3. 3. Update a Row (Change Parent Site on External Folder)
   6. In practice
      1. Steps to Set Up the Internal Subgrid:
      2. Test out internal subgrid

Introduction

I want to start by saying that my recent work with Power Pages has been a significant learning experience. While I had some idea of what I was getting into, I had to quickly upskill. Here’s the key takeaway: don’t fear what you don’t know. Fear of the unknown often holds us back, especially in the tech world, where there are always countless uncertainties. We use tools to build solutions and inevitably face gaps or unknowns along the way. Instead of shying away, embrace those unknowns, expect them, and take action. Soapbox moment over.

Shoutout to Keegan

I have to acknowledge my colleague, Keegan, for this. We worked on a Power Pages project with SharePoint integration and want to ensure that only external users can view external-facing documents. Internally, a reviewer will upload documents to the external user’s record. While the internal reviewer will have access to all documents in the library, the external user will be restricted to documents stored in an external-facing SharePoint folder.

We experimented with several approaches to implement the segregation, but nothing seemed to work. Initially, we considered adding a metadata field to the document library to flag files or folders as external, then using JavaScript in the portal to filter out the results. However, I was concerned that if the JavaScript failed or loaded slowly, it could inadvertently expose sensitive files to users who shouldn’t have access. That potential risk made me uncomfortable with relying on this approach.

We noticed there had to be an internal process Microsoft uses to decide which folder gets surfaced in the subgrid. It was Keegan who suggested that maybe the ‘Created On’ field in the Document Locations Dataverse table was being used to determine which folder gets displayed. And sure enough, that was the case. So, big shoutout to Keegan for that insight. He even suggested I write an article about it, but I have no problem giving credit where it’s due—he’s a great guy.

Solution

I won’t be covering the process of setting up SharePoint integration with Power Pages in this article, but I will go over the basics of our table permissions. Anything beyond that is outside the scope of this discussion. If you’re unfamiliar with the SharePoint integration setup, please visit Manage SharePoint documents. Once you’re comfortable with that, return to this article and pick up the instructions from there.

Step 1: Configuring the Basic Form

For our solution, we didn’t need to use the entire Dataverse form; we just needed a simple space to upload files. You can choose to use the full form or modify it to fit your needs. We’ll be uploading our forms to a table we named “Site.” A quick note: avoid naming a table in your Dataverse environment “Site.” Power Pages uses a table called “Site” that holds the site record for the Power Pages website, so using the same name could cause conflicts within the environment.

Whatever permissions you set on the form; I recommend changing the parent permission to “Global” for the purposes of this discussion. You can adjust the permissions later based on your specific needs, but for now, this will help show functionality. Once you change the parent permission’s access type, we should be all set. Still, please note—until we complete the Power Automate flow, I suggest against uploading anything into the subgrid. You’d likely have to delete it later anyway.

Aside: Spoofing the System

One thing we noticed when manually walking through this process is that in the Document Location table in Dataverse, the first Document Location record “wins” and becomes the default. This is why we need to “spoof” the system a bit. When the first file or folder is added, it automatically creates the parent document location in Dataverse, which we don’t want in this case. Instead, we want to create the external document location first. Once that’s done, we create the parent document location. After the parent is created, we’ll associate it with the external document location. This ensures that the external location takes priority in the subgrid, making it visible only to external users on the Power Pages website, while files or folders outside of the external folder structure and including the external folder will still be visible to internal users via the model-driven app.

Step 2: Building the Flow

Building out the flow is fairly straightforward. We want to automatically create the folder structure every time a new site is created, ensuring that when documents are uploaded from Power Pages, they are always directed into the external-facing folder. To implement this design effectively, we’ll use an automated trigger.

1. Trigger: When a row is added, modified, or deleted

This trigger will monitor the creation of new sites and automatically build the necessary folder structure, making sure the external folder is ready for document uploads.

SharePoint Actions

To achieve the necessary design for our folder structure, we will be using two SharePoint actions. These actions will create both the parent folder and the external folder nested inside the parent folder. Both actions will utilize the “Create new folder” action.

2. Create new folder (Create Parent)

• Site Address:
  This should be the location of your document integration. If you’re unsure of the SharePoint site location for the integration, you can review the document management settings in Advanced Settings to find it.
• List or Library:
  Library where your documents are stored, check the site contents of the SharePoint site to verify the document library where you want your documents to be stored.
• Folder Path:
  The folder path will be a concatenation of the Site Name and the Site GUID, separated by an underscore (_). This ensures a unique folder structure for each site created.

replace(concat(triggerOutputs()?['body/dul_name'],'_',toUpper(triggerOutputs()?['body/dul_siteid'])),'-','')

This setup will create the parent folder, setting the foundation for further customization with the external folder inside.

2. Create new folder (Create External Documents)

• Site Address:
  Use the same site address as the Create Parent action.
• List or Library:
  Select the same document library as the Create Parent action.
• Folder Path:
  Using the dynamic content from the previous action, select the Title of the folder created in the parent action, then add a forward slash (/) and specify the name of your external documents folder (e.g., 0External_Documents).

This will nest the external folder inside the parent folder, ensuring that all external-facing documents are uploaded into the appropriate folder structure.

Dataverse Actions

Once the folder structure is set up in SharePoint, the next step is to establish the corresponding Document Location in Dataverse. Before proceeding with any Dataverse actions, navigate to make.powerapps.com and open the Document Locations table. Find and extract the GUID for the default site’s Document Location record, which should be titled “Documents on Default Site.” This GUID is crucial for the Dataverse actions you’re about to implement, so make sure the record is available and correctly identified before continuing.

1. Add a New Row (Create External Document Location Record):

• Table Name:
  Document Locations
• Name:
  External Documents
• Parent Site or Location (Document Locations):
  sharepointdocumentlocations({GUID of Default Site record})
• Regarding (Sites):
  dul_sites({GUID of the site in the trigger})
• Relative URL
  0External_Documents
  (Note: “Sites” is the table name being used for SharePoint integration in this example. Your table name may differ.)

It is essential to create the external document location record before proceeding with any further steps.

2. Add a New Row (Create Parent Document Location Record):

• Table Name:
  Document Locations
• Name:
  Trigger Name
• Parent Site or Location (Document Locations):
  sharepointdocumentlocations({GUID of Default Site record})
• Regarding (Sites):
  dul_sites({GUID of the site in the trigger})
• Relative URL
  replace(concat({Name of Trigger},’_’,toUpper({GUID of Trigger})),’-‘,”)
  (Note: “Sites” is the table name being used for SharePoint integration in this example. Your table name may differ.)

3. Update a Row (Change Parent Site on External Folder)

• Table Name: Document Locations
• Row ID: {GUID of External Folder Document Location}
• Parent Site or Location (Document Locations): sharepointdocumentlocations({GUID of Parent folder})

It’s crucial to update the parent site or location to align with the folder structure in SharePoint. This process leverages relative URLs, so it’s important that the relative URLs follow a consistent hierarchy. For example:

• Default Site Relative URL: dul_site
• Parent Relative URL: LinkedInTestSite
• External Folder Relative URL: 0External_Folder

By correctly linking these records, the fully constructed URL will follow the pattern: dul_site/LinkedInTestSite/0External_Folder. This ensures the folder structure in Dataverse matches the structure in SharePoint, maintaining consistency and proper document organization.

In practice

Steps to Set Up the Internal Subgrid:

1. Open the main form for your table.

2. Add a subgrid to the form.

3. In the subgrid properties, select Related Records.

4. Choose Documents (Regarding) from the list.

5. Select All SharePoint Documents.

6. Save the changes.

7. Publish the form to apply the updates.

Test out internal subgrid

1. Navigate to the table with the integration and select a record.
2. Click Edit to open the form.
3. In the subgrid, choose the Document Location dropdown and select All Locations. This will display all files in the folder structure.

In my case, the internal subgrid shows 5 records, including those uploaded from Power Pages or residing in the External Documents folder, but on the Power Pages side, only 3 files are visible.

• This is because documents on the Power Pages side are written to the External Folder, so only documents in that folder will be visible to external users.

Important: If you upload a file to any location other than the External Folder, it will not be accessible to external users.

If you select the External Documents tab in the internal subgrid and upload a file, it will be added directly to the External Folder, making it visible to external users.

1. Prelude
   1. Thank you “L”
2. Introduction
3. Collections
   1. Collection Construction
      1. Filter Criteria
   2. Example 1: Filtering Data Source based on Status
   3. Example 2: ShowColumns()
   4. Example 3: DropColumns()
   5. Example 4: 1 Record Collection
   6. Example 5: Real Time Feedback
4. Conclusion

Prelude

I’ve just come back from a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, where I had the honor of attending the Power Platform Community Conference — it was fantastic. Before I continue, I must express how incredible the power of community is. My growth over the past six years has been significant, and I believe it has progressed in tandem with the Power Platform Community.

The inspiration for this post comes from the community. Professionally, I hold the position of Power Platform Supervisor, essentially an architect. Before reaching my current role, I was in the same position as many of you, trying to understand the intricacies of the Power Platform. There were a few trailblazers who had already started to unravel its mysteries years ago, like Matthew Devaney, Hardit Bhatia, Reza Dorrani, and Shane Young. Their pioneering work has been instrumental in my journey. Matthew even gifted me a bottle of Canadian maple syrup along with a touching note. This community is amazing!

Thank you “L”

During my time in Vegas, I encountered a kind young woman who, coincidentally, shares the same surname as one of my close friends, though they are not related. We’ll refer to her as L. Her humility and determination to resolve the issue with her app compelled me to offer some guidance.

I noticed many similarities between myself and L, particularly that she was using SharePoint as her data source, which is where many of us seasoned pros on the Power Platform started. Her dedication to her organization’s needs was clear. I sensed her passion, and on the first day, I offered her some advice that seemed to open up a new perspective on her app to her. The next day, she came back to the conference room, presented the progress she made overnight, and discussed her successes and challenges with me.

It’s incredible to think that nearly six years ago, I was in L’s position. I suspect that if her passion for the Power Platform endures, she’ll likely surpass me. That’s what it’s all about: spreading ideas and fostering a community that’s the antithesis of gatekeeping. If it’s a matter of money and career, there’s plenty to go around. Here, you’ll find no closed doors. L, I want to express my gratitude for reminding me of what it felt like six years ago and for giving me the opportunity to pay it forward. So, here’s to you, L – thank you.

Introduction

Canvas Apps are both fun and frustrating. I find the beauty to be in creating these pixel perfect custom applications, the angst in the patterns we must construct to make the app run as smoothly as possible. When done right, not only do you have a beautiful creation, but you also have beautifully written patterns that retrieve data efficiently and in an optimized manner that will make any “pro” developer proud.

Collections

Using collections is a method to enhance our application’s performance. Collections are, in essence, temporary tables or tables stored in the application’s memory, acting as a type of variable. Their strength lies in their capacity to store tabular data, which can be a precise replica of our data source.

This data can stay in the app until the collection is updated or destroyed, either by command or upon the application’s launch or closure. Storing data within the app significantly boosts performance, as it eliminates the need to repeatedly retrieve data, thus avoiding performance lags. When fields in your forms or galleries draw from the collection, updating them provides instant feedback to those fields, bypassing the need for a patch to the data source and the later retrieval of the updated value or reloading of the collection.

Moreover, collections value extends to improving the UI of our canvas app, enabling us to write conditional patterns in our formulas that adjust the visibility of controls, borders, colors, and similar elements.

Collection Construction

Filter Criteria

Before we continue with our exploration of collections, it’s important to consider certain aspects of how we will construct our collection. Although collections can be an exact mirror of our data source, it is crucial to contemplate the techniques we use to filter our data source.

Ensuring we have proper filter criteria is crucial because it prevents us from retrieving unnecessary data. We aim to avoid overloading our application with irrelevant rows that do not contribute to the operations we intend to execute. When considering data sources or datasets, think about the number of operations that can be derived from a single source. With this consideration, meticulously decide your objectives and set filter criteria that serve as a pathway to those goals. Otherwise, you end up creating collections that deviate from the original intent of your project.

Example 1: Filtering Data Source based on Status

A prevalent method for applying filter criteria is to set up the database to return only active records. The first example will show this approach.

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Using my SharePoint List:

1. Create Collection called colBooks
2. Filter SharePoint List by Status field to retrieve records that are active
3. Display records in items property of table

Example 2: ShowColumns()

Another way to create a collection in Power Apps is by using the ShowColumns() function. This function enables developers to explicitly choose which columns they want to include and make available within the app.

Our method for building collections improves performance by retrieving only the essential columns. This reduces the app’s load, resulting in faster execution, especially when working with large datasets.

In my experience, there’s rarely a valid reason to retrieve every column from a data source. While clients may sometimes ask for this, it’s crucial to remember that doing so can pull in unnecessary system columns. For example, in SharePoint, this will include columns like {ModerationComment} and {ModerationStatus}, among others.

Example 3: DropColumns()

The inverse of ShowColumns() is DropColumns(). While ShowColumns() lets you explicitly select which columns to show in the app, DropColumns() lets you specify which columns should be excluded. This is particularly useful when you need most of the data but want to omit specific columns, like unnecessary system fields or sensitive information, keeping the app more efficient and secure.

Example 4: 1 Record Collection

What’s the point of having a collection with just one record? While collections are typically used to display tabular data, they’re also highly flexible and can be updated. I often pull a single record into a collection to isolate it and work with that specific data. In my opinion, it’s more efficient to modify a single record in a collection than to reset an entire variable.

To illustrate this with a use case: In Power Apps, the out-of-the-box form experience can be limited, and there are situations where creating a custom form is necessary. I often do this using a gallery, as the custom form only needs to handle one record at a time. In such cases, I create a single-record collection and assign it to the gallery’s Items property. This makes the contents of that collection available to the gallery or custom form, allowing for more flexibility and control in handling the record.

Example 5: Real Time Feedback

A key advantage of a collection is that it stores tabular data in memory on the client side. Since the collection is available within the app, you can change it without needing to alter the data on the server. This allows any control using the collection as its data source to instantly show changes once the collection is updated, providing real-time flexibility and responsiveness in the app.

To update a collection, there are several techniques you can use depending on your needs. You can leverage functions like Update(), UpdateIf(), and Patch(), among others. Each of these offers a different approach—Update() replaces an entire record, UpdateIf() modifies records based on a condition, and Patch() lets you selectively update specific fields within a record. These options give flexibility in how you manipulate data within the collection, enabling efficient real-time updates.

Conclusion

Once again, I’d like to thank my friend “L.” As a consultant who works with many clients throughout the year, it’s easy to forget those early days and the challenges you face when starting out as a Power Platform developer. If you’re like “L” and need some guidance, don’t hesitate to reach out to the community through various social media forums or the official Power Platform community. There’s a wealth of knowledge and support available.

Collections are a powerful tool, and I encourage all canvas app developers to take full advantage of them. Not only can collections help improve performance in terms of data retrieval, but they can also enhance the user interface and overall app functionality, as shown in the examples throughout this article. There are countless ways to leverage collections, so I urge you to explore their potential. Happy building!

Alright, Azure and Power Platform. It’s easy to overlook, but remember, Power Platform is cozily nestled right into Azure. I’ve gone from saying I build apps to now, more accurately, saying I work in the cloud.

Azure is essentially the backbone of the cloud world for Microsoft 365 and Power Platform, now Azure OpenAi. Between you and me, Azure has long had Ai capabilities with Azure Cognitive Services.

Azure has replaced the need for those loud, space-eating server rooms with a sleek, digital space. I remember the days of hiding in server rooms to escape the constant barrage of IT queries. Now, with Azure, those days are just a funny memory.

So, why Azure? Well, it’s vast. When my wife expressed interest in learning it, I had to ask, “Which part?” because it’s that big. It’s not just one thing; it’s a whole ecosystem waiting to be explored.

The cost might make some hesitant. I’m not claiming to be a Microsoft licensing expert, but generally, if the benefits are clear, people find the costs justifiable. And with Azure, the benefits are often worth it.

My journey and new role have led me deeper into Azure, especially Azure Functions. These have been a game-changer in my Power App development. They allow me to execute code, like JavaScript and my new favorite PowerShell, for complex tasks I’d rather not handle directly in the app. It’s been a great push to brush up on my coding skills too. I’ve reacquainted myself with Visual Studio Code as the last 4 years or so, I’ve lived in the Power Apps formula bar and Power Automate expressions.

But it’s not just about using Azure for the sake of it. Integrating Azure into your Power Platform solutions can significantly enhance what you’re able to do. It’s about making your solutions more robust and efficient. Azure Logic Apps, for instance, are like Power Automate on steroids, offering more capabilities and flexibility.

In essence, leveraging Azure within your Power Platform solutions isn’t just a good idea; it’s a strategic move. It’s about expanding your capabilities and delivering more sophisticated solutions. So, consider taking that step into Azure. It’s a solid move for anyone looking to enhance their Power Platform projects.

1. Install ImportExcel Module
2. Creating Desktop Flow
   1. Create Input Variable
   2. Retrieving Excel File From Folder
   3. Create “For each” loop
   4. Launch Excel
   5. Read from Excel worksheet
   6. Running PowerShell Script to insert data into our Access database

I recently had a conversation with a friend about the relevance of Access databases in today’s tech landscape. To my surprise, he emphatically affirmed that Access databases are still widely used. The last time I encountered Access was during my college days when it was used as a teaching tool for database modeling. Honestly, I had no idea that organizations continued to rely on it.

In my personal journey, Access has played a pivotal role in enhancing my skills with Power Automate Desktop. Initially, my goal was to create a Model Driven App and utilize it in conjunction with Power Apps desktop to execute desktop flows. This approach worked reasonably well, but over time, I no longer had the Model Driven App and didn’t want to recreate it. That’s when I turned to Access as my training ground.

However, even my practice with desktop flows on Access forms had its limitations. During my experimentation with PowerShell, I became determined to find a way to insert data into an Access database file without ever having to open Access itself. So, for those who still rely on Access in their workflows, This one is for you…

Here’s what you’ll need: a designated location to store your Excel file. Personally, I store mine in a folder on my desktop.

Install ImportExcel Module

To install the ImportExcel module, please open PowerShell and execute the provided script below:

Install-Module -Name ImportExcel -Scope CurrentUser

Creating Desktop Flow

Create Input Variable

To create an input variable for storing the path to the Access database we are working with, follow these steps to configure it:

1. Open the Power Automate Desktop workflow where you intend to use the variable.
2. Locate the area where you can define variables, typically in the workflow settings or variable panel.
3. Create a new variable and give it a meaningful name, such as “varAccessDb.”
4. Set the data type of this variable to “String” since it will store the file path, which is typically a text value.
5. Save your workflow to ensure the variable is retained.

Now, you have an input variable named “varAccessDb” that can be used within your PowerShell script to hold the path to the Access database.

Retrieving Excel File From Folder

To initiate the process, the first action we need to perform is to retrieve the Excel file(s) that will be used in our flow. Follow these steps:

1. In the Actions pane on the left-hand side of your Power Automate Desktop interface, type “Get files in folder” in the search bar.
2. Locate the “Get files in folder” action in the search results.
3. Drag and drop the “Get files in folder” action onto your workflow canvas.

This action will allow you to specify the folder from which you want to fetch the Excel files for further processing in your flow.

To direct the “Get files in folder” action to the folder containing your Excel workbooks and set it up to collect all files with a .xlsx extension, follow these steps:

1. Select the “Get files in folder” action block on your workflow canvas to access its configuration.
2. In the “Folder path” input field, specify the path to the folder where your Excel workbooks are located. You can either type the path or use the browse button (…) to navigate to and select the folder.
3. In the “File filter” input box, input “*.xlsx”. This filter will ensure that the action captures all files with the .xlsx extension.
4. Save your configuration.

Now, the “Get files in folder” action is configured to retrieve all Excel files with the .xlsx extension from the designated folder for further processing in your flow.

File filter: *.xlsx

Save.

Create “For each” loop

To make your solution dynamic and capable of handling one or multiple files, you can set up a “For Each” loop. Follow these steps:

1. In the Actions pane, search for “For Each” to find the For Each loop action.
2. Drag and drop the “For Each” loop action onto your workflow canvas.
3. In the “Values to iterate” field of the “For Each” loop, use the %Files% variable that was generated from your “Get files in folder” action.
4. To enhance readability, you can rename the “Store into” section from “CurrentItem” to “CurrentFile.”

By doing this, you’ve set up a loop that will iterate through each file retrieved by the “Get files in folder” action, allowing your workflow to handle both single and multiple files seamlessly.

Launch Excel

To add a “Launch Excel” action within your “For Each” loop and configure it, follow these steps:

1. In the Actions pane, search for “Launch Excel” to locate the “Launch Excel” action.
2. Drag and drop the “Launch Excel” action into your workflow editor, making sure it is nested within the “For Each” loop.

Now, let’s configure the “Launch Excel” action with the following parameters:

• File path: This should point to the current Excel file being processed in the loop. Use the “CurrentFile” variable to specify the file path dynamically.
• Visible: You can choose whether you want Excel to be visible during the execution of your workflow. Set it to “No” if you want Excel to run in the background without displaying the user interface, or “Yes” if you want Excel to be visible.
• Create new instance: You can choose to create a new instance of Excel for each file, ensuring that each file is processed independently. Set it to “Yes” if you want a new instance for each file, or “No” if you want to reuse the same instance for all files.
• Run macro (optional): If you have a specific Excel macro to run, you can specify it here. Otherwise, leave it blank if you don’t need to run a macro.

By configuring the “Launch Excel” action in this manner, you ensure that your workflow opens and processes each Excel file one by one within the “For Each” loop.

Launch Excel: and open the following document
Document Path: %CurrentFile.FullName%

Certainly, if you prefer to make the Excel instance visible, you can set the “Visible” option to “Yes” in the “Launch Excel” action configuration. This choice will allow you to see the Excel interface while the workflow is running, which can be helpful for monitoring and debugging your automation process.

Read from Excel worksheet

To add a “Read from Excel worksheet” action and configure it as described, follow these steps:

1. In the Actions pane, search for “Read from Excel worksheet” and drag it into your workflow editor. Ensure that you place it within the same “For Each” loop as the “Launch Excel” action.
2. Configure the “Read from Excel worksheet” action with the following parameters:

Excel instance: %ExcelInstance%
Retrieve: All available values from worksheet

Running PowerShell Script to insert data into our Access database

This PowerShell script will loop through the Excel data and insert records into the specified Access table without the need to have Access open. It should significantly improve the efficiency of your workflow compared to looping through each record in the spreadsheet using multiple actions in Power Automate Desktop.

1. Add a “Run PowerShell script” action to your workflow.
2. Copy and paste the following PowerShell script into the action, making any necessary updates to match your specific file paths, table names, and data variables:

# Define the path to the Access database
# varAccessDb is the our input variable
$accessDBPath = "%varAccessDb%"

# Define the connection string
$connectionString = "Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=$accessDBPath;Persist Security Info=False;"

# Define the path to the Excel file
$excelFilePath = "%CurrentFile%"

# Import data from the Excel file
# Ensure that your Excel file has columns named PartName, SKU, Description, and Price
$dataCollection = Import-Excel -Path $excelFilePath

try {
    # Create a connection object
    $connection = New-Object System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection($connectionString)

    # Open the connection
    $connection.Open()

    foreach ($item in $dataCollection) {
        # Define the SQL query for inserting data
        $query = "INSERT INTO Part ([Part Name], [SKU], [Part Description], [Price]) VALUES ('$($item.PartName)', '$($item.SKU)', '$($item.Description)', $($item.Price))"

        # Create a command object
        $command = New-Object System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand($query, $connection)

        # Execute the command (perform the insert operation)
        $command.ExecuteNonQuery()
    }

    # Close the connection
    $connection.Close()
}
catch {
    # Handle the error
    Write-Host "An error occurred: $_"
}
finally {
    # Ensure that the connection is closed even if an error occurs
    if ($connection.State -eq [System.Data.ConnectionState]::Open) {
        $connection.Close()
    }
}

Lastly add an action to close Excel.

Welcome back for Part 2 of Solutioning. If you missed Part 1 please check it out.

In this week’s discussion on enhancing your Power Platform solutions, we’ll be delving into the process of incorporating existing tables into your solution. Before we dive into the details, it’s essential to recognize that there’s no mystical formula for adding a component to your solution. This reminds me of a valuable lesson imparted by one of my colleagues, especially when discussing governance: “Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.” This principle directly applies to the inclusion of tables in a solution. Simply having the ability to add every field from a table into your solution doesn’t automatically mean it’s the best course of action. Let’s explore this further.

Business Value

In the context of Power Platform solutions, adding an existing object to a table may not seem immediately impactful, but it holds significant value for your business.

Here’s a brief story to help illustrate this:

To better understand the importance of adding only the necessary fields to your table within a Power Platform solution, let me share a personal experience that highlights this point. It relates to that insightful phrase from my colleague. Here’s what happened:

I was working on a Power Platform solution—whether it was an app or a flow—in a development environment, preparing it for the transition to the testing phase. In the early stages of building the solution, I faced a crucial decision when incorporating an existing table into the solution. At that moment, I chose to select the ‘Include all objects’ checkbox without giving it much thought.

Little did I know, I unintentionally created a situation that would require some effort to resolve. As we all understand, time is valuable in business.

In a development environment, it’s not always easy to track who’s working on what, and how changes to a table schema might affect your deployment. Communication isn’t always perfect. To reduce risks and minimize errors, it’s a good practice to take some precautions.

In simple terms, this approach helps to prevent errors, leading to quicker issue resolution. This saves time, money, and the stress of figuring out why you’re encountering errors related to missing dependencies that you didn’t directly modify.

Adding existing table to solution

Within our solution, follow these steps:

1. Select “Add Existing.”
2. Choose “Table” from the options.

3. Pick the specific table you wish to work with.
4. Then, click on “Next” to proceed.

5. Now, go ahead and choose “Select objects.”

At this point, you’ll be presented with a list of all the objects that are currently part of the selected table.

6. Pick only the objects that you plan to include in your solution.
7. Then, click the “Add” button to add the selected objects.

On this screen, you’ll notice a count of the objects you’ve selected.

8. Go ahead and click the “Add” button to proceed.

You will now see that you have added your table to the solution

9. To view the contents of your table, click on it. (Please note that if there is data in the table, you’ll be able to see all the columns and data. However, these columns are not automatically included in your solution when you move it.)
10. Now, choose “Columns,” and you will only see the column or object that you added to the solution.

Thank you for joining us this week. In our next installment, we will continue to explore the world of solutioning. Our ultimate aim in solutioning is to lead into a discussion about Application Lifecycle Management (ALM). So, stay tuned for more exciting insights!

The Power Platform maker experience can seem like the Wild West. At any moment you can create a component that relies on other components and can create a disaster quickly.

In this series I’d like to cover some best practices, that I’ve seen over the past 5 years of working with the Power Platform – some lessons learned – such as – ‘DON’T BUILD IN THE DEFAULT ENVIRONMENT’ and other.

Solutions explained in a not so Microsoft way…A.K.A. – my way.

Imagine you have a kid with a room bursting with toys. It’s like a treasure trove of fun waiting to be explored. But hold on, it’s also a minefield! Stepping on a Lego here, tripping over something there – it’s an adventure you never signed up for. Sound familiar?

One fine day, you, the heroic parent, decide to bring order to this chaos. You’re on a mission to save your head and your feet from more unexpected encounters with toy-related perils. So, what’s your grand plan? You buy a container—a magical vessel that can hold all the toys.

In essence, a solution is your trusty container. It’s like that superhero utility belt, but for organizing digital goodies. You can get as fancy as you want with how you organize your toys – perhaps all the trucks go in one, Legos have their VIP section, and stuffed animals chill in another. Each container’s job? To amp up the fun!

Now, you might be thinking, “Why not just cram them all into one mega-container?” Well, my friend, think about it this way: when a child wants to supercharge their fun, they focus on one toy at a time, right? Or maybe you swap out the old for something shiny and new—a fantastic upgrade! We divide our solutions because not everything needs an upgrade. Remember, the bigger the toybox, the heavier it is to move.

So, there you have it – solutions are like these nifty toy containers, but for the Power Platform. They house all the bits and bobs that make the digital world go ’round. You can move them around effortlessly, using pipelines or a little digital muscle. And how you put these solutions together? Well, that’s where your creativity kicks in.

In a nutshell, solutions are your secret sauce, your digital playroom organizers. They’ll make your life as a Power Platform Developer/Maker a breeze. So go ahead, dive into the world of solutions, and let the fun (and efficiency) begin! Toys sold separately… 🚀

Creating a Solution

First things first, head on over to the Power Platform environment. You can do this by simply going to either make.powerapps.com or make.powerautomate.com – choose the one that suits your needs.

Now, on the left-hand side, look for and click on the “Solutions” option in the navigation bar.

Here comes the fun part – hit the “+ New Solution” button. That’s the one that gets the ball rolling for creating your new solution.

In the form that pops up, give your solution a cool name. If you’re not cool with the default publisher for your solution, no worries – you can make a new one. It’s actually a good idea to give it a name that makes sense. We can cover the publisher in further posts until then click “The Link” to view “Solution Concepts”… The Link

Finally, just click “Create,” and there you have it – a solution.

Thank you for tuning in… until next time.

Coding in a dynamic manner is usually one of the best ways to construct a solution. In doing so, designers and programmers try to reduce the amount of guess work that the end user has to do in an effort to keep them productive the process streamlined. To make this magic happen, developers have to do the guess work programmatically. This requires them to get creative and inject varying forms of logic into the solution. The end user may enter data the same way every time, but the output may not be as straight forward as the entry.

In Power Apps, one of the forms of logic that we have available to us that allows us to lower the amount thinking the user has to do is the If() function https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/canvas-apps/functions/function-if. In short, the If() function checks to see if a condition is true then returns a result. The results of the evaluation can be a function that is nested inside of the If() or something as simple as a color or line of text.

Side note: The focus of this tutorial is the nested If() function. Additionally, the Switch() function will be featured as well. If I am being honest and I am, I didn’t want to write another section that spells out the switch function. The Microsoft Docs link that I provided about speaks about both functions.

The focus of the this blog will be nesting If() functions inside of another If() function. The scenario that we are programming for is moving an application from one environment to another. In order to move environments the application must have approval from the qualified individuals in the current environment. Our signoffs will be collected when a user checks a box. The checkbox visibility will be controlled by the selected items property in a dropdown control.

As always navigate to make.powerapps.com and what we want to do is create a canvas app it doesn’t matter which form factor you choose to utilize. For this exercise I will be using a mobile phone form factor.

Our first order of business is to add a dropdown control to our canvas.

In the items property enter the following

["","DEV","Test","UAT","All"]

Next we’re going to add a Switch() function into the OnChange property of the dropdown control. The purpose of this is to set a visibility variable based on the selected text in our dropdown.

Enter the following PowerFx expression into the OnChange property of the dropdown.

Switch(
Self.SelectedText.Value,
" ",
And(
UpdateContext({VarCheck1: false}),
UpdateContext({VarCheck2: false}),
UpdateContext({VarCheck3: false})
),
"DEV",
And(
UpdateContext({VarCheck1: true}),
UpdateContext({VarCheck2: false}),
UpdateContext({VarCheck3: false})
),
"Test",
And(
UpdateContext({VarCheck1: false}),
UpdateContext({VarCheck2: true}),
UpdateContext({VarCheck3: true})
),
"UAT",
And(
UpdateContext({VarCheck1: false}),
UpdateContext({VarCheck2: false}),
UpdateContext({VarCheck3: true})
),
"All",
And(
UpdateContext({VarCheck1: true}),
UpdateContext({VarCheck2: true}),
UpdateContext({VarCheck3: true})
)
)

Next we’re going to create our three checkboxes. The visibility of each checkbox will host one of the context variables that we created in the previous step.

For this instructional, the checkbox names will be generic. In the we will leverage two of the properties in our checkbox. The first being the default property. We want to use this property to set the default value of our checkbox to false if the checkbox is not visible. We will also use the visible property to toggle visibility on and off based on the selected item in the dropdown.

In the default property of the first checkbox or Checkbox 1 enter the following PowerFx expression If(VarCheck1 = false,false)

In the visible property of the first checkbox or Checkbox1 insert our context variable VarCheck1.

Using context variables VarCheck2 and VarCheck3, repeat the previous steps for Checkboxes 2 and 3.

Once we have our checkboxes wired up we can test the visibility of our checkboxes.

Now the moment that we’ve all been waiting for…..the Nested If().

If you have been following along and I hope that you have, the series of steps that we went through will all be brought together once we implement the Nested If(). Tying this altogether…If a checkbox is visible it must be checked in order for our submit button to become active. Removing a checkbox by changing the selection in the dropdown will clear it and only the remaining checkbox will need to be checked.

So…lets insert a button. We will leverage two properties here. The text property and the displaymode property.

In the text property of our button, enter in the following formula.

If(
If(
Checkbox1.Visible = true && Checkbox1.Value = true || If(
Checkbox1.Visible = false && Checkbox1.Value = false,
true
),
true
) && If(
Checkbox2.Visible = true && Checkbox2.Value = true || If(
Checkbox2.Visible = false && Checkbox2.Value = false,
true
),
true
) && If(
Checkbox3.Visible = true && Checkbox3.Value = true || If(
Checkbox3.Visible = false && Checkbox3.Value = false,
true
),
true
)

&& If(
And(
VarCheck1 = false,
VarCheck2 = false,
VarCheck3 = false
),
false,
true
),
"Ready to Move",
"Not Ready to Move"
)

At first glance this may not be easy to understand so I’ll break it down. Essentially, I have one If() function encasing multiple if functions, I then put another if function inside of that…still confusing. I know. So lets go with the basics.

The nested if works like this. We have a parent or top level If() function that houses the first If() function for Checkbox1 and it reads like this.

If(

If(Checkbox1 is visible(true) and Checkbox1 is checked (value = true) or

[another nested if]

If(

Checkbox1 is not visible(false) and Checkbox1 is not checked (value = false), then evaluate this If() to true

), If all conditions in this function are met, evaluate to true

)

If’s nested inside of another roll up to the parent, it is important that when you are designing your nested Ifs that you keep this in mind.

Finally we will leverage the display mode of the button. Paste the following into the displaymode property.

If(
If(
Checkbox1.Visible = true && Checkbox1.Value = true || If(
Checkbox1.Visible = false && Checkbox1.Value = false,
true
),
true
) && If(
Checkbox2.Visible = true && Checkbox2.Value = true || If(
Checkbox2.Visible = false && Checkbox2.Value = false,
true
),
true
) && If(
Checkbox3.Visible = true && Checkbox3.Value = true || If(
Checkbox3.Visible = false && Checkbox3.Value = false,
true
),
true
)

&& If(
And(
VarCheck1 = false,
VarCheck2 = false,
VarCheck3 = false
),
false,
true
),
DisplayMode.Edit,
DisplayMode.Disabled
)

And now for the final reveal..

I promise I’ll get better at these…Please leave feedback.