Describe application lifecycle management Application lifecycle management (ALM) is a cyclical paradigm for the development, governance, and maintenance of applications, as illustrated in Figure 2-10. Power Platform supports an ALM strategy that uses Power Apps, Power Automate, and Common Data Service components packaged as a solution. FIGURE 2-10 The lifecycle of an application By packaging the components of an ALM strategy as a solution, administrators can import them into the Common Data Service in other environments. This allows developers in those other environments to access the ALM components when developing their own apps and flows. Describe business process flows Business process flows are tools thatRead More →

Design data layout and mapping The combination of the pinned visualizations from reports and the additional material available through the Add tile dialog box allow developers to design dashboards that tell a specific story to the consumers and provide them with access to more detailed information in the reports themselves. Deciding what information needs to appear on a dashboard and how that information should be visualized is an important part of the dashboard design and creation process. Designing for screen size Because a dashboard is only a single page, developers must consider the size of the screen that consumers will be using to view it.Read More →

Skill 2.2: Describe connectors Connectors are the Power Platform components that allow Power Apps and Power Automate to interact with outside applications, services, and data files and utilize their data. Well over 200 public connectors are available to Power Platform users, and for those applications and services that are not supported, it is possible for developers to create custom connectors. A connector is a proxy wrapper that Power Platform tools use to access an application programming interface (API) provided by an application or service. Many applications and cloud services have the necessary APIs, and the Power Platform connectors function as proxies, or intermediaries between theRead More →

Describe models including business card reader, detection model, form processing model, and prediction model To use AI Builder, developers choose from a collection of models that define scenarios in which an app can apply artificial intelligence to a business task. There are prebuilt model types that define common tasks and are ready for immediate use, as well as custom model types that define basic AI functions, which developers can build and train with their own data. The models included with AI Builder as of this writing are described in the following sections. Prebuilt models The prebuilt models included in AI Builder are designed to performRead More →

Describe how Power Apps and Power Automate can consume AI Builder data AI Builder models all generate data in some form or another. The Business Card Reader model generates database records containing the information scanned from the business cards. The Prediction model generates a single binary result, such as a yes or no. The Language Detection model generates a two-digit code indicating the language of the input data. Apps and flows can make use of this generated data in various ways. In some cases, such as the Business Card Reader and Form Processing models, their primary function is to scan data from source documents andRead More →

Line charts Line charts display one or more value sequences represented by horizontal lines running from each value to the next one, as shown in Figure 3-9. Commonly used for the presentation of values over time, as in financial profit and loss charts, the horizontal (or x) axis traditionally represents the time interval, such as days, months, or years. FIGURE 3-9 A line chart in Power BI Combo charts Power BI supports the combination of line and column charts into a composite that overlays line data onto a series of columns. The combination of the two chart types makes it possible to compare data setsRead More →

Describe actions Actions are specific modifications made to the data provided by an outside application or service. In Power Automate, actions are usually the result of a trigger, but developers can use them in Power Apps as well. For example, when a developer creates a manual trigger in a Power Automate flow, the next step is to select an action that will be the result of the trigger, as shown in Figure 2-18. Apps and flows can include multiple actions using different connectors to perform a sequence of tasks. FIGURE 2-18 The Choose an action dialog box in the Power Automate portal Actions can causeRead More →

Describe uses for custom visuals including charts or controls Power BI includes a large selection of visualizations, but it is also possible for organizations and users to create their own custom visualizations and share them within the organization or with the outside Power BI community. Custom visualizations can be cosmetic variants on the appearance of built-in Power BI visualizations, such as the addition of a company name or logo, or they can fulfill data display or integration requirements that are specific to the organization. In the Power BI service interface, selecting Get more visuals in the Visualizations pane provides access to the Power BI VisualsRead More →

Clean and transform data Whether a Power BI content developer accesses one data source or many, it is possible that the data might need modeling before it can be used effectively in a report. Data modeling—also called shaping or transforming data—is a term that can refer to a variety of tasks, including the following: ■ Modifying data types ■ Removing rows or columns ■ Renaming tables, rows, or columns ■ Splitting columns The purpose of data modeling is to select and arrange the data accessed from the source so that it suits the visualization the developer intends to create. As always, modeling the data inRead More →

Identify available types of data sources including Microsoft Excel Before Power BI developers can do any modeling or visualizing, they must obtain the data they intend to use. The Power BI service and Power BI Desktop both provide support for hundreds of data sources, which they can access as local files, as databases within the organization, or as cloud-based services on the internet, whether public or private. The data sources available in the Power BI service and Power BI Desktop differ, as does the means of accessing them. Microsoft is continually adding support for more data sources in Power BI, so it is not uncommonRead More →