Create an app with PowerApps and Excel (Scenario: Event Management)

Microsoft released a new product back in December 1 2015 called “PowerApps” as a preview.

PowerApps allows you to easily create mobile and tablet apps by connecting to various sets of data such as Excel and Dynamics CRM but not only Microsoft based systems. It also can access to Google Drive and Dropbox.

The concept of the product is not requiring you to need to know the programming language but to use an Excel-like equations to develop an app.

This time, I will be using PowerApps to manage a list of invitations setup in Excel in an app.

 

Step 1: Install PowerApps

To develop an app, you must first install PowerApps windows app on your computer from Microsoft Store.

You can get the app by searching “PowerApps”.

 

Once the installation is complete, the login is displayed as shown below for the first time.

Using the login details you used from the invitation, login. If you don’t have access yet, you can see how to receive an invitation in this article.

 

Once logged in, a screen like below will show up. Now the PowerApps installation is complete. Next, we will develop an app.

 

Step 2：Develop a “PowerApps” App

Click on “New” and you will see three options on how to develop an app.

“Start from a template” – using templates provided by Microsoft.

“Start from your data” – using sets of data that you already have as some format.

“Start from scratch” – To develop an app from scratch.

For this article, I will select “Start from your data”. Click on “Get Started” to begin.

 

This time, I will be using Excel file from Dropbox. So click on “Dropbox”

 

It will ask you for the login details to Dropbox.

 

You need to approve access from PowerApps to Dropbox. Click on “Accept” to continue.

 

It will ask if you would like to save the login details to Windows. Choose Yes or skip. Either option is OK.

 

I will use this excel spreadsheet as a sample. (Sample is Japanese)

Currently, you cannot have special characters for column names so beware of that.

 

Click on the Excel file that is within Dropbox and choose “Connect”.

 

Table name from Excel is automatically detected. Click on “Connect”.

 

Just with this, you can see that majority of app development is complete.

 

In the right side of the window, you can change the style and colour of the app from “Theme”.

 

To change the fields and displays, you just need to type some equations like Excel.

 

Step 3: Publish your PowerApps

So, lets publish publish the app.

From “File” select “Save As”.

 

Enter the name of you all and click on save to publish your app.

 

Step 4: Try out PowerApps on iPhone

Prior to using the iPhone app, you need to install the app from the iTunes App Store.