When should I use Model-Driven Power Apps?

[@EdsonNascimentoEN]

After watching your comprehensive course on LinkedIn, I've been exploring your great tutorials on power platform, and I am in love with the technology. Thank you for speaking our language and bridging the gap between users and technology.

[@BelleWhoodle]

As a new user to the power platform, this was crystal clear and well explained. Thank you!

[@LisaCrosbie]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@subhashshah4812]

@Lisa you make the subjects super easy, thanks much!

[@davidj4266]

This explains things a little better. Thanks, Lisa!

[@senthilkumarpalanisamy365]

Wonderful and clear cut explanation madam, please do post more.. Thanks a lot.

[@simonball5602]

Great explanation and overview.

[@jeffk8900]

Great clear and concise explanation. Thanks.

[@LisaCrosbie]

You're welcome!

[@osamaasif9601]

One question though how does this compare to a canvas app because we can still use data verse in canvas aswell

[@desipher]

What if you are trying to convert an excel spreadsheet calculator? What if your data source is hosted outside the Microsoft ecosystem in a SQL database?

[@LisaCrosbie]

An Excel spreadsheet calculator is best kept in Excel or you could build a canvas app - that’s not a good use case for a model driven app. If your data is in SQL you can build a model driven app connecting to that as virtual tables. Otherwise you’d need to move your data to Dataverse to use a model driven app

[@spen2431]

Amazing. Thank You 💥💥 Question : I have a long Word doc which i want to migrate. Each section in the Word doc will be a new column in a SharePoint list (approx. 20-30 sections). Would a canvass or model-driven app be best? I need to have a simple approval workflow. My concern is some of the "multi-line" text fields may contain way over 500 characters.

[@spen2431]

^^I also need to make it a user friendly as possible (Hint text etc..)

[@LisaCrosbie]

If you want to use SharePoint, then it isn't a model-driven app. A Model-Driven App is alwasy built on Dataverse as a data source. So if SharePoint doesn't meet your needs here as a data source, then you could create a model-driven app for this use case - set up a data table(s) in Dataverse - there are longer form text columns in Dataverse that can handle way more than 500 characters. Your model driven app can also include hover/hint text, and an approval workflow.

[@LisaCrosbie]

Model driven app can do this, yes. You design the layout of the screen and you can have hint text and custom help panes.

[@brianmullaly3395]

Enjoy your tutorials, Lisa - thanks. Ready to retire legacy system (MS Foxpro based), have extended dataverse w/tables, etc. Need 'reporting' tool similar to foxpro's (i.e. power bi report builder). Any other tools in powerapps (or external) that will work?

[@LisaCrosbie]

Hi Brian, Power BI is the platform tool that you use for reporting; you can embed your Power BI reports into your model-driven Power apps as dashboards.

[@nasarazam]

Wow, FoxPro is still in use !!!!! I used to code more in Clipper and a bit in FoxPro. But that is really ancient. Those are DOS based apps !

[@YashTri001]

Hi Lisa, Reality informative, I have one query if you please can answer I am asking for In dynamics, What is difference between "web" & "unified interface" there we can see under published app. In terms of UI and if we create our new app(unified interface)same like that "web" so what it make the difference?? Thanks in advance

[@LisaCrosbie]

"Web" is the old legacy interface - you should only be using Unified Interface now, that's the name for the current UI.

[@YashTri001]

@@LisaCrosbie Is there any risk(like existing js or plugin code may stop work), If i create a new model drive app

[@douglasowen5935]

Hi Lisa, Can you use multiple tables in a business process flow/ model driven app? I would like to go from Project Creation -> Import Data -> Planning -> Construction -> Delivery. This involves multiple tables but it would seem if I'm using a business process flow then I'm really tied to one table? I could do this in a PowerApp but as its all data driven(and currently in many, many excel spreadsheets) Im thinking a Model Driven app would be the way to go. Am I missing something?

[@douglasowen5935]

Custom pages? Slowly working my way through your videos. Fantastic job!

[@LisaCrosbie]

Hi Douglas, yes, you can create a business process flow that spans multiple tables - I've got it on my list of videos to make, but in the meantime there is a discussion thread and a link to a blog post here you might find helpful that shows how to do it powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Dataverse/Business-flows-using-multiple-tables/td-p/960951

[@rafianumrex6384]

hi Lisa... Hope you are doing great. First of all, I would like to thank you for your beautiful efforts to make model-driven apps appealing stuff to work with for new bees :D. Well, I was wondering to know how I can get all the users of my model-driven app and send them all an email through power automate flow. This tutorial seems to be helping but I am still not able to fetch all the users/members of my model-driven app (all the people with whom I have shared my app). Is there any way to do that? would be a great help.

[@LisaCrosbie]

It's not something I've done myself but it looks like there is a solution here powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Dataverse/How-can-I-get-the-list-of-Users-my-Model-driven-app-is-shared/td-p/2199105

[@rafianumrex6384]

@@LisaCrosbie thank you soo much for your reply... I already went through this thread but it did not resolved my issue.

[@oliviasmith1734]

Hello Lisa My end users are currently using a Power BI Model I created that provides analytics for their customer Sales. On a monthly basis, they need to explain - write commentary re: the YOY Sales increasing and decreases for the customers in their portfolios. Can Model-Driven Power Apps help me per this scenario?

[@LisaCrosbie]

Power BI is the right tool to do the analysis, where is your data currently stored? A model driven app can store sales histories and figures in tables related to customers and then you can connect Power BI to that. But that's only worth doing if your current data source isn't working well for you.

[@oliviasmith1734]

My Sales data is currently in an Amazon Redshift DB. I’m pulling the data into Power BI via a SQL Script. I’m looking for the best approach to add the commentary - written explanation from my end users per their customers YOY increasing and decreasing in Sales within my Power BI Reports. I was advised that a Model Drive-App may be a solution. In a perfect world, if my end user could view the report in Power BI, then somehow type an explanation next to each customer in the report that would be ideal. The commentary is currently being typed into an Excel Spreadsheet. What would be your recommendation to accomplish this task?

[@perttirytinki2363]

How Dynamic sales and customer service and field service adapt this "picture", is it always when customer want D365 sales or/and customer service modul with they corporation, always need to do specification and never they dont take a ready packet?, how this goes buying corporation point of view, could you do a video corporation point of view like with image diagram of that buying joyrney and how this midification goes, I am always undesrtand that if i need a D365 sales and customer service CRM, that's it, but think we always speak model -driven app (D365 sales and customer service think is also model driven app) it clarify to me and future beginners to undestand how this is make a differents. Is model -driven always only option for new companies than not ready packet of D365 sales or Customer service?

[@perttirytinki2363]

"imidification "- what i am thinking this is extra word, sorry ;)

[@LisaCrosbie]

This video should help explain it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIOTiJ-GlLyKpNU

[@perttirytinki2363]

And if i use differrent CRM or ERP, when it comes model driven app or canvas app, is dataverse only data in the world what is used in database, is integration app how can connect to other system, then i think canvas app is the app what need it? Mayve ABC of software engineeriing video is good also how this system and app data process goes to underneeth of everything :)

[@ShyamSundar-xu4rx]

I am migrating an application from other technology, which is having more than 100000 records. Is it the right decision to migrate in model driven instead of canvas ? Please suggest

[@LisaCrosbie]

Canvas Apps need a data source, and with that many rows of data then Dataverse is a good choice. Then you can build a canvas app connected to that if you want, and/or a model driven app.

[@nasarazam]

I thought you can use Model Driven with sql server ?????

[@LisaCrosbie]

You can now bring in sql as a virtual table. But no, model driven apps are built only on Dataverse.

[@nasarazam]

@@LisaCrosbie Thanks

[@corywarshaw4100]

The biggest barrier to using model-driven apps is the licensing. It might work for just a few users but it scales horribly if we want lots of people to use it!

[@LisaCrosbie]

Then it really comes down to the value of the apps you are building with it. If you have a mission critical app that runs and helps automate entire business processes - compare the cost with any other full business system or CRM system that will do the same and it's a different question. Build multiple apps on the platform and again it's a different value proposition. If you're just using it to build one basic app, then you're right, you won't be able to justify the cost.

[@tristangeoffroy9286]

I don’t get exactly in which scenario it is getting too expensive. The CAL per user is 5€/months per app, isn’t it? Is there few benchmark scenarii ?