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Model-Driven Apps Collaboration Feature in Power Platform
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Model-Driven App
Sep 30, 2023 7:43 AM

Model-Driven Apps Collaboration Feature in Power Platform

by HubSite 365 about Rajeev Pentyala

Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft Power CAT Team

Citizen DeveloperModel-Driven App

Explore expert insights on Microsoft Power Platforms collaboration features to build model-driven apps with seamless co-authoring.

The Power Platform - Model-Driven App Collaboration Feature

The Power Platform recently added a new collaboration feature to model-driven apps. The feature supports fusion teams that work together to construct model-driven apps, creating a more cohesive working environment.

This collaboration feature boasts three core functionalities. These include adding comments, copresence, and co-authoring (yet only available as a preview). More knowledge on these features is provided in this blog post, illustrating how collaboration can be activated to elevate team collaboration efforts.

The collaboration feature is typically enabled defaultively across most Power Platform environments. However, if not, enabling this feature can be achieved from the Power Platform admin center. Moreover, for demonstrating this feature in action, two distinct users within one environment will be put to test.

With respect to the 'Add Comments' feature, notes pertinent to specific items in the app can be linked. For example, two users can provide commentaries on the 'Main' group area within the app.

  • Comments are held within a comment table in Dataverse, found within the default solution.
  • Comments can be edited, removed, or resolved to efficiently keep track of active comments.
  • However, comments within a model-driven app cannot be exported or imported as solution components.
  • Still, exporting the comment table to Excel and then importing the Excel file into the environment is a possibility.

'Copresence' is another tool which identifies who else is accessing the same app concurrently. This promotes timely collaboration as it exhibits real-time in-app activity. It is worth noting that a delay might occur, varying from 20 seconds to 1 minute, when reporting new joining members and any changes of presence, location, or saved changes.

Alternatively, environments may have co-authoring enabled. Co-authoring allows multiple developers to modify the app simultaneously and observe the changes in real time. This promotes efficient problem-solving and idea exchanging among team members.

Overall, Power Platform’s collaboration feature strongly encourages communication and cooperation among team members who together are building model-driven apps. Each feature has a unique role in optimizing effectiveness and efficiency in the creation of model-driven apps.

General Overview

Therefore, Microsoft's Power Platform provides a fertile ground facilitating team cooperation. With the introduction of this collaboration feature to model-driven software, fusion teams are now able to work more fluidly. The comments, copresence and coauthoring capabilities present opportunities for real-time collaboration, elevating the overall productivity and efficacy of model-driven app development. For more information on Model-Driven App collaboration, click here.

Read the full article Power Platform | Collaboration feature in model-driven apps

Model-Driven App - Model-Driven Apps Collaboration Feature in Power Platform

Learn about Power Platform | Collaboration feature in model-driven apps

The Power Platform's Collaboration functionality in Model-Driven Apps helps fusion teams work cohesively on building elements of the platform known as model-driven apps.

There are 3 features that facilitate this collaboration: the option to add comments, Copresence, and Coauthoring (still in preview phase).

To activate the collaboration function, users must have coauthoring enabled - which is the default setting for most Power Platform environments. This feature can be enabled within the Power Platform admin center.

Navigation is as follows:

  • Open the ‘Environment’.
  • Go to Settings -> Collaboration and choose the options.

If we consider a demo with 2 users, once the Collaboration feature is enabled at the environment level, the characteristics of collaboration for model-driven applications can be explored.

The first feature, ‘Add Comments’, allows notes to be associated with items in your app. These comments are stored in a Comment table within Dataverse in the default solution. Comments can be edited or removed, while a resolved comment thread can be reopened as needed. Export and import options for comments are also available.


Secondly, 'Copresence' helps identify who’s working on an application concurrently. However, there can be a slight delay (up to 20 seconds) in relaying the presence and location of new members. It is also noted that there may be a short delay (up to one minute) between the saving of a change and the notification of that change. Alternatively, an environment may have the ‘Coauthoring’ feature enabled which amalgamates app change merges in real time for seamless collaboration.


Finally, 'Coauthoring' is a tactic allowing multiple makers - pro or citizen developers - to make simultaneous changes to the app and see the adjustments in real time. Links within the text provide detailed information on what elements in an app you can coauthor.

In summary, the Power Platform hosts a beneficial collaboration capability within Model-Driven Apps, assisting in synchronous teamwork on app development. The readily available features of comment addition, Copresence, and Coauthoring provide comprehensive resources catering to the needs of interactive teams working on model-driven applications.


More links on about Power Platform | Collaboration feature in model-driven apps

Collaborate with others in model-driven apps - Power Apps
4 days ago — Collaborate with colleagues and share links in model-driven Power Apps the same way do you as in Microsoft Office. Multiplayer apps. When you're ...
Collaboration in model-driven apps - Power Apps
Jun 23, 2023 — The copresence feature in model-driven app lets you know who's working on the app. Translate localizable text for model-driven apps - Power Apps.

Keywords

Power Platform features, model-driven apps, Collaboration in Power Platform, Microsoft Power Apps, Model-driven app collaboration, Power Platform app design, Power Platform UI, Power Apps development, Improve collaboration Power Apps, Power Platform teamwork features.