Power Platform

Plugins in Dynamics CRM and Model-Driven Apps In Dynamics CRM and Model-Driven Apps, plugins are custom code components used to extend platform behavior. They allow developers to enforce business rules, manipulate data, and integrate external systems. Both platforms operate on the same underlying data layer known as Microsoft Dataverse. Dataverse stores all information as tables, including business records such as accounts and contacts, as well as system-level components like forms and views. Plugins attach logic to these tables by responding to messages generated during data operations. How Plugins Work: The Messaging Pipeline Whenever a user performs an action—such as saving a record—the data is packaged into a structure called the Target and sent to Dataverse. This action generates a message like Create or Update . That message then moves through a predefined execution pipeline. Plugins can be registered at ...

Dataverse Actions – Complete Guide (Model-Driven Apps) Dataverse Actions are a powerful feature in Microsoft Dataverse that allow you to execute custom business logic directly from model-driven apps, Power Automate, or external systems. Actions are typically used when you want to perform an operation that goes beyond simple create, update, or delete actions on a table. What are Dataverse Actions? A Dataverse Action represents a reusable business operation. It can accept input parameters, perform logic, and return output values. Unlike workflows or plugins that automatically trigger, actions are explicitly invoked by users or automation. In model-driven apps, actions are commonly exposed as command bar buttons, allowing users to trigger business logic manually from a form or grid. Types of Dataverse Actions Bound Actions – These actions are associated with a specific Dataverse table. They operate...

Use Power Fx in Power Pages (Preview) Power Fx is the low-code language used across the Microsoft Power Platform to express business logic. It is a general-purpose, strongly typed, declarative, and functional programming language. Power Fx is written in human-friendly text and is designed to be authored directly by makers using an Excel-like formula bar. Its concise syntax makes it easy for both citizen developers and professional developers to build dynamic behavior. Note: Power Fx syntax in Power Pages requires formulas to begin with an equals sign (=), similar to Excel. This syntax might differ from what you are used to in Power Apps or Power Automate. Power Fx enables collaboration across no-code, low-code, and pro-code teams by allowing logic to be written in a consistent and readable manner. Important: This is a preview feature. Preview features are not intended for production use and m...

Tutorial: Add Custom Page Layout to Your Power Pages Site When you create new webpages using the Pages workspace in Power Pages, you can choose from predefined page layouts. In some scenarios, you may want to create a custom page layout to display information in a specific format or provide a specialized user interface. In this tutorial, we create a custom page layout using Liquid . The example demonstrates a two-column layout with the main site menu on the left and page content on the right. What We Will Build Create a common base web template with custom layout code Create a second web template that extends the base template Create a page template referencing the web template Create a web page using the custom page layout Prerequisites A Power Pages subscription or trial An existing Power Pages site Basic knowledge of HTML and Liquid Step 1: Create a Web Template and Wri...

Exercise: Display a List of Accounts Using Liquid in Power Pages In this hands-on lab, you learn how to access Dataverse data using Liquid code. The goal of this exercise is to: • Enter Liquid code as page content • Access Dataverse data using Liquid • Use conditional statements to display available data You will create a page that lists active accounts and shows the total number of accounts. Step 1: Open Power Pages Design Studio Sign in to Power Pages and open the website you want to edit. Step 2: Create the Suppliers Webpage In the Pages workspace, select + Page, enter "Suppliers" as the page name, choose the blank template, and add the page. Step 3: Add HTML and Liquid Code On the Suppliers page, add a text component and replace its placeholder with the following HTML and Liquid: <h2>Lis...

Liquid Basics in Power Pages Learn how Liquid syntax, filters, and tags work in Power Pages. Liquid is a templating language recognizable by two sets of delimiters: {{ }} for output and {% %} for logic and control flow. Output Statements Output statements display values from objects or text inside double braces. Hello {{ user.firstname }} from {{ 'Power Pages' }} If the current user’s first name is Doug, this would produce: Hello Doug from Power Pages This demonstrates how static text and dynamic values combine. Using Filters Filters modify output values. They are added using the pipe (|) symbol. Hello {{ user.firstname | upcase }} from {{ 'Power Pages' }}. The date is {{ 'now' | date: 'MMMM d yyyy' }} This example uses the upcase filter to convert text to uppercas...

Using Liquid in Power Pages – Step by Step Learn how to add a simple Liquid expression to a Power Pages site. Example Used The following Liquid expression displays the current time dynamically whenever the page is loaded. Hello, visitor. The time is {{ 'now' | date: 'g' }} Steps to Add This Liquid Example in Power Pages Step 1: Open your Power Pages site using Design Studio. Step 2: Navigate to the page where you want to display the Liquid content. Step 3: Select the text component or section on the page. Step 4: Paste the Liquid expression directly into the content area. Step 5: Save the page and preview the site. When the page loads, Power Pages evaluates the Liquid expression on the server and replaces it with the current time before sending the HTML to the browser. Why This Works ...