Introduction:
In today’s evolving technological landscape, ensuring the efficiency, sustainability, and dependability of our applications is crucial. The ‘Power Apps Review Tool’ stands out when assessing the quality of canvas apps. This article dives deep into the tool’s features and installation process, providing a comprehensive review for those looking to optimize their Microsoft Power Apps experience.
Developed by Mehdi Andaloussi in collaboration with Microsoft’s Power CAT team, the Power Apps Review Tool serves as an invaluable asset for conducting code reviews. What’s noteworthy is that Microsoft themselves utilize this tool to review customer code. Its availability for download and usage highlights its importance and utility.
Introducing the Power Apps Review Tool Review Tool
Acting as a guiding light, the Power Apps Review Tool simplifies the code review process for both advanced app builders and consultants. Its semi-automated functionality helps evaluate an app’s quality, performance, maintainability, and alignment with best practices that cover formulas, queries, and UI design.
At the tool’s core is a canvas app. Using this app, one can initiate a code review record, storing results in Dataverse tables. To start a code review, one needs a msapp file, with the option to include a monitor trace file.
Key Features of the Review Tool:
- Checklists:
They provide a list of best practice items that you can manually or automatically pass or fail. - Code Viewer:
It offers a global search on formulas throughout an app, summarizing the code and formulas. - App Checker Results:
This feature displays the outcomes from the app checker tool, which is typically accessed via the designer toolbar. - Runtime Analysis: This analysis highlights details like slow-running queries.
Downloading the Review Tool
To get the review tool, simply visit Microsoft’s official Github repository and download the solution file named ‘ArchitectureReview_1_0_0_9.zip’.
Installation Guide
After downloading the solution file, you can begin the installation from the Power Apps Maker portal. Navigate to ‘Solutions’ on the left-hand menu, select ‘import’ from the toolbar, and choose the ‘ArchitectureReview_1_0_0_9.zip’ file. After the import concludes, hit the ‘Publish all customizations’ button to complete the installation.
Post-installation, you’ll find two apps in your app list: ‘Power Apps Review Tool’ and ‘CodeReviewAdmin’. Use the former to create code reviews and access results, while the latter manages patterns and rules that the review tool uses.
Creating a Code Review
Starting a code review is seamless. Launch the ‘Power Apps Review Tool’ canvas app and choose to create a new code review. This action will prompt you to upload an MsAppFile and, if you wish, a trace file. Upon submission, the automated review begins. The duration depends on the app’s size and the trace file. Once complete, the tool allows you to scrutinize the results, guiding you through the code review process.
Conclusion:
The Power Apps Review Tool emerges as a beacon for assessing an app’s adherence to best practices. This article has provided insights into its capabilities and detailed the steps for its acquisition and setup. For those seeking to enhance their Microsoft Power Apps, this tool is indispensable. Should you have any queries or need assistance, feel free to contact us. Our team is ever-ready to aid you in your technical endeavors.