Exercise - Create a Microsoft Dataverse table

  • 12 minutes

In this unit, you'll create a table and then customize key components, like columns, relationships, views, and forms. You'll learn how to:

  • Create a custom table.
  • Add custom columns to your table.
  • Add a table relationship.
  • Customize a view.
  • Customize a form.

The tutorial follows the Contoso company, which is a pet grooming business that grooms dogs and cats. Contoso needs an app for client and pet tracking that can be used by employees on various devices.

Create a custom table

Sign in to Power Apps and follow these steps to create a new custom table.

  1. In the left navigation pane, expand Dataverse, select Tables, and then select + New table.

  2. Under New table, enter the following:

    • Display name: Pet

  3. In the Primary Column section, enter the following:

    • Display name: Pet Name

  4. At the bottom, select Save.

Add and customize columns

  1. Once the table is finished creating, your display will show the table properties and your blank table in the section called Pet columns and data. Note here that Pet Name is the only column on display and next to that is +18 more and next to that is + to add a new column. There's also an Edit button on the upper right corner of this section that will also allow you to edit, but in this case we'll do the editing within this window.

  2. Within the Pet columns and data, select the + button to create a new column, and observe a popup New column pane on the right side of the screen.

  3. In the New column pane, enter the following values:

    • Display name: Species
    • Data type: Choice
    • Searchable: ensure this box is selected

    Screenshot of the new column pane.

  4. Create the choice set:

    1. Select + New choice and you'll see the New choice pane appear.
    2. In the Display name box, enter Species.
    3. Under Choices you see two entry fields titled Label and Value. Enter Dog and 1 respectively.
    4. Select + New choice under the Dog entry and make Cat the new entry for Label. The Value automatically updates as 2.
    5. Select Save.

    Screenshot of the column properties pane with details entered.

  5. To make the Species choices that you just created the designated choices for this column, select the dropdown under Sync this choice with and locate and select Species selected, and then select Save.

    Screenshot of the Synch this choice with and Species selected.

  6. Let's add another column in the columns and data pane; again select the + to add a new column.

    Screenshot of add new column with the + icon highlighted.

  7. In the New column pane, enter the following values, and then select Save:

    • Display name: Breed
    • Data type: Single line of text (this is the default)
    • Searchable: ensure the checkbox is selected (default)

  8. Add one more column by selecting the + New column button again.

  9. In the New column pane, enter the following values, and then select Save:

    • Display name: Appointment date
    • Data type: Date and Time
    • Searchable: ensure the checkbox is selected (default)

Add a relationship

  1. On the Schema pane, select Relationships and the screen will display the existing relationships.

    Screenshot of the Schema pane with the relationships button highlighted.

  2. At the top left of the screen select the + New relationship, and then select Many-to-one in the dropdown.

  3. In the Many-to-one pane on the right, in the Related list, select Account.

  4. Select Done.

    Notice that when you add a many-to-one relationship, an Account column of the Lookup data type is automatically added to your list of relationships.

    Screenshot of the Account column of the lookup data type automatically added.

Customize a view

  1. Go back to your Tables screen by selecting Pet just to the left of Relationships. In the Data experiences pane select Views, then select Active Pets.

  2. In the view designer, select + View Column, select the following columns. (As you add each one, your view will reset. Continue selecting + View Column to add all of the columns):

    • Account
    • Appointment date
    • Breed
    • Species (you'll need to scroll down or search for this column)

    Screenshot of plus view column selected with Species highlighted.

  3. Select the Created On column, select Remove.

  4. To arrange the columns, drag and drop them in the order you want them (or you can select the column to move, and then select Move Left or Move Right) until your view looks like this.

    Screenshot of the Account drop-down with Move Left and Move Right options highlighted.

  5. On the view designer toolbar, select Save.

  6. Select Publish and then Navigate back to Tables by pressing the Back button at the top left of the screen.

Customize the main form

  1. In the left navigation pane, ensure Dataverse is selected, select Tables, and then select Pet.

  2. In the Data experiences pane, select Forms.

  3. Select Information next to the Main form type to open the form editor.

    Screenshot of the Form tab with Information highlighted.

  4. In the form editor, select Table columns from the menu on the far left side of the window, and drag the Species, Breed, Appointment date, and Account columns from under the Table columns pane to the General section of the form canvas, so that the form looks like this.

    Screenshot of General section of the form canvas.

  5. Select Save.

  6. Select Publish.

  7. Select the back arrow in your browser to close the form designer.

  8. At this point it's possible to add data directly to your table. Select Add data and the screen below will appear. You can begin entering as many rows as you like.

    Screenshot of data entry screen.

It's also possible to import data into your table. We'll show you how to do that in the next exercise.