Sam's Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog

Friday 23 June 2023

Portal Revolution : ADX Portal, Dynamics Portal, PowerApps Portal, and Power Pages

ADX Portal, Dynamics Portal, PowerApps Portal, and Power Pages are all Microsoft technologies related to building web portals and applications. Here's a brief overview of each:


ADX Portal: ADX (Adxstudio) is a web portal framework that was acquired by Microsoft and integrated into Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement. It provides a platform for building and customizing web portals that can interact with Dynamics 365 data. ADX Portals are typically used for customer self-service portals, partner portals, or community portals.



Dynamics Portal: Dynamics Portal refers to the web portal functionality that is included in the Dynamics 365 suite of business applications. It allows organizations to create and customize portals for various purposes, such as customer support, employee self-service, or vendor management. Dynamics Portal provides integration with Dynamics 365 data and allows users to access and interact with relevant information.



PowerApps Portal: PowerApps Portal is a component of the Microsoft Power Platform, which includes PowerApps, Power Automate (formerly Flow), and Power BI. PowerApps Portals allow you to build externally facing websites or portals that provide access to data and processes from various sources, including Dynamics 365, SharePoint, and custom connectors. It provides a low-code environment for designing and deploying portals.



Power Pages: Power Pages is not a specific Microsoft product or technology. It might refer to a feature or concept related to the Power Platform or PowerApps, but without further context, it is challenging to provide specific information. If you can provide additional details or clarify your question, I would be happy to assist you further.



In summary, ADX Portal and Dynamics Portal are related to building web portals that integrate with Dynamics 365, while PowerApps Portal is a broader platform for creating portals with data integration capabilities. Power Pages requires more information to provide a specific answer.


Thanks for reading this article. Hope this Article will help you. Cheers!!!

Model-Driven App, Canvas App, and Power Pages

Model-Driven App, Canvas App, and Power Pages are all components of Microsoft Power Apps, a low-code development platform.

Each of these app types has its own characteristics and best use cases. Here's a brief overview of each:


Model-Driven App:

Model-Driven Apps are built around data models and provide a structured way to interact with complex data sets. They offer a more guided and structured user experience by leveraging the Common Data Service (CDS)/Dataverse or a custom data model. Model-Driven Apps provide pre-built components like forms, views, charts, and dashboards that are automatically generated based on the underlying data model. These apps are suitable for scenarios that involve working with structured data and require a higher level of customization and automation.


Canvas App:

Canvas Apps provide a highly customizable and flexible development experience, allowing you to design apps from scratch using a drag-and-drop interface. With Canvas Apps, you have complete control over the layout and functionality of the app. You can create responsive designs, integrate with various data sources, and leverage a wide range of controls and formulas to build the app logic. Canvas Apps are suitable for scenarios that require a high level of customization and flexibility, especially when working with multiple data sources or external APIs.


Power Pages:

Power Pages is a relatively newer concept introduced in Microsoft Power Apps. Power Pages combine the capabilities of both Model-Driven Apps and Canvas Apps, offering a hybrid approach. They provide a structured data model like Model-Driven Apps, but also allow for custom layout and design like Canvas Apps. Power Pages enable you to design rich pages using the app designer interface, combining pre-built components and customizations. They provide a balance between structured data modeling and flexible app design, making them suitable for a wide range of scenarios.



In summary, Model-Driven Apps are ideal for working with structured data and require extensive customization and automation. Canvas Apps offer maximum flexibility and customization options, while Power Pages provide a hybrid approach combining the best of both Model-Driven Apps and Canvas Apps. The choice between these app types depends on the specific requirements of your application and the level of control and customization you need.


Thanks for reading this article. Hope this Article will help you. Cheers!!!

Wednesday 14 June 2023

Integrate ChatGPT with PowerApps using Power Automate

ChatGPT is an advanced language model developed by OpenAI. It is specifically designed to generate conversational responses and engage in text-based dialogue. It belongs to the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) family of models. 

GPT models are based on the Transformer architecture, which is a deep learning model architecture known for its ability to process and generate sequences of data, such as text. These models have been pre-trained on large amounts of text data from the internet, allowing them to learn patterns, language structures, and context.

ChatGPT leverages this pre-training to understand and generate human-like text in a conversational manner. It has been trained on a diverse range of conversations and dialogues, enabling it to respond to user prompts or questions in a coherent and contextually relevant manner.

Users can interact with ChatGPT by providing text-based input or prompts, and the model generates responses based on its understanding of the given context. It can carry on multi-turn conversations, provide information, answer questions, and engage in interactive dialogue.

To integrate ChatGPT into PowerApps using Power Automate, you can follow these general steps:

  • Set up the ChatGPT API: Choose a ChatGPT API or service provider and obtain the necessary credentials or access keys.

 ChatGPT API reference document: -  https://platform.openai.com/docs/api-reference

 





  • Create a new flow in Power Automate: Go to the Power Automate portal (flow.microsoft.com) and create a new flow.
  • Set the trigger: Add a trigger to the flow by selecting the appropriate PowerApps trigger action. For example, you can use the "PowerApps button" trigger or the "PowerApps - When a record is created, updated, or deleted" trigger, depending on your requirements.


  • Initialize variables: Add actions to initialize variables that will store the user input and ChatGPT response. For example, create a variable called "UserInput" to store the user's message and a variable called "ChatGPT response" to store the generated response.

  • Connect to the ChatGPT API: Add an "HTTP" action to make a request to the ChatGPT API. Configure the action by specifying the API endpoint, headers, and authentication if required. Pass the user input stored in the "UserInput" variable as a parameter to the API.


  • Parse the API response: Add actions to parse the response received from the ChatGPT API. Extract the generated response from the API response object and store it in the "ChatGPT response" variable.



  • Return the response to PowerApps: Add a "Response" action to send the generated response back to PowerApps. Pass the "ChatGPT response" variable as a parameter.


  • Save and test the flow: Save the flow and test it to ensure it runs without errors. You can test it by triggering the flow from PowerApps or using the built-in test functionality in Power Automate.
  • Update PowerApps: In PowerApps, update the chat interface to display the conversation history and handle user input. Add a button or any appropriate control that triggers the flow created in Power Automate when clicked.


  • Handle the flow response in PowerApps: Once the flow is triggered and the response is received, update the chat interface in PowerApps with the generated response. For example, you can update a text box or a data source to display the conversation history.

Set(
    result,
'PowerApps-ChatGPTIntegrationFlow'.Run(TextInput1.Text).response
)



  • Test and refine: Test the integration thoroughly to ensure the chat functionality works as expected. Iterate and refine the implementation based on user feedback and identified improvements.


Thanks for reading this article. Hope this Article will help you. Cheers!!!

Web Resource vs PCF vs Canvas App - which of the one is used?

While started working on specific Business Requirements related to custom layout, there is a always common question that "where to star...