Data sources and connectors

Introduction to Power Apps

Luise Freese

Azure & Power Platform Architect

The words everyone mixes up

Connector, the bridge (SharePoint, Excel...)
Connection, your specific sign-in to that bridge
Data source, the table you point your app at
Environment, the space your app and data live in

Diagram of four labeled cards: Connector (bridge icon), Connection (key icon), Data source (table icon), and Environment (container icon)

Standard versus premium

Comparison of Standard connectors (SharePoint, Excel, OneDrive, Outlook, included with M365) and Premium connectors (SQL Server, Salesforce, Dataverse)

Standard connectors come with Microsoft 365
Premium connectors need an add-on license
This course uses Standard only

A tasks list for Lumen Coffee

A marketing team at Lumen Coffee
One table of tasks: Marketing Tasks
Five columns: Title, Status, Priority, AssignedTo, DueDate

SharePoint list view showing the Marketing Tasks table with five columns: Title, Status, Priority, AssignedTo, and DueDate, with three sample task rows

Connectors and collections

At work: + Add data → a connector → the table lands in the Data panel
In this course: the app builds its own table at startup
Same Power Fx either way, no license or tenant setup needed

Power Apps Studio Data panel showing the Add data button, the Search field, and the empty-state table grid before any data source is connected

Building a collection with ClearCollect

ClearCollect(Tasks,
    {Title: "Summer menu launch", Status: "Not started", Priority: "High"},
    {Title: "Press release draft", Status: "In progress", Priority: "High"}
)

A collection is a table that lives inside the app
ClearCollect(name, records) empties it, then refills it
Each { } is one record: Column: value, separated by commas

App.OnStart runs it once

Power Apps Studio with the App object selected in the Tree view, OnStart chosen in the property dropdown, and a ClearCollect(Tasks, ...) formula in the formula bar

Select App at the top of the Tree view
Choose OnStart in the property dropdown, left of the formula bar
... → Run OnStart loads the data without restarting

Gallery: how Power Apps shows lists

A gallery repeats one template for every row
Set Items to a table, like your Tasks collection
Each row is a clickable copy of the template

Real screenshot of Power Apps Studio with a gallery control on canvas

What you'll build

Mockup of the finished Lumen Marketing Tasks app showing a header and four task cards with title and status pills in a warm coffee-brown accent

Create a blank app and set its OnStart
Load the tasks with ClearCollect, then Run OnStart
Insert a gallery and bind its Items to Tasks

Let's practice!

Introduction to Power Apps