Power Apps - Optimize large data processing Tutorial

Unlock the power of data processing in your applications with our tutorial, 'Optimize Large Data Processing.' Explore how delegation in Power Apps enhances performance by handling data operations server-side, crucial for managing large datasets. Learn essential functions like filtering and sorting to ensure your app runs smoothly. Don't miss insights that will transform how you handle data!

04:43
0 views

Available in Microsoft365

00:00:06

the server or the data source to handle operations

00:00:09

such as filtering or sorting,

00:00:11

rather than executing them on the user's local device.

00:00:14

When working with large volumes of data,

00:00:17

Power Apps sends the query directly to the server,

00:00:20

which then returns only the necessary results.

00:00:23

This approach significantly improves the

00:00:25

speed and performance of the application

00:00:27

by avoiding the need to load all data onto the user's device.

00:00:31

In this tutorial,

00:00:32

a simple example is used to illustrate delegation.

00:00:35

The data source is a fictional SharePoint list containing over 3000 records.

00:00:41

The ID column includes numeric values from 1 to over 3000,

00:00:45

while the salesperson column lists names of representatives.

00:00:49

Additional columns like items and revenue

00:00:52

provide supplementary information.

00:00:56

For comparison purposes,

00:00:57

an Excel file,

00:00:59

an exact copy of the SharePoint list is also used.

00:01:05

Both sources are imported into Power Apps,

00:01:07

and each is displayed in a separate gallery.

00:01:10

Above each gallery,

00:01:11

a label shows the current number of records displayed

00:01:14

using a counting formula.

00:01:15

This setup helps demonstrate how Power Apps retrieves

00:01:18

and processes data depending on its source.

00:01:22

Data is not loaded all at once,

00:01:24

but appears progressively as the user scrolls through the screen.

00:01:27

This progressive loading ensures that only a portion

00:01:30

of the data is handled at a time,

00:01:32

which is critical for maintaining performance when the data set is large.

00:01:37

Power Apps offers several functions

00:01:40

that allow targeted data display

00:01:42

such as search,

00:01:43

look up,

00:01:44

or sort by columns.

00:01:45

In this example,

00:01:47

the filter function is used.

00:01:49

For instance,

00:01:49

a formula is applied to display only the

00:01:51

records where the title column equals James Walker.

00:01:55

Since this function is processed directly by the server,

00:01:58

it efficiently filters data while maintaining high performance.

00:02:03

The search function on the other hand,

00:02:04

is used to look for a keyword within a specific column.

00:02:07

For example,

00:02:08

a formula might be written to search for the term clothing

00:02:12

within the items column.

00:02:14

Although the formula is valid,

00:02:15

Power Apps displays a warning indicating that this

00:02:18

function is not delegable on a SharePoint list.

00:02:21

As a result,

00:02:22

the search is performed only on the 1st 500 rows.

00:02:26

This limitation can lead to incomplete results.

00:02:29

In contrast,

00:02:30

when using an Excel source,

00:02:32

the search is executed locally and does not face the same restriction.

00:02:38

The difference in how Excel and SharePoint

00:02:40

handle data directly impacts the application's performance.

00:02:44

With Excel,

00:02:45

all data must be downloaded to the user's device,

00:02:48

which can significantly slow down the app

00:02:50

when working with large volumes of information.

00:02:53

On the other hand,

00:02:54

SharePoint enables the delegation of certain operations

00:02:57

such as filtering

00:02:59

directly to the server,

00:03:00

which reduces the load on the device and speeds up data processing.

00:03:04

However,

00:03:05

for non-delegable functions,

00:03:07

SharePoint still limits processing to the 1st 500 rows by default,

00:03:11

which may distort the results.

00:03:14

Sources like SharePoint,

00:03:15

SQL Server,

00:03:16

Dataverse,

00:03:17

and Salesforce are considered delegable,

00:03:20

meaning that most operations,

00:03:22

including filtering and sorting,

00:03:23

are executed directly on the server.

00:03:26

In contrast,

00:03:27

Excel is a non-delegable source,

00:03:29

which means that all data must be handled locally.

00:03:32

Potentially problematic with large data sets.

00:03:36

Some formulas,

00:03:37

such as filter and sort

00:03:39

are delegable and are handled by the data

00:03:41

source to manage large data sets efficiently.

00:03:44

Conversely,

00:03:45

functions like search on a SharePoint list are only

00:03:47

executed on the 1st 500 records by default,

00:03:50

limiting their effectiveness for large databases.

00:03:54

To work around certain limitations linked to non-delegable functions,

00:03:57

it is possible to increase the data row limit in power apps.

00:04:01

This can be done by accessing the app settings and then under the general tab,

00:04:06

increasing the data row limit setting up to 2000 rows.

00:04:10

While this solution allows more data to be processed,

00:04:13

it is still recommended to use delegable functions whenever possible.

00:04:18

When working with large data sets,

00:04:20

it is advisable to use delegable functions like

00:04:22

filter instead of non-delegable ones like search.

00:04:26

To deepen your understanding of delegation,

00:04:28

you can refer to Microsoft's official documentation on this topic.

00:04:32

In summary,

00:04:33

this tutorial has helped explain the importance of

00:04:35

delegation in power apps to optimize data handling

00:04:39

and ensure optimal performance.

Mandarine AI: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

RELATED COURSES This tutorial is part of the following courses

0 Views

Video Training Microsoft PowerApps : Create your first applications without coding

Get started with Power Apps and learn how to design your first applications without writing any code. This module guides you step by step th...

ALL COURSES