Power App Performance Measuring

 Posted on February 28, 2024  |  

Recently, I needed a way to measure how long some Power Fx code in a Power App took to process. This was so that I could measure the performance before and after I made changes to the Power Fx code, to see if my changes improved the performance. [Spoiler alert: In this case, the performance was actually worse after my changes! Still, by measuring the performance, I was able to know this for sure then change direction…] [Read More]
PowerApps  PowerFx  Performance 

My Review of 2023

 Posted on December 30, 2023  |  

[Photo: Las Vegas, while attending the Microsoft Power Platform Conference in October.] My 2023 Wow, it feels like only yesterday when I was writing my review of 2022 - how time flies! On balance, my 2023 was a great year. As with last year, a highlight has been connecting with many fantastic people, and some have become good friends. If we haven’t met yet, feel free to connect with me. [Read More]
YearReview  2023 

Architecture Modernization Book Review

 Posted on November 22, 2023  |  

The book This is my review of the book Architecture Modernization: Socio-technical alignment of software, strategy, and structure by Nick Tune with Jean-Georges Perrin. The official book desciption is as follows: Concrete tools, techniques, and processes to align software architecture with your business domains, organizational design, team topologies, and corporate strategy. I selected this book as I’m always looking to improve my solution architecture skills, and this book’s description sounded like a holistic approach to software design covering the software, strategy, and structure of architecture. [Read More]
BookReview  Architecture 

Microsoft Power Platform Certifications

How to get started with Microsoft Power Platform Certifications

 Posted on July 21, 2023  |  

Want to learn about Microsoft Power Platform Certifications but don’t know where to start? Here are some tips! Note: All information and screenshots are correct at time of writing but may be different in future as Microsoft certifications are subject to change (and often do!) Which Power Platform-related certifications are available? Power Platform-related certification can be found here on Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/certifications/browse/?products=power-platform&resource_type=certification&expanded=power-platform You’ll see several certifications with exams prefixed with PL- which cover various Power Platform services such as Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI. [Read More]
Certifications  PowerPlatform 

My Microsoft MVP Award

I've received the Microsoft MVP Award!

 Posted on June 9, 2023  |  

My Microsoft MVP Award I’m honoured to have received the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for Business Applications in recognition of my “exceptional technical community leadership”! Microsoft state: MVPs are technology experts who passionately share their knowledge with the community. Huge thank you to everyone who has supported me and helped with opportunities along the way - and that includes YOU for being an awesome supporter who reads my blog! [Read More]
MVP  Community 

#100DaysOfSelfCare

Join the movement to practice more self-care

 Posted on June 2, 2023  |  

What is #100DaysOfSelfCare? During Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2023, the wonderful Azure McFarlane and I started a movement on Twitter with the hashtag #100DaysOfSelfCare. Here is the first tweet: https://twitter.com/MrKeithAtherton/status/1658537794732523521 What is self-care? Self-care is anything you do to take care of yourself so you can stay physically, mentally, and emotionally well. It can be as simple as going for a gentle walk or having lunch away from your desk, to learning something new or trying a new experience. [Read More]
SelfCare  MentalHealth 

Get Licensing Ready Website

Learn about Microsoft licencing and earn certifications

 Posted on May 26, 2023  |  

Get Licensing Ready website Microsoft products such as Azure and Power Platform have a variety of licencing options. The Get Licensing Ready website provides material to learn about these licences and to take exams to earn certifications for free! 🎉 Courses available The website contains the following categories: Getting started Microsoft products Microsoft programs New tracks Prior GLR tracks Each category contains one or more courses. For example, the Microsoft products category contains the following courses: [Read More]
Azure  PowerPlatform  Licensing 

Power Apps Host Object

Get information about the current host running a Power App

 Posted on May 17, 2023  |  

The Power Apps Host object The new Host object in Power Apps provides information about the current host running the app. The Host object does not have any properties that accept formulas but you can call functions against it to retrieve the following information: BrowserUserAgent: The complete user agent string that the browser uses to identify itself when running the app OSType: The name of the operating system where the app is running [Read More]
PowerApps 

Microsoft Build 2023 - Microsoft Learn Cloud Skills Challenge

Take on a challenge and earn a free Microsoft Certification exam

 Posted on May 12, 2023  |  

The Microsoft Build 2023 - Microsoft Learn Cloud Skills Challenge is now available! 🎉 Take one of the following 8 challenges to earn a free Microsoft Certification exam: AI-900: Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals Aligning Challenge: Microsoft Build: Azure AI Challenge AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Aligning Challenge: Not applicable / take any challenge AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Aligning Challenge: Not applicable / take any challenge AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions [Read More]
MicrosoftCertification  FreeExam  Azure  PowerPlatform 

Power App Gallery Control / ForAll Gotcha

A Power App Gallery Control / ForAll gotcha and how to handle it

 Posted on May 5, 2023  |  

Recently, I came across a Power App gallery control / ForAll gotcha which I managed to handle so I’m sharing this here in case anyone else experiences the same issue. OK, let’s set the scene: It’s a sunny Thursday afternoon in May in central Scotland. The hero is working on a Power App, and binds the following collection (colItems) to a gallery control: ClearCollect(colItems, { ID:1, Name:"Dog" }, { ID:2, Name:"Cat" }, { ID:3, Name:"Rabbit" } ); Great, the gallery is showing the data collection as expected! [Read More]
PowerApps