README.md

Lab 02 - Working with solutions

In this lab, you will go through the following tasks:

• Upload assets to OneDrive
• Import a solution zip file
• Export a solution from an environment
• Unpack the exported solution
• Clone a solution from an environment
• Commit Changes
• Review export/unpack folder vs clone folder
• Review solution on the Maker Portal

Task 1: Upload assets to OneDrive

In this task, you will be uploading a couple of assets to your OneDrive. The solution we will be working with later uses OneDrive for Business as a connector to retrieve files and images and their respective information directly from OneDrive to be used in a Canvas App.

1. In a new tab, navigate to OneDrive and sign in with your credentials for this workshop

   Since this is most probably your first time signing into OneDrive with these credentials, you will see a welcome screen.

2. Click Your OneDrive is ready

   

3. Once inside OneDrive, select My files on the left navigation bar.

   

   My files is where you'll be uploading the OneDrive content to. Let's go ahead and download these assets now.

4. In a new browser tab, navigate to the Coral Collection.zip folder in this repository

5. Download the zip file to your computer by clicking on the "..." button towards the right-hand side of the screen and then select Download

   

6. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the zip file and extract the content. You should now have a folder called Coral Collection.

7. Go back to your OneDrive tab and click Upload and select Folder.

   

8. Navigate to the Coral Collection folder and select it.

9. Click Upload at the bottom of your screen to upload the folder to your OneDrive.

   This may take a few seconds. Once the upload is complete, you will see the Coral Collection folder in your OneDrive. Open the folder to find 2 additional folders; Models and Photos, as well as a CoralCollection.xlsx file.

   

Task 2: Import a solution zip file

In this task you will import a solution zip file into your Developer Environment. The solution that you will be working with throughout this workshop is from our Mixed Reality Workshop.

Go back to your codespace. If you need to restart it, then go ahead and do that.

Let's open up a new Terminal window. Click on the Burger menu icon in the top left corner and then hover over Terminal and then click New Terminal

In your codespace terminal, type the following command to import the solution zip file into your Dev environment.

pac solution import --path assets/solution/MR_Solution.zip

Once the import is complete, you will see a message in the terminal saying Solution Imported successfully.

Command Explanation:

pac solution import is the command that we are using to import a solution zip file into our Power Platform Dataverse environment.

--path assets/solution/MR_Solution.zip is the path to the solution zip file that we want to import. You can find the solution zip file in the assets/solution folder in this repository.

Task 3: Export a solution from an environment

For this task, we will be exporting the solution that we just imported into our Dev environment.

In your codespace terminal, type the following command to export the solution zip file from your Dev environment.

pac solution export --path assets/export/Exported_MR_solution.zip --name MixedRealityWorkshop

Once the export is complete, you will see a message in the terminal saying Solution export succeeded.

Command Explanation:

pac solution export is the command that we use to export a solution from our Power Platform Dataverse environment as a zip file into the GitHub Repository.

--path assets/export/Exported_MR_solution.zip is the path where the exported solution zip file will be saved.

--name MixedRealityWorkshop is the name of the solution that we want to export. This is the same name as the solution that we imported in the previous task.

In your codespace Explorer, navigate to the assets/export folder. You should see a new file called Exported_MR_solution.zip. This was created from the command you have just executed.

Task 4: Unpack the exported solution

Now, we will be unpacking the solution zip file that we just exported from our Dev environment.

In your codespace terminal, type the following command to unpack the solution zip file from your Dev environment.

pac solution unpack --zipfile assets/export/Exported_MR_solution.zip --folder assets/export/Unpacked_MR_solution

Once the unpack is complete, you will see a message in the terminal saying Unpacked Solution

Command Explanation:

pac solution unpack extracts the solution components from a solution zip file into a folder.

--zipfile assets/export/Exported_MR_solution.zip is a required parameter that specifies the path to the solution zip file that we want to unpack.

--folder assets/export/Unpacked_MR_solution represents the path to the root folder where the solution components will be extracted to.

In your codespace Explorer, navigate to the assets/export folder. You should see a new folder called Unpacked_MR_solution. This was created from the pac solution unpack command you have just executed.

Task 5: Clone a solution from an environment

For this task, we will be using the pac solution clone command to clone the solution inside of the Dev environment. This command will do exactly what we did in Task 3 and 4 but in one command instead of two.

In your codespace terminal, type the following command to clone the solution from your Dev environment.

pac solution clone --name MixedRealityWorkshop --outputDirectory assets/export --processCanvasApps

Once the clone is complete, you will see a message in the terminal saying:

Solution clone extract succeeded.
Dataverse solution project with name 'MixedRealityWorkshop' created successfully in: '/workspaces/EPPC23-ALM/assets/export'

Command Explanation:

pac solution clone creates a clone (copy) of a solution from a Power Platform Dataverse environment into a folder. Previously, you used export and unpack to achieve the same result.

--name MixedRealityWorkshop is the name of the solution that we want to clone.

--outputDirectory assets/exportis the path to the root folder where the solution components will be cloned to.

--processCanvasApps is a flag that tells the command to unpack a canvas app so you can see it's source files. Including but not limited to any assets, connections, data sources, etc. This was missing from the unpack command

Task 6: Commit Changes

Now that we've added additional folders and files, let's go ahead and commit these changes to our forked repository. To commit is to save the changes that you have made to your repository.

1. In the left navigation bar, click on the Source Control icon

   

2. In the Source Control panel, you will see a list of files that have been changed or have been added.

3. Type in a commit message in the Message box. For example, Added exported, unpacked and cloned solution files. A commit message is a short description of the changes that you have made to your repository

4. Click the ✓ Commit button to commit the changes

   

5. A popup dialog may appear alerting you of the fact that there are no staged changes. It may also ask you to stage all changes and commit them directly. Select Yes

   

   Now because we're using a codespace, the commit will save the changes inside of this codespace. We need to sync changes to our forked repository as well.

6. Click Sync Changes in the Source Control panel

   

   This will push the changes to your forked repository.

7. And then on the popup dialog, click Ok to confirm that this action will pull and push commits from and to "origin/main"

   Now our codespace is synced with our forked repository.

Task 7: Review export/unpack folder vs clone folder

We have created additional folders and files in our repository all with subtle but important differences. Let's review the differences between the folders that were created from the export/unpack commands and the clone command.

1. In the codespace, navigate back to the Explorer panel and expand the assets/export folder.

   

There are two main folders here. The Unpacked_MR_solution folder which was created from the pac solution export and pac solution unpack commands. We also have the MixedRealityWorkshop folder which was created from the pac solution clone command.

MixedRealityWorkshop	Unpacked_MR_solution	Explanation
		The difference in this case is that the MixedRealityWorkshop directory contains a src directory, a .gitignore file and a .cdsproj file, the unpacked version only has the contents of the src directory.
		You used the --processCanvasApps parameter with the pac solution clone command. This led to the unpacking of the canvas app, while in the export and unpack you didn't use the --processCanvasApps parameter, and left the msapp file packed.
		For the Connectors directory, there is no difference between the two methods.
		For the Other directory, there is no difference between the two methods.

In short, you can achieve almost the same things with the separate commands as with the clone command. It all depends on which parameters you add and what input you give.

To learn more about all the parameters you can add to all the different commands in the pac solution command group, make sure to check out the documentation.

Task 8: Review solution on the Maker Portal

Now that we know about the ins and outs of a solution, including how to interact with them through the Power Platform CLI - let's go ahead and review the solution in it's entirety on the Power Platform Maker Portal and check that everything is working as expected.

1. In a new browser tab, navigate to the Power Platform Maker Portal

2. Log in with your workshop credentials, if you have to.

3. Make sure that you're in the correct environment at the top right-hand side of the portal - it should be Dev. If not then click on the environment picker and change it to the correct one.

   

4. Click on Solutions in the left navigation bar

   

5. In the Solutions view, look for the Mixed Reality Workshop solution and then click on it's Display name.

   You should see two solution components. The first is the Mixed Reality App Canvas App and the second is the Smithsonian 3D Custom Connector that we have been working with in this lab.

   

6. Click on the Mixed Reality App Canvas App to open it in the Power Apps Studio

7. A popup dialog will appear asking you for permission to sign into the Smithsonian 3D Custom Connector and the OneDrive for Business connector. Click Allow

   

   The Smithsonian 3D Custom Connector is used to connect to the Smithsonian 3D API to the Mixed Reality App. The OneDrive for Business connector is used to connect to the OneDrive folder to access the files that we uploaded in a previous task.

8. Dismiss the Welcome to Power Apps Studio dialog by clicking Skip

   

   You should now be on the home page of the Mixed Reality App Canvas App.

   

   Before we can run the app, we need to reconfigure the Datasource connections. Specifically, the OneDrive for Business connection. Since the initial solution was imported from a different environment, the connection is pointing to the wrong OneDrive folder. Let's go ahead and fix that.

9. Click on the Data icon in the left navigation bar, then click on the More action icon next to "Coral" and then select Remove

   

10. Then click on the More action icon next to "Occupants" and then select Remove

    

11. Now with the old connections to OneDrive removed, let's add new ones. Click on the Add Data button and then expand the "Connectors" tab and select OneDrive for Business

    

12. Select OneDrive for Business once more

    

    A popup window will appear on the right-hand side asking you to choose an Excel file.

13. Click on the Coral Collection folder

    

14. Select the CoralCollection.xlsx file

    

15. Next, select both Coral and Occupants tables and then click Connect

    

    The Coral and Occupants tables will be added to the Data panel.

    

16. Now that we have the correct data sources connected, let's go ahead and run the app. Click on the Play button in the top right-hand corner of the screen

    

17. When the app loads - Click on the Corals and Coral Reefs button

    

    You should see a gallery of Corals and Reef Occupants. This also proves that the OneDrive for Business connection is working correctly as the data is being pulled from the Excel file in the OneDrive folder.

    

18. Next, select the first coral to check if the coral 3D object works

    

    The next screen should show a 3D object of the coral you just selected. You can rotate the object by clicking and dragging on it. You can also zoom in and out by using the scroll wheel on your mouse.

    

    With the app working as expected - let's go ahead and Save and Publish the app.

19. Close the app preview by clicking on the X in the top right-hand corner of the screen

    

20. Go ahead and Save the app by clicking on the Save button in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Once the app has been saved, click on the Publish button in the top right-hand corner of the screen as well.

    

21. Once the Publish dialog box appears, click Publish this version to publish the app to the Dev environment.

    

    The app is now published to the environment and can be used by anyone who has access to the it.

22. Now that the Mixed Reality App is published - exit the app by clicking the Back button in the top left-hand corner of the screen

    

23. A popup dialog will appear asking you to confirm if you want to leave the app. Select Leave

    

    You will then be redirected back to the Mixed Reality Workshop solution view.

    

Now that you know that the app works in the Dev Environment and that the latest version has been published - Let's go ahead and learn about how to work with multiple people on a solution!

Next lab

This is the end of lab 02, select the link below to move to the next lab.

⏭️ Move to lab 03