Weekly Update: Week of 25th of November, 2024

Key Points

• Getting Started: New learning module added to help early adopters to get hands on running and building tests.
• Post Ignite Updates: Posts to summarize some related sessions from Ignite 2024.

Getting Started

The Power Apps Test Engine learning module on the PowerfulDevs Testing site provides a starting guide to automated testing within the Microsoft Power Platform using Test Engine. This module is designed to help early adopter developers understand and implement automated testing for their Power Apps solutions, leveraging the Power Apps Test Engine.

Learning Objectives

This module covers the following key concepts:

• Automated Testing and Its Benefits: Understand the importance and advantages of automated testing in ensuring the reliability and performance of Power Apps solutions.
• Setting Up for Your First Test: Learn how to configure your environment and tools to run your initial tests.
• Recording a Test for a Deployed Application: Discover how to use recording capabilities to create tests for existing applications.
• Understanding Power Fx Test YAML File: Gain insights into the structure and usage of Power Fx test YAML files.
• Key Power Fx Commands: Familiarize yourself with essential Power Fx commands used in testing.

Topics Included

The module is divided into several sections, each focusing on different aspects of automated testing:

• Introduction: An overview of the Power Apps Test Engine and its capabilities.
• Getting Setup: Step-by-step instructions on setting up the necessary tools and environment.
• Running Your First Test: Guidance on executing your initial test and interpreting the results.
• Looking at Results: How to analyze and understand the outcomes of your tests.
• Recording Your First Test: Detailed instructions on recording tests for your applications.
• Asserting Results: Techniques for validating the results of your tests.
• Updating Controls using Set: Methods for modifying controls during testing.
• Simulating Connectors: Strategies for simulating external connectors in your tests.
• Simulating Dataverse: Approaches for simulating Dataverse interactions.
• Summary: A recap of the key points covered in the module.

Post Ignite 2024

Roadmap Alignment: Managed Operations at Ignite 2024

At Ignite 2024, Nirav Shah introduced Managed Operations for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. This new suite of capabilities empowers organizations to build, deploy, and operate critical workloads with stability and minimal disruption. Key highlights include the Power Apps Test Engine, updates to the CoE Kit, and significant investments in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) fundamentals. Managed Operations is designed to help control, approve, oversee, and audit changes to applications running in production, ensuring business continuity and support for changes in load while maintaining high-quality standards.

For more details, visit the Roadmap Alignment: Managed Operations at Ignite 2024.

Ignite: Introducing Managed Operations

Managed Operations is a new pillar introduced to help control, approve, oversee, and audit changes to applications running in production. It includes capabilities for testing, validating, integrating with source control, application lifecycle management, rich monitoring, and extended backup retention. The goal is to ensure business continuity and support changes in load while maintaining high-quality standards. The Test Engine is part of the application lifecycle management capabilities, integrating with pipelines and Native Source Control, as well as Solution Checker, to ensure high-quality capabilities.

For more details, visit the Ignite: Introducing Managed Operations.

Ignite: Deep Dive: Create, Monitor, and Optimize Enterprise Apps

In the recent Microsoft Ignite session, Austin Laugesen and Marc Schweigert took a deep dive into the importance of automated testing in creating, monitoring, and optimizing enterprise-grade applications with Power Apps. This session highlighted the critical role that automated testing plays in ensuring the reliability and performance of applications that businesses depend on. The session used a compelling analogy comparing Power Apps to paper airplanes and commercial airplanes to explain the difference between simple apps and enterprise-grade applications. The overall lifecycle of an enterprise-grade application presented included demonstrations of planning, building, and testing phases, with automated testing being a key step for ensuring reliability and performance.