Power Apps でAccess データを連携利用

Microsoft PowerApps は、データに連携するモバイルおよびタブレット向けアプリをドラッグ＆ドロップとリッチな関数で実現します。CData API ServerとADO.NET Provider for Access (もしくは200+ の他のADO.NET Providers) を組み合わせて使い、PowerApps のリモートデータソースへの連携機能を拡張することができます。PowerApps のCommon Data Service に別途データをコピーする必要はありません。CData API Server は、Access データにデータベースのようなアクセスを可能にし、SaaS API やNoSQL をインメモリのSQL-92 エンジンで操作できるようにします。

CData API Server はSwagger のメタデータ標準をサポートします。Azure App Service、Microsoft Flow、およびPowerApps でSwagger メタデータからのUI 生成やコード生成が可能です。Swagger 定義を使えば、PowerApps からAccess に連携する関数が生成できます。本記事では、それらの関数をPowerApps から使って、リモートのAccess data に連携する方法を説明します。

Set Up the API Server

Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Access OData services:

Deploy

The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.

The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.

Connect to Access

After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Access, provide authentication values and other connection properties by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console. You can then choose the entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources.

To connect, set the DataSource property to the path to the Access database.

Authorize API Server Users

After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL. Access can also be restricted by IP address; Access is restricted to only the local machine by default.

You will also need to enable CORS and then define the following sections by clicking Settings -> Server. As an alternative, you can select the option to allow all domains without '*'.

1. Access-Control-Allow-Origin: Set this to a value of '*', or the domains you will be calling the API Server from.
2. Access-Control-Allow-Methods: Set this to a value of "GET,PUT,POST,OPTIONS", or the HTTP methods you will need to use.
3. Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Set this to "x-ms-client-request-id, authorization, content-type".

Last, you will need to configure the API Server to allow users to authenticate by passing the authtoken as a part of the URL. To do so, navigate to the www/app_data folder in the installation direction and modify the settings.cfg file to add the following line in the [Application] section:

Retrieve the Swagger Metadata

You will use the metadata to create a Custom API connection. You can obtain the Swagger definition by making the following request in your browser and then saving the resulting JSON file:

Connect to Access Through the API Server

The following procedure shows how to create a simple app that searches remote Access data.

1. In Microsoft PowerApps, click Custom connectors.
2. Click Create customer connector and choose Import an OpenAPI file.
3. Name the connector, browse to the JSON file, and click Continue.
4. Fill in the relevant General information, ensure that Base URL is of the form /api.rsc/@myauthtoken (where myauthtoken is the AuthToken for a configure API Server user), and click Continue.
5. Select Basic authentication for the Authentication type and use the default Parameter labels and names. Click Continue.
6. Review the Action and Reference definitions and click Create connector.
7. To test the connector, you will need to create a new connection. Click Test, click New Connection under Connections, and click Create.
8. Navigate back to the connector from the Custom connectors menu and click Test. From here, you can test the available operations.

Connect the Data Source to a PowerApp

Follow the steps below to connect to Access from a PowerApp:

1. From the PowerApps main menu, click Create an app and select the on-premises or cloud PowerApp Studio.
2. Select a blank app (choose Phone layout or Tablet layout).
3. In the View tab, click Data Sources and click Add data source.
4. Click the Connection you created to test the connector.

Populate a Gallery

Follow the steps below to create a simple app that can search Access data. You will use PowerApps formulas to bind Access rows to rows in a gallery control.

1. In the View tab, click Gallery -> Vertical to add a Gallery.

2. After selecting a gallery, assign the Items property of the gallery to Access data on the Advanced tab of the gallery settings. The formula below will allow you to access columns in the Orders table.

   ForAll(CDataSwaggerAPI.getAllOrders().value, {myOrderName: OrderName, myFreight: Freight})

3. Assign Access columns to UI elements by clicking the element and then setting the Text property (on the Advanced tab of the UI element) to ThisItem.myOrderName or ThisItem.myFreight.

   

Search Access Data

To filter the records displayed by the gallery, add a TextInput to your Screen, clear the Text property for the TextInput, and set the Items property of the gallery to a formula like the one below, replacing TextInput1 with the name of the TextInput control in your gallery, if necessary:

The formula builds an OData query that the API Server executes against the remote Access data, ensuring that the search is run against the current data without first pulling in every record into the app. You can find more information on the supported OData in the API Server help documentation.