Power Apps Building a Menu Component
We’ve done a fair bit of set up, ensuring we’re sticking to wider Power Platform architecture principals first. With our environments, variables and ERD done, i
Building a Menu Component is an overarching concept in Power Platform architecture, a widely used technique to enhance the overall structure of the platform. Topics covered in setting up include environments, variables, and ERD. Another important step of the process is creating a basic menu component for an app. In the Power Apps architecture, components refer to reusable sections of functionality. These are added once and reused multiple times across multiple screens. Good examples of components in a canvas app include a header, footer, or navigation menu, as these would be present on all screens of the app. People new to low-code development might be surprised to find out that some traditional software best practices and phrases have been incorporated.
Building a Menu Component - Platforms of Power
This tutorial outlines the process of building a simple menu component for a Power Apps application, adhering to the principles of the Power Platform architecture. Power Apps components are reusable functionalities, applying the "DRY" (Don't Repeat Yourself) code philosophy to save time and effort by reusing a single piece of code in multiple places.
Component Types in Power Apps
- Power Apps Component Framework (PCF): Enables repeating functionalities with little effort or time.
- Component Libraries: Used for reusing functionalities across multiple apps.
- Building a Component within the Canvas App: Used when the components aren't required in other apps but ensure the app stays "DRY".
Creating a Navigation Menu Component
This step-by-step guide outlines how to create a navigation menu similar to mobile apps like Instagram and Facebook. The navigation menu will be displayed at the bottom of the screen.
- Setting up a Global Variable: Set a global variable for color and font settings.
- Create a New Component: Give it a unique name.
- Building a Menu Collection: Do this in the app's OnStart property.
- Adjusting the Component Size: Modify the size of the component.
- Configuring Custom Properties: Create and configure custom properties for communication between the app and the components.
- Adding a Blank Horizontal Gallery: Add a blank horizontal gallery from the Insert menu.
- Adding a Label to the Gallery: Specify properties such as font, size, text, alignment, etc.
- Adding an Icon to the Gallery: Insert an icon to the gallery and assign properties.
- Adding a Rectangle Indicator: Add a rectangle as an additional indicator for a selected item.
After the visual part is complete, the functionality is added by assigning screen navigation to each menu item. Once the component is complete, it can be added to all screens that need it.
The article concludes by stating that there are numerous ways to build menu components, with more complex examples to be covered in future articles.
Further Insights on Components
Components, as integral parts of the Power Apps environment, are meant to maximize efficiency. By creating a functionality once and implementing it in multiple areas, developers can significantly save on coding time. This particularly beneficial attribute of components makes them indispensable in creating content that will be used on every screen across an app.
Read the full article Building a Menu Component
Learn about Building a Menu Component
Building a Menu Component is an important part of developing a Power Platform application. Components are reusable pieces of functionality that can be added to multiple screens. Components can be used for a variety of things such as a header, footer, or navigation menu. To ensure that the application sticks to the wider Power Platform architecture principals, it is important to set up the environment variables and entity relationship diagrams. Once these are in place, the fun of creating the component can begin. It is important to remember that components should be built once, rather than multiple times, to save time and energy.
When creating a menu component, it is important to think about how the component will look and how the users will interact with it. Components should be designed to be as user-friendly and intuitive as possible. Consider the different elements that need to be included and how they will be laid out. It is also important to think about how the component will be styled and what impact this will have on the overall user experience.
When developing components, it is important to consider any potential issues that may arise. Consider how the component will interact with other components, as well as how it will work with different devices and operating systems. Testing the component thoroughly before rolling it out is an important part of the development process.
Building a menu component is an important part of developing a Power Platform application. Understanding the architecture fundamentals, setting up the environment variables, and creating a user-friendly interface are all important elements. By taking these steps, developers can create components that are effective and efficient, ensuring that the application runs smoothly.
More links on about Building a Menu Component
- Building Accessible Menu Systems
- Nov 23, 2017 — But in what respects will our menu button be true? Well, it'll be a menu component intended for choosing options in the subject application, ...
- Building a reusable menu component
- Jul 14, 2020 — Now we are going to create two components, one that is going to act as a container for menu items on each subtree level ( ) ...
- How to create Menu Item Component in ReactJS
- May 30, 2023 — In this article, we will explore how to create a menu item component in ReactJS, which can be used to build menus or navigation bars.
- Creating a menu component | HCL Digital Experience
- About this task ... To create a menu component, open the applications menu and go to Content > Web Content Management and then click New > Component > Menu.
- Chapter 9. Project: Menu component - React Quickly
- Your first task is to implement a menu like the one shown in figure 9.1. It will be used in the layout's header across many pages in various applications. The ...
Keywords
Menu Component, Header, Footer, Navigation Menu, Canvas App, Low Code Development