Power Apps Standards: Naming Conventions

Imported reference from Matthew Devaney's blog for learning purposes. Original: https://www.matthewdevaney.com/power-apps-coding-standards-for-canvas-apps/power-apps-standards-naming-conventions/. Author: Matthew Devaney.

Power Apps Standards: Naming Conventions Table of Contents Screen Names Control Names Variable Names Collection Names Datasource Table Names Screen Names

A screen name should clearly describe its purpose in 2-3 words ending with word “Screen.”  Use proper-case.   A screen-reader will speak the screen name to visually-impaired users when the screen loads. Good Examples Bad Examples Bad Reason Appointments Screen Appointments Missing the word ‘Screen’ Order Form Screen OrderFormScreen Not friendly to a screen reader Collect Signature Screen scrCollectSignature Not friendly to a screen reader Control Names

A control name should show the control-type, the purpose and the screen.  Use camel-case and underscores for spacing.  For example, the control named txt_OrderForm_FirstName is a text input that captures first name on the app’s Order Form Screen. Good Examples Bad Examples Bad Reason drp_NewEmployee_Department drpDepartmentNewEmployee No spacing btn_OrderForm_Submit btn_Submit_OrderForm Wrong order gal_Home_Appointments gly_Home Appointments Non-standard control prefix

A list of standard control prefixes can be found below. Control Prefix 3D Object 3do Add Picture pic Address Input add Audio aud Barcode Scanner bar Button btn Camera Control cam Canvas cvs Card dtc Charts chr Check Box chk Collection col Container con Combo Box cmb Component cmp Date Picker dte Drop Down drp Export exp Form frm Gallery gal Group grp HTML Text htm Icon ico Image img Import imp Label lbl List Box lst Map map Measuring Camera mcm Microphone mic Microsoft Stream str PDF Viewer pdf Pen Input pen Power BI Tile pbi Radio rad Rating rtg Rich Text Editor rte Shapes shp Slider sld Table tbl Text Input txt Timer tmr Toggle tgl Video vid Variable Names

A variable name should show the scope of the variable and its purpose. Use camel-case with no spaces between each word. For example, the variable gblUserEmail is a global variable which holds the current user’s email address. Good Examples Bad Examples Bad Reason gblUserCurrent UserCurrent No scope locPacksInBoxQuantity Loc_Packs_In_Box_Quantity Improper capitalization and spacing LocIsLoading locBoolLoading Do not use data types in variable names varWorkdaysDuringVacation varWorkdays Not descriptive enough Collection Names

A collection name should contain the original datasource and describe its purpose. Use camel-case with no spaces between each word.  For example, the collection colDvInvoices is a collection of invoices from Dataverse. Good Examples Bad Examples Bad Reason colSpEmployees colEmployees No datasource colDvSalesLeads coldv_salesleads Improper capitalization and spacing colNavigationMenu NavigationMenu Do no use data types in variable names

A standard list of datasource abbreviations can be found below: Original Datasource Abbreviation Dataverse Dv SharePoint Sp SQL Sql Salesforce Sf None (created in-app) (none) Datasource Table Names

A datasource created by the developer should have 1-3 words to describe its purpose.  Use the singluar form of the word and proper-case.  Be as concise and clear about the purpose of the datasource as possible. Good Examples Bad Examples Bad Reason Employee Emp Abbreviation instead of full word Construction Project Projects Too general, what type of projects? Repair Order RepairOrders No spacing, plural Did You Enjoy This Article? 😺

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