Set up lists for SharePoint Online integration with Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI

Article
12/16/2022

Note

This article is part of a tutorial series on using Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI with SharePoint Online. Make sure you read the series introduction to get a sense of the big picture, as well as related downloads.

SharePoint has a ton of features for sharing and collaboration, but we will focus on one feature for this scenario: Introduction to lists. A list is just a collection of data that you can share with team members and other site users. We'll review the lists used for this scenario, then you can create them in your own SharePoint Online site.

Step 1: Understand the lists

The first list is Project Requests, where a project requestor adds a request. The project approver then reviews the request and approves or rejects it.

List Column	Data Type	Notes
Title	Single line of text	Default column, used for project name
Description	Single line of text
ProjectType	Single line of text	Values: new hardware, upgraded hardware, new software, upgraded software
RequestDate	Date
Requestor	Single line of text
EstimatedDays	Number	Enables comparison of requestor estimate to project manager estimate to actual
Approved	Single line of text	Values: pending, yes, no

Note

We also use the ID column, which is generated by SharePoint and hidden by default. We use basic data types for simplicity, but a real app might use more complex types, like Person or Group for the Requestor column. For information on data types supported by Power Apps, see Connect from Microsoft Power Apps to SharePoint.

The second list is Project Details, which tracks details for all approved projects, like which project manager is assigned.

List Column	Data Type	Notes
Title	Single line of text	Default column, used for project name
RequestID	Number	Matches the value in the Project Requests list ID column
ApprovedDate	Date
Status	Single line of text	Values: not started, in progress, completed
ProjectedStartDate	Date	When the project manager estimates that the project will start
ProjectedEndDate	Date	When the project manager estimates that the project will end
ProjectedDays	Number	Working days; would typically be calculated, but isn't in this scenario
ActualDays	Number	For completed projects
PMAssigned	Single line of text	Project manager

Step 2: Create and review the lists

To continue with the scenario, you need to create the two SharePoint lists and populate them with sample data. We'll show you how to do this by creating the list and pasting sample data into it. Make sure you have downloaded the sample Excel file.

Note

Use Microsoft Edge for this step.

Create the lists

In Microsoft Edge, in your SharePoint site, click or tap New, then List.
Enter the name "Project Requests", then click or tap Create.

The Project Requests list is created, with the default Title field.

Add columns to the list

Click or tap , then Single line of text.
Enter the name "Description", then click or tap Save.
Repeat steps 1. and 2. for the other columns in the list:
1. Single line of text > "ProjectType"
2. Date > "RequestDate"
3. Single line of text > "Requestor"
4. Number > "EstimatedDays"
5. Single line of text > "Approved"

Copy data into the list

Click or tap Quick edit.
Select the cells in the grid.
Open the downloaded workbook and select all the data (not the headings).
Copy the data and paste it into the grid in SharePoint, then click or tap Done.
Repeat the list creation and copy process for the "Project Details" list, using the project-details.xlsx workbook. Refer to the Project Details table in Step 1: Understand the lists for the column names and data types.