Introduction to Collections

In Power Apps you can use Collections as temporary data stores, that act like variables during the user’s session.

Collections also act a lot like data sources, which means you can use them in a lot of the same ways, for example in tables and galleries.

In this short guide I will introduce how to use collections with an example of an application that allows users to order office equipment.

Context

Imagine you have an application that office colleagues can use to order or request office equipment such as keyboards and monitors. You have set up an app that allows users to order items one at a time, as below, there is a gallery linked to a data source of available items, and each item has an “Order” button next to it. When you click “Order”, there is a workflow that fires that is suitable to whatever your internal processes are. How could this be improved?

Requirement

You receive some feedback from your users that they would like the ability to order multiple items at one time, rather than click “Order” and follow a process for each individual item. You could summarize it as a user story like:

As an Office administrator

I want to be able to order multiple pieces of equipment at once