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Deciding on whether I need two different tables or just one (Dataverse)

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Posted on by danisername23

Hi guys, I'm new to dataverse and powerapps in general. I've been looking at tutorials online but I have a very specific question regarding the tool I want to create.

So in my company, engineers have to make an "Equipment List" with all the equipment that must be ordered. The most important info is brand, model and quantity needed. This information then goes to purchasing, they find the unit cost in different locations and put it on a "Pricing" table so the project manager can see where is best to buy.

I've been going back and forth between separating "Equipment" and "Pricing" or putting both on one table.

The problem with using one table for the two processes is that info is inputted in stages (first the engineers then the purchasing manager) so I dont know if a table can be filled out this way.

The problem with separating the two tables is that purchasing needs to see the equipment info that the engineers put in, so I'd have to bring specific columns from one table to the other and as far as I can see there's no function that can do this.

I've only been making the tables, I don't know if the solution to my problem can be solved through views or forms or other powerapps functions. I just need a little guidance on what's the best way to handle this specific situation

Thank you for any help you can give me!

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Microsoft Dataverse with Power Apps

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Parvez Ghumra 1,579 Moderator on at

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@danisername23 I'd recommend designing the data model based on how it makes sense logically for your data considering the cardinality of relationships between entities, how you wish to secure the data and be driven by storage and performance optimisation rather than user experience. The user experience factor comes into play when you start to build out your application that uses your data model.

Start by drawing out an Entity Relationship diagram to illustrate your data model, considering the above. Feel free to reach out if you need more pointers.

Out of interest, are you intending to build a Model Driven App or a Canvas App (or both)?

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danisername23 10 on at

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I have made the entity relationship diagram to know how data must go, but that one is based on the excel sheet that was been used. Now, even though I was using the orginal sheet as a guide, I do not want to just import the template to powerapps, that is why I'm making it from scratch on dataverse to make a model-driven app.
So I know how the data is suppose to flow, the problem is that I don't have enough experience with dataverse to understand what's the best way to use all the functions it has.

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Parvez Ghumra 1,579 Moderator on at

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@danisername23 You can read more about Model Driven Apps from the documentation here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/model-driven-apps/

But to address your concerns:

1. It is not necessary for all data on a single table to be captured by the same user at the same time. Multiple users can populate data on a record and different points in time (as long as they have the necessary privileges to do so)

2. A form can show and facilitate the populating of data that lives across multiple different tables

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danisername23 10 on at

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Thank you! I will look up more on both instances to see what works best for my situation.

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