PowerApps Power Cards - Card 2 - Environment Variables
Environment Variables are containers that developers use to store values that are going to be consistently used across an application or solution. They sit at a solution level and it’s a great way to store file paths that your application will use. This means that if your data source ever changed you can just update the Environment Variable and not have to go through your entire application and Flows updating all the values.
Environment variables enable the basic application lifecycle management (ALM) scenario of moving an application between Power Platform environments. In this scenario, the application stays exactly the same except for a few key external application references (such as tables, connections, and keys) that are different between the source environment and the destination environment. The application requires the structure of the tables or connections to be exactly the same between the source and the destination environments, with some differences. Environment variables allow you to specify which of these different external references should be updated as the application is moved across environments.
Environment variables store the parameter keys and values, which then serve as input to various other application objects. Separating the parameters from the consuming objects allows you to change the values within the same environment or when you migrate solutions to other environments. The alternative is leaving hard-coded parameter values within the components that use them. This is often problematic; especially when the values need to be changed during ALM operations. Because environment variables are solution components, you can transport the references (keys) and change the values when solutions are migrated to other environments.
Benefits of using environment variables:
Provide new parameter values while importing solutions to other environments.
Store configuration for the data sources used in canvas apps and flows. For example, SharePoint Online site and list parameters can be stored as environment variables; therefore allowing you to connect to different sites and lists in different environments without needing to modify the apps and flows.
Package and transport your customization and configuration together and manage them in a single location.
Package and transport secrets, such as credentials used by different components, separately from the components that use them.
One environment variable can be used across many different solution components - whether they're the same type of component or different. For example, a canvas app and a flow can use the same environment variable. When the value of the environment variable needs to change, you only need to change one value.
Additionally, if you need to retire a data source in production environments, you can simply update the environment variable values with information for the new data source. The apps and flows don't require modification and will start using the new data source.
Supported by SolutionPackager and DevOps tools enable continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD).
The environment variables can be unpacked and stored in source control. You may also store different environment variables values files for the separate configuration needed in different environments. Solution Packager can then accept the file corresponding to the environment the solution will be imported to.
Environment variables can be created and modified within the modern solution interface, automatically created when connecting to certain data sources in canvas apps, or by using code. They can also be imported to an environment via solutions. Once environment variables are present in an environment, they can be used as inputs when authoring canvas apps, Power Automate flows, when developing plug-ins, as well as many other places such as adding a Power BI dashboard to a model-driven app. When these types of objects use environment variables, the values are then derived from the environment variables, and can be changed when solutions are imported to other environments.