Project App

in a Day
Overview and Prerequisites
Getting Started

April 2020
Project App In a Day Overview and Prerequisites

Lab Overview and Prerequisites

Abstract and Learning Objectives
This is a beginner level lab for you to get hands on experience with the Microsoft Project for
the web and the Microsoft Power Platform technologies – Power Apps, Power BI, and
Common Data Service. The goal is not to give training in how to use Project for the web as
an end-user, instead these labs will give you an understanding of the data model behind
Project for the web, and how Project for the web can be customized on the Power Platform.
The online sessions includes step-by-step instructions for someone new to these
technologies to build a basic project management solution within a day (or split across a
couple days if conducting remotely). Technologies covered:

Project for the web: Project for the web is Microsoft's most recent offering for
cloud-based work and project management. Project for the web provides simple,
powerful work management capabilities and can be used by project managers and
team members, to plan and manage your work. You will learn how to navigate and
work within the standard offering.

Power Apps: A software-as-a-service application platform that enables power users

in line of business roles to easily build and deploy custom business apps. You will
learn how to build Model-driven style of apps to extend out-of-the-box capabilities.

Common Data Service (CDS): Makes it easier to bring your data together and
quickly create powerful apps using a compliant and scalable data service and app
platform that’s integrated into Power Apps. You will learn how to extend and create
new entities within CDS.

Power BI: A collection of software services, apps, and connectors that work together
to turn your unrelated sources of data into coherent, visually immersive, and
interactive insights. You will learn how to edit an existing Power BI template for your
customizations and embed a report in your model driven app.

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REQUIREMENT

Make sure to follow the prerequisite steps listed in this document before
starting the class. Please reach out to your PAID hosting partner if you have any
issues performing the steps. Allow approximately 30 minutes to complete the
setup of your environment.

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Lab structure and Learning Objectives

The course is divided into four hands-on labs, with one document defining the detailed steps
provided for each lab.

01. Project for the web Introduction

Introduces you to Project for the web. You will learn how to:

• Explore the standard functionalities of Project for the web

02. Extending the Project Model-driven App

Introduces you to extending the standard Model-driven Power App for Project. You will
learn how to:

• Have an overview of the standard entities and relationships of Project for the web

• Create a Project Charter form

• Extend the standard Project entity with custom fields

• Customize the standard Project Model-driven app

• Customize forms for the Model-driven app

• Create a business process flow to guide users through a project lifecycle stage gate
approval process

03. Creating a Custom Entity

Introduces you to custom entities in CDS and you will create a program entity with a
relationship to the standard project entity. You will learn how to:

• Create a custom Program entity

• Create a one-to-many relationship between the Program and Project entities

• Calculate program budgets using custom calculated fields

• Rollup data (budgets) from projects to program level using roll-up fields

• Create a new Program Management group in the site map

04. Reporting with Power BI

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Introduces you to Power BI visual and interactive reporting and how to embed a report into
your model-driven Power App. You will learn to:

• Connect the Project for the web Power BI template to your Common Data Service
environment

• Add your Program entity to the data model

• Extend visuals in the standard template to your program entity

• Embed your Power BI report directly in the standard Project Model-driven app

Prerequisites: Before starting the hands-on lab

Software Prerequisites
A supported web browser

• Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Internet Explorer

Power BI Desktop

Power BI Desktop (any version, but preferably the latest) will need to be installed for the last
hands-on lab of the class. Power BI Desktop can be downloaded for free. If you do not have
Power BI Desktop installed, please follow the steps to download and install from
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/desktop-get-the-desktop.

Note: The class is geared towards Windows clients, so if you have a Mac, please use a
Windows solution, such as Parallels, etc.

Microsoft Teams

For the class meetings we are utilizing meetings using Microsoft Teams. Optionally, you
download the full Microsoft Teams client at https://teams.microsoft.com/downloads . You
can also join the meeting using your web browser if you prefer. Either way, you don’t need
any credentials to join the meeting.

InPrivate Browser Window

It is very important to use an InPrivate browser window session when completing all the
steps below. This creates a separate process and forces you to log into the demo tenant and

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doesn’t log you into an Office 365 environment that your company might be using. To use
InPrivate browsing, see the following steps for each supported browser.

Microsoft Edge (New) Microsoft Edge (Old)

Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox

Microsoft Internet Explorer

The steps below will simply refer to this as an ‘InPrivate browser window’.

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Project App In a Day Overview and Prerequisites

Setup your own tenant

1. Create your own demo tenant:

Open your web browser and open an InPrivate browser window and copy/paste in
the URL provided in your confirmation email for your Project Plan 5 Trial code. The
link will look similar to the one shown below.

Fill out the form with your company information, validate all information is correct,
and click Next.

NOTE: DO NOT sign in to add it to an existing subscription. This needs to be a

separate environment from your existing business Office 365 tenant.

a. Create your user ID:

Type in admin as your username and type in a fictional company name and
validate the domain name is available (showing a green check mark). Type in a
complex password, confirm the password, and click Create my account.

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Copy the username and type the password into Notepad and save to a known
storage location. Keep the admin credentials available for the subsequent steps
and later when your class begins.

b. Enter a phone number to text or call for a second factor authentication. After
verification, click Next.

c. Copy and paste the Sign-in page URL to your Notepad file and validate the user
ID is in correct format. Click Start Setup when you have all your credentials
saved.

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2. Continue setup:

a. You will NOT need Project Pro for Office 365 for this class, so simply click Next
to this screen.

b. Add at least one user by adding the user Megan Bowen with a username of
MBowen. This user is shown in the lab instructions, so it is important to use this

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name for consistency.

c. Click the Print tab and then copy the Temporary password shown and paste
into your saved credentials file in Notepad. Click Next to proceed.

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d. Rate your experience if you’d like and then click the Go to the Admin center
link.

3. Add Power Apps per user license:

The usage of Model-driven apps based on data in CDS requires a Power Apps license.

a. In an InPrivate browser window, access the Microsoft 365 Admin Center by

typing in https://admin.microsoft.com

b. In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, expand Billing and then click on Purchase
services

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c. Search for Power Apps and the from the results, under Business apps, click
Power Apps per user plan.

d. Click the Get free trial button.

e. Select Try now.

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f. Validate the order was successful and you obtained an order receipt. Click the
Continue button.

4. Add Power BI Pro user licenses:

The usage of collaboration with Power BI reports requires a Power BI Pro license.

a. In an InPrivate browser window, access the Microsoft 365 Admin Center by

typing in https://admin.microsoft.com

b. In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, expand Billing and then click on Purchase
services

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c. Search for “Power BI” (with the quotes) and choose Power BI Pro (you might
need to click the right arrow button to see it).

d. Click the Get free trial button.

e. Select Try now.

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f. Validate the order was successful and you obtained an order receipt. Click the
Continue button.

5. Assign the user licenses:

a. Expand the Billing section and click on Licenses.

b. Select Power Apps per user plan

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c. Click on Assign licenses.

d. Assign licenses to your admin and demo users. Type in admin and it will resolve
to your name, and type in Megan to find the Megan Bowen account.

e. Repeat the same steps for Power BI Pro.

6. Initialize the creation of CDS and Project for the web: Open your browser and use
an InPrivate browser window (or use the same session you were logged into the Admin
portal with). Type in https://project.microsoft.com and login with the admin
credentials provided when you created your demo tenant.

a. Click the ‘X’ to close the ‘Welcome to Project Home’ dialog box and then click
the “New blank project” button to create a Common Data Service (CDS)
database and add Project for the web to your default environment.

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Note: It takes a few minutes before the license is activated. The page will refresh
when completed and you will see a new Untitled project. The creation takes up to
10 minutes.

Confirm that Project related entities are created

1. Open your web browser in an InPrivate browser window and then open the Power
Apps maker portal by typing in https://make.powerapps.com.

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2. In the Power Apps maker portal, select Apps from the selection pane on the left.

3. You will see a screen listing all apps installed on the newly created environment. You
should see two apps: Project and Resource Scheduling. These apps get provisioned
when you initialize your first project. If you have both, you are good to go.

4. Next, go to Data in the selection pane on the left and click on Entities.

5. Select Managed entities from the drop down in the top right corner.

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6. Use the search function to search for project and confirm that you have entities
where the names start with msdyn_. This means that your installation of Power Apps
and Project is successful, and you are ready for the Project App In a Day class. If not,
please ask your instructor to help you finish the installation.

Congratulations! You have completed the set up.

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