PL-900 Demonstrate the capabilities of Power Apps Practice Question
A user wants to create a simple app to track personal expenses using an Excel file stored in OneDrive. Which Power Apps approach should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse Power Automate's mobile app trigger (e.g., button in Power Automate mobile) with the ability to build a full mobile app interface, leading candidates to choose D instead of recognizing that only canvas apps provide a user-facing UI from Excel.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a canvas app from the Excel file
A canvas app can be created directly from an Excel file stored in OneDrive using the Power Apps 'Start from data' option. This generates a three-screen app (browse, detail, edit) that connects to the Excel table via the OneDrive for Business connector, making it ideal for simple personal expense tracking without requiring Dataverse or custom development.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create a canvas app from the Excel file
Why this is correct
Canvas apps bind directly to an Excel workbook stored in OneDrive as a tabular data source, letting the maker design screens and controls over that table. This suits a simple personal expense tracker without needing Dataverse or a data model.
- ✗
Use Power Pages to display the Excel file
Why it's wrong here
Power Pages builds external-facing websites with Dataverse-backed forms; it cannot render an Excel file as an interactive expense-tracking app. It is tempting because it displays data to authenticated users, and would be correct for publishing a public portal rather than a personal canvas app reading OneDrive.
- ✗
Create a model-driven app using Dataverse
Why it's wrong here
Model-driven apps require a Dataverse table as their data source; they cannot bind directly to an Excel file in OneDrive. It is tempting because Dataverse delivers relational modelling and role-based security, and would be correct where the data already resides in Dataverse or exceeds Excel's scale and governance limits.
- ✗
Use Power Automate to create a mobile app
Why it's wrong here
Power Automate orchestrates flows and approvals; it cannot render a canvas UI bound to an Excel table, so no expense-entry app is produced. It is tempting because it connects to OneDrive and can trigger on file changes, and would be correct for automating notifications or row creation rather than building the app itself.
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