FAQ for Excel to table and app

Article
03/19/2024

These frequently asked questions (FAQ) describe the AI impact of the Excel to table and app feature.

What is Excel to table and app?

Excel to table and app allows makers to bring their own Excel file or SharePoint list and convert that to a Dataverse table and an app along with it. The feature accepts an Excel file or SharePoint list and produces a Dataverse table as the output. When a maker uses the feature from the home page or the Apps area, it can also generate an app based on the Dataverse table. When Copilot is enabled in the current environment, it leverages  Azure OpenAI Service to generate the best-fitting table and column metadata based on the uploaded Excel file or SharePoint list.

What can Excel to table and app do?

Excel to table and app converts the first range of tabular data from the first tab of the uploaded Excel file or SharePoint list to a Dataverse table by generating column metadata and ingesting data to the created table. When Copilot capability is enabled in this environment, Copilot assists with the table creation by generating table names, descriptions, along with column names and data types based on the uploaded Excel data or SharePoint list.

What is/are Excel to table and app’s intended use(s)?

Excel to table and app is intended to assist makers to migrate their existing data from Excel into Power Platform. It ensures new or less experienced makers can move away from their existing Excel file based system or SharePoint lists to Dataverse tables and be put in the position of having a working app connected to that data so they can understand how apps in Power Apps are built.

How was Excel to table and app evaluated? What metrics are used to measure performance?

We have set up reports and dashboards to track the usage, net promoter score (NPS), and engagement of the feature. We have also set up monitors to track the success rate of table creation, data ingestion, and AI inference. Top errors that occur to the users are logged as part of our monitors to help us understand what’s causing the issues.

What are the limitations of Excel to table and app? How can users minimize the impact of Excel to table and app’s limitations when using the system?

When Copilot is enabled for the environment, Excel to table and app currently produces metadata output in U.S. English, Czech, Danish, German, Spanish, Finnish, French, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, or Turkish. Users can manually update their metadata before creating their tables and apps to minimize the impact.
The Copilot capability of Excel to table and app is currently supported in limited regions. Users located in regions that don’t currently support this Copilot feature are still able to use the upload and table and app creation feature without Copilot assistance.
The autogenerated metadata of Excel to table and app might not be 100% accurate. Users can minimize the impact by reviewing the metadata before table and app creation.

What operational factors and settings allow for effective and responsible use of Excel to table and app?

Users can configure the metadata settings of the table including display name, plural name, description, primary column, and schema name. This affects the metadata settings of the table when the table is created.
Users can configure the metadata settings of the columns of the table including display name, data type, format, whether the column is required, schema name, and some other settings specific to each selected data type, such as choices and default choice when the datatype is choices.
Users can configure whether the table should use first row of data as column headers. When this is turned on, the first row of the uploaded Excel file or SharePoint list is used as the header of the table.
Users can configure the ownership of the table. Ownership depends on whether the data of the table is owned by specific users, teams, or the entire organization.

How can I use this feature in a Power Platform environment that is created outside of the United States or Switzerland?

To do this, turn on data movement across regions. More information: Enable copilots and generative AI features outside United States and Switzerland