Missing Dependencies Error for Primary Name Column of Tables Created in Table Visual Designer Experience

With the recent introduction of the new table visual designer in Power Apps, creating tables has become a streamlined, intuitive process. Accessible through make.powerapps.com, this designer provides an Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) experience, allowing users to define tables by simply describing their needs to Copilot. Additionally, it enables importing data directly from sources like SharePoint lists, Excel, or CSV files, making it even easier to build a data structure from existing sources.

First Impressions: Benefits and Limitations

For those familiar with the conventional table creation process, the visual designer can feel like a breath of fresh air. It simplifies and speeds up what used to be a multi-step procedure. However, there are a few limitations to keep in mind:

• Lack of Activity Table Creation: Currently, the designer does not support the creation of activity tables for which we still need to go to the Table "advanced properties" experience.
• Inability to Create Relationships with Existing Tables: Relationships can only be defined within tables created directly in the visual designer, which could disrupt data integration in complex models with pre-existing tables.

These limitations aside, the visual designer is a valuable tool for speeding up table creation and enhancing the overall experience.

The Missing Dependencies Issue

While testing out this new designer, I encountered a more serious issue that only appeared when moving tables between environments. After creating tables in the visual designer, I exported the solution containing these tables, then attempted to import it into another environment. Unfortunately, I was met with an import error due to “Missing Dependencies.”

Diagnosing the Problem

Upon closer inspection, I found that the missing dependencies were related to columns—specifically, the primary name columns of the tables created in the visual designer. Oddly, these columns were listed as missing even though they were part of the solution. It turns out that the solution.xml file had unintentionally flagged these primary name columns within the <MissingDependencies> tag, likely due to a bug in the designer, which is no longer in the public preview.

Workaround Solution

If you encounter this issue, here’s a quick workaround to bypass the “Missing Dependencies” error:

1. Extract the Solution .zip File: Extract the exported solution .zip file.
2. Edit the solution.xml File: Open the solution.xml file and look for the <MissingDependency> tags that correspond to the primary name columns of the tables you created in the visual designer.
3. Remove the Tags for the Affected Columns: Delete the <MissingDependency> tags associated with these primary name columns. This step removes the erroneous dependency listings.
4. Repackage the Solution: Compress the modified files back into a .zip format.
5. Import the Solution: Re-import the solution. This time, it should successfully import without the missing dependency errors.

Conclusion

The new table visual designer in Power Apps offers a fantastic user experience, speeding up table creation while integrating Copilot's AI capabilities. However, for those of us working in multi-environment setups, this missing dependencies issue serves as a reminder to thoroughly test and verify our solutions when using new tools and features.

If you face this issue, following the above workaround can save time and prevent the frustration of an interrupted import. It’s a small but valuable fix that can keep your project moving forward smoothly while Microsoft addresses this bug.