We’ve highlighted some of our sponsors in the past, today we are back with a new guest post, from our sponsor Resco. In this post Resco gives an introduction to PCF controls, let’s you know about PCF Gallery and Diana Birkelbach’s posts about developing PCF controls. Remember that before you use a community PCF control, it might be a good idea to have routines for verifying the code behind and make sure to have ALM routines in place.
Resco also wants to present their own selection of PCF controls that they offer, and you can get a subscription for, something you will be able to talk about with them in-person in Oslo this month. Thank you Resco for highlighting PCF controls from the community (as well as your own offering) and for being a part of this blog!
Where to look for PCF controls to build your Power Platform solution faster?
Pre-built standard controls
PCF controls are small code components that can be added to Power Apps to provide extra functionality. In this article, we’ll look at how they differ from standard controls and where to find safe, tested PCF controls.
When building Power Apps, app makers can choose from pre-built standard controls available directly within the Power Apps interface. These controls cover a wide range of common app functionalities, such as text inputs, dropdowns, buttons, galleries, data tables, forms, and basic charts. They address most common use cases, enabling quick app building using low-code solutions.
However, these libraries don’t offer highly specific functionality.
PCF controls
The Power Apps Component Framework (PCF) allows developers to create specialized features or elements that can be added to Microsoft Power Apps. PCF components enhance Power Apps with advanced functionality, whether you need a specialized user interface, complex data visualization, or performance optimization.
Using PCF components in Power Apps enables app makers to build more powerful, flexible, and user-friendly applications, improving both the development process and the end-user experience.
Safety first: download only from trusted sources
Since PCF components can be created and shared by virtually anyone, adding open-source code components to a customer sandbox or a production environment poses a security risk.
It is advisable to work with components from verified sources, especially if you have limited coding knowledge. Components from verified sources are usually maintained and updated by their creators, providing security reassurance and the added benefit of technical support.
List of trusted PCF control sources
Diana Birkelbach from Orbis SE
Diana is a software architect, who has been working with Microsoft Dynamics since the start. She is also a big PCF controls enthusiast and contributor and has been awarded the Microsoft MVP status 4 times for her contributions to the community of people developing PCF controls. She has great resources for people who want to learn how to build PCF controls themselves.
PCF Gallery
This website features a wide range of crowdsourced PCF controls submitted by volunteers. You can browse and download these controls. The gallery was developed and is maintained by Guido Preite.
Resco Power Components
This is a professionally developed and maintained library of PCF controls that features highly specific PCFs for building enterprise level business applications. It features PCFs like a Kanban board, Image gallery with image editing capabilities, and AI controls.
Visit us at Nordic Summit
Come see Resco Power Components in action. Visit us at the Resco Booth at Nordic Summit, where our experts will introduce you to all our products for Power Platform and Microsoft Dynamics 365, helping you build business apps faster.
About the Author
The author of this post is Bronislava Molnarova. Brona, as she is also called, is a Content Specialist at Resco. She often writes about low-code/no-code development platforms and more specifically the additional tools and components evolving around them.
Thank you Resco for being a sponor at Nordic Summit and for writing this guest post to our blog! The featured picture of this post is from Nordic Summit 2023 and you can see the Resco sponsor booth.
