| Faizan Ahmed
In the Power Platform, a virtual entity is a type of entity that does not have its own data store, but instead presents data from an external data source as if it were a native entity within the platform. Virtual entities can be used to integrate data from external sources into the Power Platform, such as data from web services or other databases.
Virtual entities can be created using the Power Platform solution designer, and are configured using a combination of metadata and data mapping. The metadata defines the structure and properties of the virtual entity, while the data mapping defines how data from the external source is mapped to the virtual entity.
Virtual entities have several key features and benefits:
- Integration: Virtual entities allow you to integrate data from external sources into the Power Platform, which can be useful for a wide range of scenarios.
- Performance: Virtual entities are often faster to query and retrieve data from than traditional entities, since they do not require data to be stored and indexed within the Power Platform.
- Extensibility: Virtual entities can be used to extend the functionality of the Power Platform without the need to create new custom entities or modify existing data stores.
Here is an example of how a virtual entity might be used in the Power Platform:
Imagine that you are building a customer relationship management (CRM) system using Dynamics 365 and you want to integrate data from a third-party marketing database. The marketing database contains data about customer interactions with marketing campaigns, such as email opens and clicks.
To integrate this data into your CRM system, you could create a virtual entity in Dynamics 365 that presents the data from the marketing database as if it were a native entity within the platform. You would define the metadata for the virtual entity, which would specify the structure and properties of the entity, and you would configure the data mapping, which would define how data from the marketing database is mapped to the virtual entity. Once the virtual entity is configured and deployed, users of your CRM system will be able to access and work with the data from the marketing database as if it were a native entity within the system. They will be able to view, query, and update the data using the same tools and interfaces that they use for other entities in the system.
Overall, this example illustrates how a virtual entity can be used to integrate data from an external source into the Power Platform, in this case a marketing database, and present the data as if it were a native entity within the platform. Virtual entities are a useful tool for integrating data from external sources into the Power Platform, and can help to improve performance and extend the platform's capabilities.
Join us next time, as we continue our journey of learning canvas apps.Click here to learn more about Imperium's Power Apps Services. We hope this information was useful, and we look forward to sharing more insights into the Power Platform world.
