Connection limits for PowerApps in a Solution

[aussiejedi]

I seem to have run into a limitation for PowerApps that exist within a Solution.

I have a Canvas PowerApp that was previously existing outside of a solution and working without issue. I have recreated that same PowerApp within a Solution and have run into an issue when Publishing the app.

When I hit Publish the first time, I receive the following error:

Clicking 'More' reveals the following stack trace:

The request failed with error: '{"error":
 {"code":"0x80044331",
 "message":"A validation error occurred.  The length of the 'connectionreferences' attribute of the 'canvasapp' entity exceeded the maximum allowed length of '2000'.",
 "innererror":
  {"message":"A validation error occurred.  The length of the 'connectionreferences' attribute of the 'canvasapp' entity exceeded the maximum allowed length of '2000'.",
  "type":"System.ServiceModel.FaultException`1[[Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.OrganizationServiceFault, Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk, Version=9.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35]]",
  "stacktrace":"   at Microsoft.Crm.Extensibility.OrganizationSdkServiceInternal.Execute(OrganizationRequest request, CorrelationToken correlationToken, CallerOriginToken callerOriginToken, WebServiceType serviceType, Boolean checkAdminMode, ExecutionContext executionContext, Dictionary`2 optionalParameters)\r\n  
     at Microsoft.Crm.Extensibility.OData.CrmODataExecutionContext.Upsert(Entity entity)\r\n   at Microsoft.Crm.Extensibility.OData.CrmODataExecutionContext.Update(Entity entity, UpdateOption updateOption)\r\n   at Microsoft.Crm.Extensibility.OData.CrmODataServiceDataProvider.UpdateEdmEntity(CrmODataExecutionContext context, String edmEntityName, String entityKeyValue, EdmEntityObject entityObject)\r\n  
     at Microsoft.Crm.Extensibility.OData.EntityController.PatchEntityImplementation(String& entityName, String key, EdmEntityObject entityDelta)\r\n  
     at Microsoft.PowerApps.CoreFramework.ActivityLoggerExtensions.Execute[TResult](ILogger logger, EventId eventId, ActivityType activityType, Func`1 func, IEnumerable`1 additionalCustomProperties)\r\n  
     at Microsoft.Xrm.Telemetry.XrmTelemetryExtensions.Execute[TResult](ILogger logger, XrmTelemetryActivityType activityType, Func`1 func)\r\n  
     at lambda_method(Closure , Object , Object[] )\r\n  
     at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ReflectedHttpActionDescriptor.ActionExecutor.<>c__DisplayClass10.<GetExecutor>b__9(Object instance, Object[] methodParameters)\r\n  
     at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ReflectedHttpActionDescriptor.ExecuteAsync(HttpControllerContext controllerContext, IDictionary`2 arguments, CancellationToken cancellationToken)\r\n
    --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n  
    at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n  
    at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n  
    at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ApiControllerActionInvoker.<InvokeActionAsyncCore>d__0.MoveNext()\r\n
    --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n  
    at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n  
    at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n  
    at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ActionFilterResult.<ExecuteAsync>d__2.MoveNext()\r\n
    --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n  
    at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n  
    at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n  
    at System.Web.Http.Dispatcher.HttpControllerDispatcher.<SendAsync>d__1.MoveNext()"}
 }
}'.

Is there a 'known' limitation to how many connections can be referenced in a PowerApp that is in a Solution? (I couldn't find any references in the documentation to this limitation).

I went ahead and created a simple PowerApp that replicates this same behaviour. The PowerApp connects to a Flow and 3 SharePoint lists and fails to publish (but a Flow and 2 SharePoint lists publishes fine).

Has anyone experienced this and/or know a workaround?

Thanks,

David

[v-micsh-msft]

Hi @aussiejedi,

Thanks for the feedback.

It seems you are hitting a Server side limitation which didn't listed under the published Document.

The known limits is published in the doc below:

System requirements, limits, and configuration values for canvas Apps

Also there is no mention under the connection page:

OverView of connectors in PowerApps

I will collect this from my side, and will update you if we got any feedbacks on this.

Best regards,

[aussiejedi]

Hi @v-micsh-msft,

Thanks for your reply.

I was also unable to find any references to this limitation in the list of known limitations for Solutions:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/common-data-service/use-solution-explorer

Thanks,

David

[aussiejedi]

I have done some more digging and can now 'break' the publishing of the PowerApp when it has just one Connection to a single Flow.

I exported my PowerApp and extracted the .zip and took a look at the underlying files. The connectionreferences that are referred to in the publish error message are a JSON string which looks to extrapolate out the connections that are used by any connected Flows in addition to the direct connections in the PowerApp. 

I now have an example where I have a Flow that has 5 connections. When I connect this Flow to a PowerApp (as the only connection in the PowerApp) it fails to Publish. Again, this behaviour is only present when the PowerApp exists within a Solution.

[v-micsh-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @aussiejedi,

We got a response from staff tolding the following:

"

This is a known issue that was recently identified and fixed in the platform, but it may take several weeks to around a month for the fix to roll out to the production regions.

Please apologize to the customer for the inconvenience on our behalf and thank them for the issue report.

"

Thank you very much for reporting this in the forums, and we do apologize for the inconvenience which brings to you.

Best regards,

[aussiejedi]

Hi @v-micsh-msft

Thanks so much for following this up and for the response provided by the team.

Looking forward to the fix being rolled out.

Thanks again,

David

[AccuFloDev]

Hey @v-micsh-msft,

Is there any way we can get this processed sped up for our environments, such as submitting a support request?
I have a bit of a deadline and I'm running into this issue as well with a Canvas app I moved into a solution, it has a few connections to excel tables as well as Common Data Services and Flow.

I cannot publish the app for testing offline features until this is fixed, and we have a client desperately waiting on the offline features.