Can't add data to primary column

[GraemeNZ]

Hi _ I'm excited to build my first model-driven app, I've looked at videos explaining it, and I have a simple task to practice on. But I'm completely stumped at the second step because I can't add any data to the primary column in any of my tables. I found out by accident that I can add data to another column in the table, just not the first one. When I have added data to another column, the first column auto-populates with a 36 character alphnumeric string! What is this, and how come none of the helpful videos talk about it, (not even Shane Young's "Everything you need to build a model driven Power app" which only came out 2 weeks ago)!

Here I have created a table for Dryer, which will only have 1 column and 2 rows - Dryer 1 or Dryer 2. But I can't add any data.

So maybe I can't have a one-column table, so I created another table called Department, thinking I can have Dryer as a column to pair with department. So I created a new table called Department (plural Departments), and didn't change the default primary column name from "Name" to hopefully generate a table called Departments, with the first column called Name so that I can add another column called Department. But instead, the table is generated and the primary column is called Department and is un-editable.

To prove the point, I add another column called Dryer, and I can see I can add text for this:

...and when I add text you can see the autogenerated string in the primary column...

What is going on?

For now, it is impossible for me to create tables with meaningful names, because if I do that, then the name becomes a field that I can't use... Is this right???

GraemeNZ

[AhmedSalih]

@GraemeNZ, Tables in Dataverse have multiple system columns that will be created by default. The unique identifier which contains GUID values is one of them. The column that called Department in your example is a Unique Identifier Column. The value in this column will be generate automatically when create new rows. You can add other columns if you want and add meaningful information in them.

 

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[GraemeNZ · Accepted solution]

Hi @AhmedSalih Thanks for your reply. I would have expected a unique identifier column, but I didn't expect the unique identifier name to be the name I specified for my table, thereby making that name unsuable.
In between my post and your reply, I worked out that I can rename the unique identifier column to something meaningless, like UniqueID, then I can create a new column with the name that I want to use, like Department.

I don't understand why PowerApps doesn't already do that - why would they make the default name of the uniqueID the same name as the name of the table? And why aren't any of the user guides making this clear - it seems like there has been a change lately with an unexpected consequence...