Solution Creator

A Power Platform ToolBox tool that lets you design and deploy Dataverse schema much faster than the maker portal. Create a new solution (or target an existing one), add tables, bulk-define columns of every common type, wire up 1:N lookups, review, and deploy — all from a single guided workflow.

Install from npm: @lucas001-yt/pptb-solution-creator

Features

• Create or reuse solutions — spin up a brand-new publisher and solution, or add to an existing unmanaged one.

• Fast table design — add multiple custom tables with ownership, notes, and activities settings.

• Spreadsheet-style column builder — inline editing, per-type sensible defaults, duplicate rows, and "add 5".

• Column schema JSON — export the active table's columns as JSON, download or copy a sample template (with a full type reference), and import via file upload or paste with validation and merge-by-schema-name.

• Every creatable column type — single/multi-line text, email, URL, phone, autonumber, whole number, big whole number, decimal, floating point, currency, date, date & time, yes/no, local choice, multi-select choice, global choice, file, and image.

• Column bounds validation — maximum length, numeric range, precision, and file/image size are enforced against Dataverse limits before deploy.

• Choice option editor — configure local and multi-select choice columns with Choice / Choice value pairs and bulk paste (Active:1, Inactive:2).

• Global choices — define shared option sets once in the Global choices manager, then bind any number of "Choice (global)" columns to them; created before columns and reused on retry.

• Autonumber columns — configure the format (e.g. INV-{SEQNUM:5}) and maximum length.

• 1:N lookups — relate tables (project tables or standard tables like Account/Contact) with cascade configuration.

• Review & deploy — validation summary, ordered deployment, a live progress log, and a single publish at the end.

• Draft autosave — work is persisted via the ToolBox settings API and restored when you reopen the tool.

Workflow

1. Solution — choose new or existing, configure the publisher prefix.

2. Tables — add custom tables and their primary name column.

3. Fields — define columns per table, or bulk-import from a validated JSON schema.

4. Lookups — add 1:N relationships.

5. Review & Deploy — confirm and push to Dataverse.

Many-to-many relationships are out of scope; Dataverse requires a bridge table for those.

Requirements

• Power Platform ToolBox with an active Dataverse connection to the target environment.

• ToolBox API 1.0.20+ (declared via features.minAPI) for the metadata create operations.

• The connected user needs the System Customizer (or System Administrator) role to create publishers, solutions, tables, columns, and relationships.

Update history

1.1.0

• Added many new column types to the Fields grid:
  • Autonumber — text column with a configurable AutoNumberFormat (e.g. INV-{SEQNUM:5}) and maximum length.
  • Big whole number (BigInt) and floating point (Double) numeric types.
  • Multi-select choice — reuses the local choice option editor.
  • File and Image — with a configurable maximum size (KB) validated against documented limits.
  • Choice (global) — bind columns to project-level global choices.
• Added a Global choices manager (Fields step) to create shared global option sets. They are created before columns during deploy, reused if they already exist, and reported in the review summary.
• Extended the column schema JSON import/export to cover the new types (file/image size, autonumber format, and global choice by name).
• Shrunk the "Not yet supported" note to the remaining deferred types (Customer/polymorphic lookup, calculated, rollup, and form layouts & views).

1.0.4

• Fixed deploy aborting on 1:N lookups when the ToolBox host omits the OData-EntityId response header after a successful createRelationship (same recovery pattern already used for tables and columns).
• Lookups that already exist are skipped on retry so a partial deploy can finish and publish.

1.0.3

• Added column schema JSON on the Fields step header:

  • Export schema — download the active table's columns as JSON (types, attributes, and a supportedTypes reference catalog).
  • Download sample schema file — save a ready-made template with example columns.
  • Copy sample schema — copy the same template to the clipboard for quick editing.
  • Paste columns via template — upload a .json file or paste JSON in a modal; columns are merged by schema name (update matches, add new, keep unmatched existing).

• Import validates JSON structure, column types, naming rules, Dataverse bounds, and choice options before applying.

• Removed the tab/comma text paste flow from the column toolbar.

1.0.2

• Added an info notice on the Fields step listing column types not yet supported (file, image, autonumber, multi-select choice, global choice sets, calculated/rollup columns, form layouts).

• Enforced Dataverse bounds for maximum length, numeric min/max, and decimal precision in the Configure panel and pre-deploy validation.

• Redesigned local choice column configuration with Choice / Choice value columns and bulk paste support.

1.0.1

• Initial npm publish and ToolBox packaging fixes.

1.0.0

• Initial release: solution/table/column/lookup design and deployment workflow.

License

MIT License