Primarily, there are two types of table ownership in Power Platform: Organisation-owned and user or team-owned.
- Organization-owned tables: These tables hold data that is visible to the entire organization. It implies that every user in the organization has the same access level and permissions to the data in these tables.
- User or team-owned tables: This kind of table ownership is more restricted. Each record in these tables has an ‘owner’. The ‘owner’ can be a specific user or a team, who have specific rights to modify the records. Other users’ access level to this data hinges on their permissions and the roles that have been assigned to them.
Configuring Table Ownership
Whether a table should be organization-owned or user or team-owned is typically determined at the time of the table’s creation and is governed by the nature of the data that it is expected to hold. Once defined, the ownership type cannot be changed.
Here’s how you configure table ownership:
Navigate to the Power Platform admin center > Data > Tables > New Table.
In the ‘New Table’ pane that appears on the right-hand side, there are important configurations to consider:
- Display Name: This is the name of the table which will be visible to the users.
- Name: This is the internal name of the table which is used for API requests.
- Ownership: This is where you define the ownership of the table. If the field is set to ‘Organization’, it creates an organization-owned table. If it is set to ‘User or team,’ it creates a user or team-owned table.
- Primary column name: This is the name of the primary column in the table.
Here is an example for clarity.
Field | Value |
---|---|
Display Name | Customers |
Name | cust_customers |
Ownership | User or team |
Primary column name | full_name |
In this example, a table “Customers” with ownership set to “User or team” is created. The primary column name for this table is “full_name”.
Conclusion
Configuring table ownership is a simple yet significant configuration in the Power Platform. It dictates access rights to the data held in these tables, thereby impacting data integrity and security within the organization. Whether you’re preparing for the PL-200 Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant exam or setting up your Power Platform environment, a good grasp of table ownership configuration is beneficial.
Practice Test
True or False: In Microsoft Power Platform, anyone with access to a table can be the owner of that table.
- Answer: False
Explanation: Only users with appropriate permissions can own a table. It’s essential to ensure who has the access and authority to modify, delete or share a table.
What does the term “Table Ownership” refer to in the context of Microsoft Power Platform?
- a. Presenting data in a tabular format
- b. The action of creating new tables
- c. Rights to modify, delete, or share the data in the table
- d. Allowing multiple users to access the table
Answer: c. Rights to modify, delete, or share the data in the table
Explanation: Table Ownership, in the context of Microsoft Power Platform, refers to the permissions or rights to modify, delete or share the data in a table.
True or False: Changing the ownership of a table in Microsoft Power Platform changes the row-level security controls.
- Answer: True
Explanation: Ownership defines access to the tables and changing it can alter row-level security. The owner is permitted to set controls on data visibility and accessibility.
Which of the following are not valid permissions that an owner can grant to other users?
- a. Read
- b. Write
- c. Save
- d. Delete
Answer: c. Save
Explanation: The fundamental permissions that an owner can grant are read, write and delete. There is no separate ‘save’ permission, as this is included in the ‘write’ permission.
Can a table in Microsoft Power Platform have more than one owner?
- a. Yes
- b. No
Answer: b. No
Explanation: A table can only have one owner at a time. While access can be given to multiple users, only one can hold the ultimate responsibility and control.
True or False: The table ownership can be transferred to any team in Microsoft Power Platform.
- Answer: True
Explanation: Yes, table ownership can be transferred to any team provided they have requisite permissions to access and manage tables.
What is the impact of transferring table ownership in an organization?
- a. It can disrupt the functionality of the table
- b. It changes the permissions on access to the table
- c. It makes the table accessible to all users
- d. There is no impact of transferring table ownership
Answer: b. It changes the permissions on access to the table
Explanation: Transferring table ownership affects permissions on access and modifications to the table data that depends on the role and permission level of new owner.
True or False: It’s not possible to restrict the visibility of a table based on the owner.
- Answer: False
Explanation: On contrary, you can set the row-level security in Microsoft Power Platform to restrict visibility of a table based on the owner.
Is it possible to transfer ownership of a table using the PowerApps portal in Microsoft Power Platform?
- a. Yes
- b. No
Answer: a. Yes
Explanation: The PowerApps portal in Microsoft Power Platform provides functionality to change the ownership of a table.
True or False: You can control the privacy level of a table by setting it to private, shared, or public.
- Answer: True
Explanation: Indeed, you can control the privacy level of a table in Microsoft Power Platform, which determines its accessibility by other entities in the organization.
Interview Questions
What is table ownership in Microsoft Power Platform?
Table ownership in Microsoft Power Platform denotes the relationship between tables and it refers to who owns the records in a table. There are two types of table ownership in Power Platform: User or team owned and Organization owned.
In Microsoft Power Platform, what does user or team-owned table mean?
User or team-owned table means that the records within the table are owned by a user or a team. This ownership enables the sharing of records and applying user/team level security to restrict access to these records.
What does organization-owned table mean in the context of Microsoft Power Platform?
Organization-owned table refers to a table whose records are owned by the organization and not by an individual user or team. These records cannot be shared and all users within the organization can view the data based on their role-based security.
How does table ownership influence the security roles in Microsoft Power Platform?
Table ownership provides another layer of access control to the database tables. User or team ownership allows for precise control over who can perform actions on records by assigning security roles to users/teams. In contrast, the organization ownership applies action permissions at a global level, and is defined by the organization’s security roles.
Can you change the ownership from user or team-owned to organization-owned after the table has been created?
No, you cannot change the ownership of a table after it has been created in Microsoft Power Platform. The ownership type is defined at creation and cannot be altered later.
What are Access Teams in relation to table ownership in Microsoft Power Platform?
Access Teams are a feature of user-owned tables in Microsoft Power Platform. They allow for records to be shared with other users beyond the direct owner, providing more flexible collaboration options.
What are the implications of table ownership on business unit structures?
In user or team-owned tables, data access and control are based on the business unit of the user or team. This enables data segregation and controlled access based on organizational hierarchies. In organization-owned tables, data access is independent of business units.
How do you configure table ownership in Microsoft Power Platform?
You can configure table ownership when creating a new table. In the Power Apps portal, go to Data > Tables > New Table and choose either “User or team owned” or “Organization owned” in the Ownership field.
Can you use Power Platform’s audit logging to track changes in table ownership?
No, since the table ownership cannot be changed once a table is created, there’s no need and no option for auditing changes to table ownership.
Can privileges be assigned at the table level in Microsoft Power Platform?
Yes, within the security role settings, privileges like Create, Read, Write, Delete, Append, Append To, Assign, and Share can be defined at the table level. These privileges can differ based on ownership types, i.e., user or team owned vs. organization-owned tables.