Create and Modify Virtual Tables by Using the Data Workspace
🌐 Create and Modify Virtual Tables by Using the Data Workspace
📌 Introduction
Virtual Tables enable organizations to access data from external systems directly within Microsoft Dataverse without physically storing or replicating the data. This approach helps maintain a single source of truth while allowing users to work with external information inside Power Platform applications.
Using the Power Pages Data Workspace, developers and makers can easily create and manage virtual tables connected to external systems such as SQL Server, SharePoint, Microsoft Fabric, Salesforce, and Oracle.
🎯 What Are Virtual Tables?
Virtual Tables provide real-time access to external data without storing the data in Microsoft Dataverse.
- ✔ No data replication required
- ✔ Access live external data
- ✔ Reduce storage consumption
- ✔ Support Create, Read, Update, and Delete operations (based on source capabilities)
- ✔ Centralized data access across systems
🔌 Supported Connectors
The Data Workspace currently supports the following external data providers:
| Connector | Availability |
|---|---|
| SQL Server | General Availability |
| SharePoint | General Availability |
| Microsoft Fabric | Preview |
| Salesforce | Preview |
| Oracle | Preview |
💡 Virtual Tables display live information directly from the source system, ensuring users always access the latest available data.
➕ Create a New Virtual Table
Navigation
Power Pages › Edit Site › Data Workspace › + Table → New Table From External Data- 1 Open the Data Workspace.
- 2 Select + Table.
- 3 Click New Table From External Data.
- 4 Select an existing connection or click Add Connection.
- 5 Configure the external source connection.
- 6 Configure virtual table properties and create the table.
🔗 Configure External Data Connection
Depending on the selected connector, you'll be asked to provide connection information.
| Connector | Required Information |
|---|---|
| SharePoint | Site URL and List Name |
| SQL Server | Server, Database, Authentication Details |
| Salesforce | Organization and Login Credentials |
| Oracle | Server and Database Information |
⚙️ Configure Virtual Table Properties
Before creating the virtual table, review and update the following properties:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Display Name | Friendly name shown to users. |
| Plural Name | Plural version of the table name. |
| Schema Name | Unique system name used internally. |
| Primary Field | Main identifying column for records. |
🔑 Carefully review schema names before creating virtual tables, as changing them later can impact integrations and applications.
🚀 Benefits of Virtual Tables
- ✔ Real-time access to external data
- ✔ No duplication of records
- ✔ Reduced Dataverse storage consumption
- ✔ Simplified integration architecture
- ✔ Improved data consistency across systems
🎉 Conclusion
Virtual Tables provide a powerful way to integrate external data sources into Microsoft Dataverse without replicating data. Using the Power Pages Data Workspace, organizations can quickly connect systems such as SQL Server, SharePoint, Microsoft Fabric, Salesforce, and Oracle while maintaining real-time access to business information.
By leveraging Virtual Tables, businesses can build scalable, data-driven solutions while reducing storage requirements and ensuring consistent access to external data across the Microsoft Power Platform ecosystem.