Features Guide

Deep dive into PPDS ALM's advanced features.

Smart Import

The import-solution action includes intelligent features that prevent unnecessary deployments and handle transient failures gracefully.

Version Comparison

Before importing, the action:

1. Extracts version from the solution zip file (parses Other/Solution.xml)
2. Queries target environment for the existing solution version
3. Compares versions using semantic version comparison
4. Skips import if target version is same or newer

Why This Matters:

• Prevents redundant deployments
• Saves time when multiple pipelines target the same environment
• Handles concurrent deployment scenarios gracefully

To Disable:

- uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/actions/import-solution@v1
  with:
    solution-path: ./MySolution_managed.zip
    skip-if-same-version: 'false'  # Force import regardless of version

Retry Logic

The import action intelligently retries only transient failures.

Transient Errors (Retried):

• "Cannot start another solution at the same time"
• Concurrent import conflicts
• "Try again later" messages

Deterministic Errors (Fail Immediately):

• File not found
• Missing dependencies
• Access denied
• Invalid solution structure

Retry Behavior:

1. First attempt fails with transient error
2. Wait retry-delay-seconds (default: 300 = 5 minutes)
3. Re-check version before retry (another process may have succeeded)
4. Retry up to max-retries times
5. If version check shows success, skip retry and report success

Configuration:

- uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/actions/import-solution@v1
  with:
    solution-path: ./MySolution_managed.zip
    max-retries: '3'
    retry-delay-seconds: '300'  # 5 minutes between retries

Deployment Settings

The import action supports Power Platform deployment settings files for environment-specific configuration.

What Deployment Settings Configure:

• Connection references
• Environment variables
• Component ownership

Usage:

- uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/actions/import-solution@v1
  with:
    solution-path: ./MySolution_managed.zip
    settings-file: ./config/qa.deploymentsettings.json

Auto-Detection: When using solution-deploy.yml, settings files are auto-detected:

1. ./config/{SolutionName}.{EnvironmentName}.deploymentsettings.json
2. ./config/{SolutionName}.deploymentsettings.json
3. {solution-folder}/../config/{SolutionName}.deploymentsettings.json

Noise Filtering

Power Platform solution exports often contain changes that aren't real customizations - volatile values that change on every export.

The Problem

Without noise filtering, your git history becomes polluted with meaningless commits:

• "Sync solution" - only version timestamp changed
• "Export update" - only session IDs regenerated
• "Nightly sync" - only whitespace differences

This makes it hard to:

• Review actual changes in PRs
• Track when real customizations were made
• Identify the cause of issues

The Solution

The analyze-changes action examines each file change and categorizes it as "noise" or "real".

Noise Patterns Detected:

Pattern	Example	Why It's Noise
Version-only changes	<Version>1.0.0.1</Version>	Auto-incremented on every export
Canvas App URIs	DocumentUri: "...?suffix=abc123"	Random suffix changes each export
Workflow session IDs	workflowName: "session_xxx"	Regenerated every export
Whitespace changes	Trailing spaces, line endings	No functional impact
R100 renames	File renamed, 100% identical content	Git metadata noise
Dependency versions	<MissingDependency> references	System version updates

Usage

# Stage all changes first
- run: git add -A

# Analyze for noise
- id: analyze
  uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/actions/analyze-changes@v1
  with:
    solution-folder: solutions/MySolution/src
    debug: 'false'

# Only commit if real changes exist
- if: steps.analyze.outputs.has-real-changes == 'true'
  run: |
    git commit -m "chore: sync solution from Dev"
    git push

- if: steps.analyze.outputs.has-real-changes == 'false'
  run: |
    echo "No real changes detected - skipping commit"
    git reset HEAD

Solution Checker Integration

PowerApps Solution Checker validates solution quality by analyzing for:

• Unsupported customizations
• Performance issues
• Security vulnerabilities
• Deprecated APIs
• Best practice violations

Severity Levels

Level	Description	Typical Action
Critical	Blocking issues	Must fix before deployment
High	Serious problems	Should fix promptly
Medium	Moderate issues	Review and plan fixes
Low	Minor concerns	Fix when convenient
Informational	Best practices	Consider implementing

Configuration Options

Fail on Different Thresholds:

# Strict: Fail on any High or Critical issue
- uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/actions/check-solution@v1
  with:
    solution-path: ./MySolution_managed.zip
    fail-on-level: High

# Lenient: Only fail on Critical issues
- uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/actions/check-solution@v1
  with:
    solution-path: ./MySolution_managed.zip
    fail-on-level: Critical

Geography Selection:

- uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/actions/check-solution@v1
  with:
    solution-path: ./MySolution_managed.zip
    geography: europe  # or unitedstates, asia, australia, etc.

Build Pipeline

The build actions support full .NET solution compilation with automatic plugin integration.

Plugin Types Supported

Classic Plugin Assemblies:

• Single DLL containing all plugins
• Target: PluginAssemblies/{AssemblyName}-{GUID}/

Plugin Packages (NuGet-based):

• Modern plugin deployment format
• Target: pluginpackages/{PackageId}/package/

Automatic Output Location

The build action finds outputs automatically based on folder conventions:

src/
├── Plugins/                    # Classic plugin projects
│   └── MyProject.Plugins/
│       └── bin/Release/net462/
│           └── MyProject.Plugins.dll  ← Found automatically
├── PluginPackages/             # Plugin package projects
│   └── MyProject.PluginPackage/
│       └── bin/Release/
│           └── MyPackage.1.0.0.nupkg  ← Found automatically
└── Shared/                     # Shared projects
    └── MyProject.Entities/
        └── bin/Release/
            └── MyProject.Entities.dll  ← Found automatically

Best Practices

Use Reusable Workflows for Standard Scenarios

# Simple: use pre-built workflow
jobs:
  deploy:
    uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/workflows/solution-deploy.yml@v1

Use Composite Actions for Custom Scenarios

# Complex: compose your own workflow
jobs:
  custom:
    steps:
      - uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/actions/setup-pac-cli@v1
      - uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/actions/pac-auth@v1
      # ... custom steps ...

Pin Versions in Production

# Development: use major version
uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/workflows/solution-deploy.yml@v1

# Production: pin specific version
uses: joshsmithxrm/ppds-alm/.github/workflows/solution-deploy.yml@v1.0.0