Can't use SORT or SORTBYCOLUMNS - does NOT like the first column in my SharePoint list.

[AaronTheYoung]

I am trying to sort my gallery and when ever I try to use sort or sortbycolumns, my gallery gets an error saying, "The function 'Sort' has some invalid arguments.

Items = Sort('Office Check-In', DateTimeOfA, Descending)

If I set Items = 'Office Check-In'  the error goes away, so my data source is valid.  Data is being written to it without any problems.  Only when I try to sort do things get messed up.

[AaronTheYoung]

Hmmmm, seems to be a problem with my first column where the data is stored. If I sort by Employee, it works.

Does not like my first column

[AaronTheYoung]

So apparently it doesn't like my first column NAME. If I refer to the column as TITLE, it is all working well. I ran into this with another app I was writing.

What's up with this?  Seems like a bug or am I doing something wrong?

[Drrickryp]

Hi @AaronTheYoung 

Are you certain of the name of the column you are sorting and that it is part of the dataset? Put a button on the screen and ClearCollect(colCheckin,'Office Check-In') and look at the column names in the View>Collections.

[AaronTheYoung]

I'm not using any kind of collection.

[AaronTheYoung]

If I setup the button as you suggest, I can use the column name correctly.

In the collection, the Sharepoint list name appears.

[AaronTheYoung]

It does not like the column name as set in my Sharepoint list. If I use DateTimeOfA instead of Title when I am sorting, it gives me errors:

If I use "Title" as the column name, the errors goes away.

[v-bofeng-msft]

Hi @AaronTheYoung :

Could you tell me :

• Did you rename the column named "Title" of the sharepoint list to "DateTimeOfA"?

If my guess is correct, this is the problem.By default, all SharePoint lists have a column called Title, which is a ‘Single line of text’ and Required column.  You can  rename it and use it differently, but keep in mind that the underlying column will always be called “Title”, which can get confusing if you’re doing anything in PowerApps.

I have a way to verify it:

    1\Add  a button and set it's OnSelect property to:

ClearColect(testcollection,'Office Check-In')

    2\Check the collection named testcollection in File-Collections to see if the DateTimeOfA field exists.

I think this link will help you a lot:

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Power-Apps/Sharepoint-Title-Column/td-p/117227

Best Regards,

Bof

[AaronTheYoung]

Yeah, what you're saying seems to be true based on my testing.  How confusing.

So what type is this column?

I'm actually storing a date in it.  Is this a bad idea?  It seems to make any sorting a problem.

It thinks that 8/11/2020 12:59 AM is not in order with 1:00 PM.  It seems to sort by number only, so of course 12 is greater than 1.  Everything on the day is ordered numerically and pays no attention to AM or PM.

[v-bofeng-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @AaronTheYoung :

The field is "Text" type.

I suggest you use a “Date and Time” field to store the date and time, so that you can sort by date accurately.

Otherwise,there is another method:

Using datetimevalue funciton (I do not recommend this method because it cannot be delegated)

Sort('Office Check-In', DateTimeValue(Title), Descending)

Best Regards,

Bof