Canvas App Combo Box Linked to Sharepoint List of People Showing Wrong Data

[TimHDev]

Hi,

I have a canvas app linked to a Sharepoint list: "MEA Test".

It's an expenses tracking app.

One of the fields in that list is "Manager" which is a Person type field.

I have another Sharepoint list: "MEA Managers" which lists the people who can go in that column.

There are four people in the list. It looks like this:

In my canvas app, I've linked the "Manager" combo box to the MEA Managers list (see "Items"):

But the combo box shows a different list of people, and I don't know why.

When I run the app I get this list instead, I don't know where it comes from:

Does anyone know how to fix this?

Thanks.

[JasonWS]

I may be mistaken, but I think your issue is using Choices(@['MEA Managers'].Person) in the items property. Instead of grabbing the actual values in that SharePoint column, it's instead grabbing four random people in your tenant that can be chosen as a value for that people column.

Instead, try:

Distinct(@['MEA Managers'],Person)

This should grab all of the distinct values in that column.

[TimHDev]

Hi,

thanks for your reply.

That code makes the dropdown look like this...

Any ideas?

[JasonWS]

Check the properties panel, are there available options in the drop down for "Value?" The people picker column is technically an "object," since there are multiple fields within, such as email, name, etc. Changing the Value should change which field within the object is displayed.

[AJ_Z · Accepted solution]

Thanks for sharing loads of great screenshots it made understanding your issue much easier :).

for your combo box items try this:

Distinct(
        [@'MEA Managers'].Person,
        Person.DisplayName
    )

if you need all columns and not just displayname you can do this:

ForAll(
Distinct(
        [@'MEA Managers'].Person,
        Person.DisplayName
    ),
    Value
)

[TimHDev]

Hi, It's a combo-box.
The "Fields" parameter is set to "Person"...

[TimHDev]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

That sort-of-almost works...

Both options shows the same thing: It's got the names of the right people, but it shows each of them twice as if Names & Email were both Name.

However, the more serious problem is that when the form is submitted the Manager data isn't saved into the sharepoint list.

I assume this is because the SP list column "Manager" is "Person" type, but the combo-box is returning a String (DisplayName) in this case.

I need the box to show the list of people, and return a "Person" to be saved in the SP list...

🙂

[AJ_Z]

I just built a dummy app that copies this functionality and it worked perfectly so something else must have been edited on your side that i have not replicated. I used option 2 and it would only work best with that option as all the columns are there behind the scene.

Did you change anything else like the datacard e.g. the update property or something else which has disconnected it/causing it to break. it should not be using a string output unless it has been edited.

Steps I took added the person field to my form. then unlocked the card. next i changed the items property to the second option. then I submitted the form and it worked.

[JasonWS · Accepted solution]

Is the Manager column in your form also a "People" column? I've been trying to get this working by using just the People column from the Manager's table, that way we can choose what we want as the displayed item/items in the combobox, however I can't get it to work. What does work is using the whole Manager SharePoint list as the ComboBox Items property, then set Title as the displayed field.

Assuming your main SharePoint list uses a people column, in the Update property on your form for the Manager field try using ComboBox1.Selected.Person. I just tested this, and it works.

[TimHDev]

Hi Jason,

the first part of that looks good, the combo box looks right.

But I can't find an "Update" property in that list (advanced properties)... If I search it finds nothing...

?