Solved: DOUBT

Gorilla_8 · ‎04-27-2022

Why do you have object names with @ in front and names without the @?

For example: there is '@Form1' and 'Form1'?

Thank you very much!

AsanKani · ‎04-27-2022

Hi, @Gorilla_8

That is identifier.... read below (@ mention called as Disambiguation operator)

Identifier names

The names of variables, data sources, columns, and other objects can contain any Unicode.

Use single quotes around a name that contains a space or other special character.
Use two single quotes together to represent one single quote in the name. Names that don't contain special characters don't require single quotes.

Here are some example column names you might encounter in a table, and how they're represented in a formula:

Column name in a database Column reference in a formula

SimpleName	SimpleName
NameWith123Numbers	NameWith123Numbers
Name with spaces	'Name with spaces'
Name with "double" quotes	'Name with "double" quotes'
Name with 'single' quotes	'Name with ''single'' quotes'
Name with an @ at sign	'Name with an @ at sign'

Double quotes are used to designate text strings.

Display names and logical names

Some data sources such as SharePoint and Microsoft Dataverse have two different names to refer to the same table or column of data:

Logical name - A name that is guaranteed to be unique, doesn't change after being created, usually doesn't allow spaces or other special characters, and isn't localized into different languages. As a result, the name can be cryptic. These names are used by professional developers. For example, cra3a_customfield. This name may also be referred to as schema name or just name.
Display name - A name that is user-friendly and intended to be seen by end users. This name may not be unique, may change over time, may contain spaces and any Unicode character, and may be localized into different languages. Corresponding to the example above, the display name may be Custom Field with space in between the words.

Since display names are easier to understand, Canvas apps will suggest them as choices and not suggest logical names. Although logical names aren't suggested, they can still be used if typed indirectly.

For example, imagine you've added a Custom Field to a table in Dataverse. A logical name will be assigned for you by the system, which you can modify only when creating the field. The result would look similar to:

When authoring a reference to a field of Accounts, the suggestion will be made to use 'Custom Field' since this is the display name. Single quotes must be used because this name has a space in it:

After selecting the suggestion, 'Custom Field' is shown in the formula bar and the data is retrieved:

Although it isn't suggested, we could also use the logical name for this field. This will result in the same data being retrieved. Single quotes are required since this name doesn't contain spaces or special characters:

Behind the scenes, a mapping is maintained between the display names seen in formulas and the underlying logical names. Since logical names must be used to interact with the data source, this mapping is used to convert from the current display name to the logical name automatically and that is what is seen in the network traffic. This mapping is also used to convert back to logical names to switch into new display names, for example, if a display name changes or a maker in a different language edits the app.

Note

Logical names are not translated when moving an app between environments. For Dataverse system table and field names, this should not be a problem as logical names are consistent across environments. But any custom fields, such as cra3a_customfield in this example above, may have a different environment prefix (cra3a in this case). Display names are preferred as they can be matched against display names in the new environment.

Name disambiguation

Since display names aren't unique, the same display name may appear more than once in the same table. When this happens, the logical name will be added to the end of the display name in parenthesis for one of more of the conflicting names. Building on the example above, if there was a second field with the same display name of Custom Field with a logical name of cra3a_customfieldalt then the suggestions would show:

Name disambiguation strings are added in other situations where name conflicts occur, such as the names of table, choices, and other Dataverse items.

Disambiguation operator

Some functions create record scopes for accessing the fields of table while processing each record, such as Filter, AddColumns, and Sum. Field names added with the record scope override the same names from elsewhere in the app. When this happens, you can still access values from outside the record scope with the @ disambiguation operator:

To access values from nested record scopes, use the @ operator with the name of the table being operated upon using this pattern:
Table[@FieldName]
To access global values, such as data sources, collections, and context variables, use the pattern [@ObjectName] (without a table designation).

More info / above data collect form Operators and Identifiers in Power Apps - Power Apps | Microsoft Docs

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways or you liked the post and want to show some appreciation, please give it a Thumbs Up.

View solution in original post

Drrickryp · ‎04-27-2022

@Gorilla_8

Disambiguation when column names are the same in different data sources in the same formula.

Gorilla_8 · ‎04-27-2022

@Drrickryp

What do you mean, I don't understand

AsanKani · ‎04-27-2022

Hi, @Gorilla_8

That is identifier.... read below (@ mention called as Disambiguation operator)

Identifier names

The names of variables, data sources, columns, and other objects can contain any Unicode.

Use single quotes around a name that contains a space or other special character.
Use two single quotes together to represent one single quote in the name. Names that don't contain special characters don't require single quotes.

Here are some example column names you might encounter in a table, and how they're represented in a formula:

Column name in a database Column reference in a formula

SimpleName	SimpleName
NameWith123Numbers	NameWith123Numbers
Name with spaces	'Name with spaces'
Name with "double" quotes	'Name with "double" quotes'
Name with 'single' quotes	'Name with ''single'' quotes'
Name with an @ at sign	'Name with an @ at sign'

Double quotes are used to designate text strings.

Display names and logical names

Some data sources such as SharePoint and Microsoft Dataverse have two different names to refer to the same table or column of data:

Logical name - A name that is guaranteed to be unique, doesn't change after being created, usually doesn't allow spaces or other special characters, and isn't localized into different languages. As a result, the name can be cryptic. These names are used by professional developers. For example, cra3a_customfield. This name may also be referred to as schema name or just name.
Display name - A name that is user-friendly and intended to be seen by end users. This name may not be unique, may change over time, may contain spaces and any Unicode character, and may be localized into different languages. Corresponding to the example above, the display name may be Custom Field with space in between the words.

Since display names are easier to understand, Canvas apps will suggest them as choices and not suggest logical names. Although logical names aren't suggested, they can still be used if typed indirectly.

For example, imagine you've added a Custom Field to a table in Dataverse. A logical name will be assigned for you by the system, which you can modify only when creating the field. The result would look similar to:

When authoring a reference to a field of Accounts, the suggestion will be made to use 'Custom Field' since this is the display name. Single quotes must be used because this name has a space in it:

After selecting the suggestion, 'Custom Field' is shown in the formula bar and the data is retrieved:

Although it isn't suggested, we could also use the logical name for this field. This will result in the same data being retrieved. Single quotes are required since this name doesn't contain spaces or special characters:

Behind the scenes, a mapping is maintained between the display names seen in formulas and the underlying logical names. Since logical names must be used to interact with the data source, this mapping is used to convert from the current display name to the logical name automatically and that is what is seen in the network traffic. This mapping is also used to convert back to logical names to switch into new display names, for example, if a display name changes or a maker in a different language edits the app.

Note

Logical names are not translated when moving an app between environments. For Dataverse system table and field names, this should not be a problem as logical names are consistent across environments. But any custom fields, such as cra3a_customfield in this example above, may have a different environment prefix (cra3a in this case). Display names are preferred as they can be matched against display names in the new environment.

Name disambiguation

Since display names aren't unique, the same display name may appear more than once in the same table. When this happens, the logical name will be added to the end of the display name in parenthesis for one of more of the conflicting names. Building on the example above, if there was a second field with the same display name of Custom Field with a logical name of cra3a_customfieldalt then the suggestions would show:

Name disambiguation strings are added in other situations where name conflicts occur, such as the names of table, choices, and other Dataverse items.

Disambiguation operator

Some functions create record scopes for accessing the fields of table while processing each record, such as Filter, AddColumns, and Sum. Field names added with the record scope override the same names from elsewhere in the app. When this happens, you can still access values from outside the record scope with the @ disambiguation operator:

To access values from nested record scopes, use the @ operator with the name of the table being operated upon using this pattern:
Table[@FieldName]
To access global values, such as data sources, collections, and context variables, use the pattern [@ObjectName] (without a table designation).

More info / above data collect form Operators and Identifiers in Power Apps - Power Apps | Microsoft Docs

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways or you liked the post and want to show some appreciation, please give it a Thumbs Up.