Disable app/hide dataset in gallery for a few minutes on a schedule?

[mnmsymmons]

I have an app accessing SharePoint list data in gallery view. This app has buttons that will kick off patches and flows.

Everyday at roughly 12:02pm a flow will kick off from a report update and update the base data in this app.

Flow then deletes all items in the list and replaces with a new set of items based off the new report. Whilst this is happening there is about 1-2minutes (depending on the amount of data) where the user may see an incomplete set of data which could cause some confusion or they may try to kick off something using data that has been cleared or is no longer valid.

Is there any functionality you can think of in Powerapps to do one of the following (in order of preference):

1. Disable the app everyday from 12:02pm until 12:05pm with some sort of UI message to the user
2. The above without a message to the user
3. From 12:02pm until 12:05pm hide the dataset from the view (not sure if putting it in the 'Items' property will necessarily work if the user hasn't triggered a refresh)

Thanks in advance

[PeteMc]

You could add code to the onstart property to check the time and transfer the user to a information page that has no navigation features. Then add an onstart timer that checks the time every minute and then also transfers user who are already running the app to the same page. On this page you have an onvisible timer that will then return the user to where they originally were (And refresh datasets).

[Anonymous]

Is the PowerApp directly accessing the SharePoint list via the connector in PowerApps or is it calling a Flow to get the data?

• If the list, then perhaps have the Flow set some value somewhere else - another sharepoint list, availability/inavailability of a file (a "lock file" is one wya to look at it), etc to indicate that the Flow is doing its job and the data is unavailable (perhaps even giving an estimate to when it will be).  
  
  The Flow when it starts updating, sets this value, and when its totally complete clears it.  
  
  The PowerApp checks this value PRIOR to trying to load the data.  If its set, it knows to wait or return and error for the user to try later.  If its not set it reads it.
  
  In this way you're not dependent on ensuring that the times are in sync - ie: rescheduling the time the Flow runs has no bearing on whether or not this would work.
  
  
• If the latter, then the Flow could check this value (wherever it is) and instead of returning the data return an error that it is currently unavailable.

Hope this helps!

Brian

[Drrickryp]

Hi @mnmsymmons,
I took a different approach using two timer controls and two textinput boxes. Timer1 will control the clock and   Timer2 will  block the screen and prevent the user from working on the app while the data update is done.  Textinput1 will be an onscreen clock showing the current time.  Textinput2 will set the time to block the screen while the data update is done.  The following are the settings for the controls.
Timer1 properties
Duration- 1000
Repeat- true
AutoStart- true
AutoPause- true
OnTimerEnd- UpdateContext({textbox1:Text(Now(),"[$-en-US] hh:mm:ss")})
OnTimerStart-false
Visible- false
TextInput1// (This is the Clock, shows current time in hrs:Min:Sec)
 Default- "Current time " &textbox1
Textinput2 (trigger for starting Timer2
Default- "12:00:00"
DisplayMode- View
Timer2
Adjust size to cover most of the screen.
Autostart- false
Repeat- false
Text- "App paused for data update.  Returning in  " & Text(Time(0, 0, (Timer1.Duration-Timer1.Value)/1000), "[$-en-US]mm:ss")
Duration- 280000
AutoPause- true
DisplayMode- View
OnTimerEnd- UpdateContext({show:false})
Start- textbox1-Textinput2.Text=0;UpdateContext({show:true})
Visible- show
Explanation:  When the screen becomes visible, Timer1 starts (AutoStart).  The clock (Textinput1) will show current time in Hr:,Min:Sec and update every second (Duration-1000). It will autopause if the user navigates away from the screen. Timer2 will become visible when the two textboxes are equal and starts a countdown.  The Text property of Timer2 shows the countdown and lets the user know how long it will be before the data update is complete  Timer2 covers the screen controls and keeps the user from accessing them.  Timer2 will start when the two Textinput boxes are equal (textInput2=current time).  The duration of the countdown is 280000 milliseconds or 3 minutes.  This can be adjusted for the length of time it takes for the data update to complete. At the end of the countdown, the Context variable, "show" becomes false and Timer2 is hidden until the next time the two TextInput controls become equal.  Pretty nifty if I do say so myself.

[mnmsymmons]

Thank you @PeteMc @Anonymous & @Drrickryp for your great suggestions. Wasn't expecting so many options and detail!

I think I will try a hybrid of the SharePoint List holding the "lock file" info by including an update in the start and end of my Flows and then utilise the textbox to hide all user controls. I will use a timer to periodically refresh this Lock File list.

Taking the disabling of the app from one suggestion and the switching to an actual update time as opposed to a conservative 3mins when it could be a lot less at times.

I'm even tempted to update a % value in the lock file list and show % complete during the update but that's more for being nifty then actually needing it! 

I'll confirm solution once I get working

Thanks

[v-xida-msft]

Hi @mnmsymmons,

Do you want to disable your app from 12:02 pm to 12:05 pm everyday?

I agree with @PeteMc's thought almost. Currently, within PowerApps, there is no direct way to disable an app, as an alternative solution, you could consider navigate the end user to a Non-functionality screen within your app.

When the app is started up, check if the current time is between 12:02 pm and 12:05 pm, if yes, navigate to the Non-functionality screen within your app.

I have made a test on my side, please take a try with the following workaround:

Set the OnStart property or OnVisible of the first screen of your app to following formula:

If(
  Now()>=Today()+Time(12,2,0)&&Now()<=Today()+Time(12,5,0),
  Navigate(Non-Functionality screen,ScreenTransition.Cover)
)

Within the Non-functionality screen, add a Timer control, set the Duration to following:

1000

Set the AutoStart property and Repeat property to following:

true

Set the OnTimerEnd property to following:

If(
  Now()<Today()+Time(12,2,0) || Now()>Today()+Time(12,5,0),
  Navigate(MainScreen,ScreenTransition.Fade)
)

Set the Visible property to following:

false

Best regards,

Kris

[mnmsymmons · Accepted solution]

OK, so here's the solution I have implemented with success.

Flow now triggers a list item to indicate the data refresh is in progressing by updating it's "Running" Boolean field to be true. (this also has some other benefits as I was having issues with flows being initiated twice by local to one drive syncing so I can use the same field to stop second instances). Obviously at the end of the data refresh flow this field returns to false.

I have a text input box covering the entire app with display mode as view, the text with a standard message (see screenshot) and in Visible the following code

If(LookUp(FlowRunning,ID="1",Running)=true,true,false)

Where FlowRunning is my SharePoint list and 1 being the ID of the relevant item.

Then to handle the auto refreshing so I have a timer with Visible set to false, Duration set to 3000ms, Repeat on, Auto start on, Auto pause on and OnTimerEnd set to "Refresh(FlowRunning)"

Seems to work fine so far. Thanks all for your help