Dropdown not displaying default

[SamGibbs]

Hi all,

Hopefully something simple as it is behaviour that I have used before.

I have an edit form, with the item property set to 'CurrentRole' (selected in a gallery). I want to use a dropdown on the datacards. Previously I have set this up, with the default property of the dropdown set to 'CurrentRole.fieldname' and then populated the items property of the dropdown with the options that I want availible.

However on this occassion, the dropdown is defaulting to the first item in the items property list - I have tried recreating the form, copying from a working example, but can't get it to work. Is there anything obvious to check when trying to use a dropdown like this?

[RandyHayes · Accepted solution]

@SamGibbs 

First, be clear...this is a Dropdown control and not a ComboBox?  They are vastly different.

For a Dropdown, the only requirement for matching a value is to make sure the the value in your Default Exactly matches (Text to Text) an Item in your Items records.  Be aware of any letter case or extra spaces as they will impact the default selection.

I hope this is helpful for you.

[James_McKie]

You'll see this if the default value isn't in the list of Allowed Values for the dropdown

[RandyHayes]

@James_McKie 

Actually, only a DataCard has an AllowedValues property and only if the Allowed Values control type is chosen in the Field chooser for a form.  Once that is chosen, PowerApps will automatically set the Items property of the Dropdown to Parent.AllowedValues.  If you've removed that formula and replaced with something else (as @SamGibbs mentioned was done), then AllowedValues is an ignored property.

[SamGibbs]

Hi - thanks for responding.

It is a dropdown, not a combobox.

I have taken the list of options directly from the data source (Grade 1, Grade 2, etc.) These have been added to the items property of the dropdown (adding the [ ], ", and commas as needed). The default is then set to the same variable as the form the data card is in 'CurrentRole' plus the field name so CurrentRole.Grade. It still shows the first one on the list.

One slight workaround is to set the items property of the dropdown directly to the datasource with a distinct formula so Distinct(SourceName,Grade). This works in this example as all of the grades have been used, but would not if some were missing - so I would prefer the other option to work!

[SamGibbs]

Immediate update - it was the case of the entries.... I had taken them from different places with Grade 6 vs GRADE 6 making all the difference! Thanks @RandyHayes - so obvious I missed it

[Moksha]

In some cases, I have found it necessary to Reset(the dropdown) after the Default variable has been updated.

Example:

UpdateContext:(conValue:"New Value that matches an Item"});

Reset(drpDownControl)