Events not firing in Play mode vs design/preview mode

[Mark_Priem]

I have been using a pattern where an output property in a component triggers the OnCheck on a toggle control extensively in one of my apps. 

After working on the app for a while I decided to move the toggles to  a seperate screen. 

This works great in the designer and preview mode, but once the app is published and executed in "run mode", none of the OnCheck events fire, unless I move the toggles to the active screen.

Can someone explain what is happening and why this difference in behavior exists? I can reproduce it every time.

[KrishnaV]

Hi @Mark_Priem ,

ensure that you are resetting the toggle with a global varible as:

Set(varToggle,!varToggle); 

OR 

Set(varToggle,True);
Set(varToggle,False);

I hope this resolved your issue if you see any challenge/need further help please let me know I am always happy to do it for my community.

Regards,
Krishna
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[Mark_Priem]

Hi Krishna,

Thanks for the response, but given it is the output property of a component, it is impossible to set a global variable. You cannot set global variables in components.

Given the output property is on a control that is globally available, it should work, but  apparently the designer and app preview are different from actual runtime.

Regards,

Mark

[KrishnaV]

Hi @Mark_Priem ,

That was my bad I missed the important key word component 😥 I will have to get back to you on this.

I hope this resolved your issue if you see any challenge/need further help please let me know I am always happy to do it for my community.

Regards,
Krishna
If this post helps you give a 👍 and if it solved your issue consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more.

[Mark_Priem]

Hi @KrishnaV 

No worries. The strange thing here is that it works just fine in the designer/preview. Create a new app and you can repro it every time. 

As a work around I move the toggles to the active screen, but it seems to me this should just work. 

Regards, 

Mark

[KrishnaV]

Hi  @Mark_Priem ,

I have created and able to reproduce the same on my side. I agree that it is the only work around by moving togle to active screen.

I don't see any other best way or workaround for this.

I hope this resolved your issue if you see any challenge/need further help please let me know I am always happy to do it for my community.

Regards,
Krishna
If this post helps you give a 👍 and if it solved your issue consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more.

[Guillaume_G]

Hi,

According to the Power Apps team, it is not recommended to trigger toggle controls on a hidden screen (https://twitter.com/R3dKap/status/1278328981775888386).

Also check that the 'enhanced performance for hidden controls' setting is not ON as otherwise your hidden controls are not created until they become visible; you can find this is in the advanced settings of your app.  

You might find this useful too: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/canvas-apps/performance-tips

Hope this helps. 

[Mark_Priem]

Hey @Guillaume_G ,

Thanks for the response and links. I was aware of the hidden control settings and these were indeed off. I'm also not really concerned about the fact that the event doesn't fire on the hidden screen in some occasions. I'm more concerned about the difference in behavior between preview and player. These should be the same. How can we otherwise expect to fully test our app before publishing. New apps ok, but for updates on existing apps this would mean we would have to export and then import and play, before overwriting the current punlished version just to prove everything works in the player the users uses.

Regards,

Mark

[Guillaume_G]

Hi @Mark_Priem ,

Could it be that in preview mode you have used a different route through your screens to get to the screen where your component/property is used (compared to the flow of screens to get to that same screen in runtime mode)? 

Have you tried to play the published app from within the monitor screen to try and debug it?

Thanks,

Guillaume. 

[Mark_Priem]

Hi @Guillaume_G 

No it is easy to reproduce. Just try it out with a new app.

There is a difference between player and editor/preview