General Question/Ideas --> check if user entered values or edited things

[thsteh]

Hello,

I have a Canvas App linked to a Dataverse Table,

in the App the user can edit Values (Project Status Tracking),

I've more or less finished the user Interface now.

My question -  how do you guys check if a user did changes on the values?

1. to know if patching is required

2. to prevent user deleting entered values unintentionally (in my case i have a next button to load next row of Content)

"simplest" but not effective way is prob. to compare Input boxes with Dataverse values,

but is there something "global" - for example - just check if user clicked things or did hit keyboard, or something like that?

best Regards

Thomas

[Amik]

Hi @thsteh - the best and simplest method in my opinion is to use a Form control to validate changes.

Two key properties of a DataCard are the Default and Update properties.

You can check whether Default property and Update properties of the DataCard shares the same value. If they do not, then you can visually demonstrate to the user what has and has not been changed from the existing data held in the Form.

For example, I could set the BorderColor property of the DataCard to Color.Red when a change has been made to a Text field:

If(
    Self.Default <> Self.Update && Parent.Mode = FormMode.Edit,
    Color.Red,
    Color.Transparent
)

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Imran-Ami Khan

[thsteh]

thx for your input, def. makes sense 🙂

what if working with custom formular, not with form editor?

[AndrewR1 · Accepted solution]

Hi @thsteh  there are multiple way you could achieve this: 
1. Track Changes in Input Fields: One straightforward approach is to compare the current values in the input fields with the original values fetched from the Dataverse table. You can create a variable for each input field that stores the original value and then compare it to the current value when needed. If the current and original values differ, you'll know changes have been made.

OnVisible: UpdateContext({ OriginalValue: DataTable.Selected.Value })

Then, you can use a formula like this to determine whether changes have been made:

!IsBlank(DataTable.Selected.Value) && DataTable.Selected.Value <> OriginalValue

2. Using a Dirty Flag: Implement a "dirty flag" variable that gets set to true whenever a change is made. You can use this flag to determine whether changes have been made that require saving or patching.

OnChange or OnSelect: UpdateContext({ IsDirty: true })

And then, use the IsDirty variable to control actions like enabling/disabling buttons.
3. Keyboard or Interaction Event Tracking: You can use the OnKeyDown or OnTextInput events to trigger a flag indicating that the user is interacting with the app. However, this approach might not be very precise, as it would trigger even if the user is just navigating through fields.

OnKeyDown or OnTextInput: UpdateContext({ IsUserInteracting: true })

Keep in mind that this approach might require more detailed implementation to correctly detect user interactions.

4. Saving Unchanged Data: If you're concerned about data loss due to accidental deletion while navigating through records, you can implement an approach where you save the data for the current record before moving to the next record, regardless of whether changes were made. This way, even if the user accidentally navigates away from the record, the entered data remains saved.

These strategies can be used in combination to create a comprehensive mechanism for tracking changes and interactions in your Canvas App. Choose the approach that best fits your app's workflow and user experience while ensuring data integrity and user-friendly behavior.

[Amik · Accepted solution]

@thsteh same concept. You will need to compare proposed/changed value with the existing saved/default value.

As a simple example, suppose we want to change the BorderColor property for a Text Input control if the Default value is different from the entered value. For the Default property of the Text Input control, we have:

Gallery1.Selected.'Some Text Field'

And then in the BorderColor property, we can use:

If(
    Gallery1.Selected.'Some Text Field' <> Self.Text,
    Color.Red,
    Color.Transparent
)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If I have answered your question, please mark your post as Solved. Remember, you can accept more than one post as a solution.

If you like my response, please give it a Thumbs Up.

Imran-Ami Khan

[thsteh]

Thanks for your ideads and Inputs!