Logistics Form Unsaved False Positive Due to Special Field Customization

[tagustin2020]

@RandyHayes 

Hello Randy,

I'm having false positive Unsaved form issues again in a different form this time, the form our Logistics team uses to process requests.

I believe it is possible due to the Shipping Comments field. I took out the default value field and inserted an html text control. 

Data Card Default:

ThisItem.'Shipping Dept Comments' 

Data Card Update:

valShipComments.HtmlText 

HTML Text Control Default:

LookUp('Shipping Message Templates', Title= ddStatusLS.Selected.Value, Template) 

Is there some logic I can add to the formula below to account for this special field?

If(frmLogistics.Unsaved && frmLogistics.Valid,DisplayMode.Edit,DisplayMode.Disabled) 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Teresa

[RandyHayes · Accepted solution]

Hi @tagustin2020 

Not really...the fact is that your HtmlText property is being set to a value that is not consistent with the Default property.  So, for example, your Default of the datacard (ThisItem.'Shipping Dept Comments') could be nothing/blank and your HtmlText property on the Html control is going to return a template (presumably not nothing/blank).  SO, your Default property no longer will match the Update property and your form will always be considered Unsaved.

I would start by changing your Html control to reflect the underlying column value if it exists.

Coalesce(
    Parent.Default,
    LookUp('Shipping Message Templates', Title= ddStatusLS.Selected.Value, Template) 
)

Now, with that, you will not get Unsaved on existing record. You would still have unsaved for new records or records that are missing a value in that column.

Hopefully that makes sense and is helpful.

[tagustin2020]

@RandyHayes 

Thank you Randy. I entered that formula, but that must not be it as the Save Changes button still isn't working as expected.

Another culprit might be the Tracking Numbers field. I didn't mention it at first because it isn't visible unless the status is changed to Shipped, but here are the formulas at play in that Data Card.

Data Card Default:

ThisItem.'Tracking Number(s)'

Data Card Update:

valTrackingNumbers.Text

Text Value Field Default:

If(varTracking, Concat(colTracking, TrackingNumber, ", "), Parent.Default)

For the sake of my learning "journey" do hidden fields impact the Unsaved Changes property?

Thanks Randy,

Teresa

[RandyHayes · Accepted solution]

@tagustin2020 

The best way to tell what is causing the issue is to use the Fill trick that I showed you.  Set the Fill property of the DataCard to If(Self.Default<>Self.Update, Red, Transparent)

This will work on simply type columns.  Complex types need a little adjustment to get that result.

But, that will show you visually very quickly what is causing it.

As for hidden fields - yes, absolutely they participate in the unsaved property.  Any datacard that "represents" a field in the datasource (hidden or not) will be part of the Unsaved evaluation.  SO...check those too!

Custom datacards (not customized, custom) - the field editor for the form does not distinguish visually, they will all say custom.  But the distinction is, "customized" (as I call it) is any datacard that has been unlocked (still shows as (custom) in the field list) and "Custom" is any datacard that has been added from the "Add a custom card" menu (still shows as (custom) in the field list). 

Anyway...just setting the groundwork for this next statement - Custom datacards do not participate in the Unsaved property.  Customized datacards (again, visible or hidden) do.

[tagustin2020]

@RandyHayes 

Randy, that's a fantastic trick! I'm sorry, I don't recall you telling me that before. I just went through all of our past communications around Unsaved Changes looking for it and wasn't able to find it, but I'll sure be using it from now on. Would you be kind enough to provide the variations for Choice, People and Date fields? I applied the formula to all of my Text fields and got 2 hits as seen below.

Here is the formula I'm using on the Logistics Employee card. 

Data Card Default:

ThisItem.'Logistics Employee'

Data Card Update:

valLogEmpLS.Text

Text Value Field Default:

Office365Users.MyProfileV2().displayName

Here is the information for the Tracking Number(s) card again for the sake of convenience.

Data Card Default:

ThisItem.'Tracking Number(s)'

Data Card Update:

valTrackingNumbers.Text

Text Value Field Default:

If(varTracking, Concat(colTracking, TrackingNumber, ", "), Parent.Default)

I tried this variation based off of the solution you gave me for Shipping Comments, but the card is still red...

Coalesce(Parent.Default, If(varTracking, Concat(colTracking, TrackingNumber, ", ")))

[RandyHayes]

@tagustin2020 

Yes, it was in this post.  It was not directly about this topic, but it is the exact same thing...trying to visually show the datacards that have changes.

Your problem with the Logistics Employee card is with the Text property.  You are not accounting for the underlying record value.  It should be:

Coalesce(Parent.Default, Office365Users.MyProfileV2().displayName)

For the tracking number, that is a little different as it would be based on what is going on with varTracking.  

To cut to the chase, change your Text property of that control to :  Parent.Default

The red *should* go away at that point.  If it doesn't then there is something else at foot.  If it does, then the varTracking is true and is going to override the underlying record value.

See where that gets you.

[RandyHayes]

@tagustin2020 

Oh, and for the other types of columns (Choice, etc.) you have to go inward to the outward - meaning that with the simple formula, we're just on the datacard and are referencing Self (I consider this outward).  To get the choice comparison, we have to go inward to the datacard as we can't compare Default and Update as these are no Records, and PowerApps will not compare a record to a record.

So, for a choice, it would be like this:

   If(ThisItem.ChoiceColumn.Value = yourSelectionControl.Selected.Value, Red, Transparent)

So, in the above we are going to the ThisItem record and a specific column and then to any control that would be supplying a record to Update and using one of its columns to compare.

[tagustin2020]

@RandyHayes 

Thanks Randy. Sorry about that. I should have put 2 and 2 together. Thanks for the Choice variation. Both my Status and Shipping Method data cards turned red.

Status Formulas:

Data Card Default:

ThisItem.Status

Data Card Update:

ddStatusLS.Selected

Combo Box Items:

Choices([@'Domestic Shipping Requests'].Status)

Combo Box DefaultSelectedItems:

Parent.Default

Shipping Method Formulas:

Data Card Default:

ThisItem.'Shipping Method'

Data Card Update:

ddShipMethodLS.Selected

Combo Box Items (Power Apps chose the combo box control, not me):

Choices([@'Domestic Shipping Requests'].'Shipping Method')

Combo Box Default Selected Items:

Parent.Default

When I change the Text property of the Tracking Number(s) field to Parent.Default, the tracking numbers disappear. When I change the Text property of the Employee Name to the Coalesce formula, the Fill is red. I thought working with a Text field would be easier than working with a person field (I tried both), but I guess not...

Teresa

[RandyHayes]

@tagustin2020 

So your formulas look good, so something is afoot!  

Let's pick on Employee Name.

Your Text property of valLogEmpLS should definitely be:

Coalesce(Parent.Default, Office365Users.MyProfileV2().displayName)

The Fill property of the datacard should be:

    If(Self.Default<>Self.Update, Red, Transparent)

The Update property of the DataCard should be: valLogEmpLS.Text 

and the Default property of the datacard should be : ThisItem.'Logistics Employee'

Those last two you mention you have, but just wanted to clarify.

If that is showing red, then we need to determine why. 

To be clear: For a New record, this will show the displayName from the MyProfileV2 action.  For an existing record, this will show the recorded value in the record column, OR, if the underlying record column is blank, then it will again show the displayName from the MyprofileV2 action.

Are we working with a new record or an existing record?

[tagustin2020]

@RandyHayes 

Hi Randy,

Those are the formulas I have in place. I assume you mean that I should enter the Coalesce formula into the Default property of the value field since I don't see a Text property.

My Logistics form defaults to View mode. OnVisible formula:

UpdateContext({EditLogForm: false}); ViewForm(frmLogistics); SetFocus(txtBarcode); Set(varTracking, false); Set(varDeleteConfirm, false); Set(varPlaySpinner, false)

The OnSelect property for the Edit Request button is:

EditForm(frmLogistics);UpdateContext({EditLogForm:true});SetFocus(txtBarcode);

Not sure if that helps at all. I know it is getting late where you are. Perhaps we could follow-up tomorrow. Thanks so much for hanging in there with me. 

Teresa