Needing to get the value of a lookup column no the record it references

[MikeScott]

I will try to outline my issue as best I can so bear with me. I have seen many related posts, but have yet to find one that helps or covers exactly what I am trying to do. I am developing an app that will be used to conduct meter readings at a local camp ground each month. I have created a few sharepoint lists two of them being Meters and Meter Readings. Meters is a list of the meters on the property along with the Lat/Long coordinates as well as columns for notes and images in case of damage or another issue. The Meter Readings list has columns for meter name, the value of the reading, the date of the reading, and an image of the reading in case of disputes with residents. 

My issue is that in the meter readings list, the MeterName column is a lookup to that meter in the meter list. What I need to do is access the meter name from a galler or text box etc. When i try to do this, it returns the record like normal. My question is how can I get the text value of the row rather than the reference to a record. In my gallery what i want to do is something Like:

ThisItem.MeterName ( if you use ThisItem.MeterName. you get the options of ID or Value neither of which are what i need. )

This returns the record for a meter rather than the text value of that meter name. Is there any way to do this? I am going to attach some images to show the lists in case my explination wasnt clear. Thank you in advance!

[SeanHenderson]

Hi @MikeScott 

Can you please share what the Items property for your nested Meter Readings gallery is?

[MikeScott]

@SeanHenderson 

Item Property of the gallery in the image: 

SortByColumns(Filter('Meter Readings',StartsWith(Title,TextSearchBox1.Text)),"Title",If(SortDescending1,Descending,Ascending))

[v-xida-msft]

Hi @MikeScott ,

Could you please share a bit more about your scenario?

Do you want to display the actual Meter name value within your Gallery rather than the record?

If the MeterName column is LookUp column in your Meter Readings List, and you want to display the actual Meter name value within the Gallery rather than record, please consider set the Text property of the Label in your "Meter Readings" Gallery to following:

ThisItem.MeterName.Value

Please consider take a try with above solution, check if the issue is solved.

Best regards,

[MikeScott]

@v-xida-msft 

Yes thats exactly what im trying to do.

I have made an app that is only 4 screens. In one of the screens i have a gallery that is linked to my 'Meter Readings' list in sharepoint with the fields shown in the earlier attachment. As mentioned the MeterName is a lookup column that references the Meters list also in sharepoint. This is just a comprehensive list of all meters on the property that we would need to take reading for each month. I would like to, from the 'Meter Readings' Gallery, access either the Text value of that item in the MeterName column in 'Meter Readings' OR access the Title column in the Meters list. Both columns have the same data in them. 

For example i want to be able to access "A01" rather than the record that A01 references. No matter how i have gone about trying to accomplish this, i have ran into errors mostly dealing with returning a record rather than a text value. I tried using the lookup function from powerapps to do this but had the same problem when trying to figure out the condition part of the statement. I need to access the Title or MeterName to use in the condition.

I tried 'ThisItem.MeterName.Value' and although the "intellisense" (not sure if thats the proper term in powerapps) suggests Value and i used the suggestion as you mentioned it has an error of "Name isn't valid. This identifier isn't recognized." This is when i started to do some research into other methods to get this done none of which have worked so far. The ID value works and shows the ID or position of the Item in the sharepoint list, but the "Value" value does not work. 

At this point im not sure if its an issue with the way the sharpoint list is set up or if im just using bad logic in PowerApps.

[MikeScott]

My message was marked as spam and deleted after 20 min of trying to explain. is there any way to get that post back? not sure what could have possibly happened to mark it as spam.

[v-xida-msft]

Hi @MikeScott ,

Have you posted same post within this Community for multiple times?

Have you taken a try with the solution I provided above? Is it helpful on our scenario?

Within current post/thread, it is not marked as "spam", you could reply here. If the solution I provided above could achieve your needs, please consider go ahead to click "Accept as Solution" to identify this thread has been solved.

If you post same thread for multiple times in this Community, Community Administrator would delete the additional duplicates, and remain the original one.

More details about why the post has been marked as "Spam", please check the following threads:

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Power-Apps-Formerly/Why-are-my-message-being-marked-as-...

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Power-Apps-Formerly/My-post-was-immediately-marked-as-s...

Best regards,

[MikeScott]

This was my first post on the forums and as soon as i hit submit it loaded the page and was there only to be gone saying that it was removed for spam when i refreshed the page to see if a reply had been posted. not sure what happened tbh. The solution you posted was actually the first thing i tried in powerapps and i couldnt get it to work. i have since just made a new list without any lookup columns and it is working fine however thats a workaround and not production quality like i am wanting and like will be expected in the final product. i am still not any closer to figuring out this issue after 2 days of research. if any more info is needed i am more than happy to provide it.

[v-xida-msft]

Hi @MikeScott ,

Have you enabled "Allow Multiple selections" option for the MeterName column (LookUp column) in your Meter Readings List?

If you have enabled "Allow Multiple selections" option for the MeterName column (LookUp column) in your Meter Readings List, please consider set the Text property of the Label to in your Gallery following:

Concat(ThisItem.MeterName, Value & ";")

If your post would still be redirected to Spam, please consider post a new thread in this Community or ping the Community Admin to help in your issue.

Best regards,

[Gaylen]

@v-xida-msft- we cannot select the "Allow Multiple Selections" option for our column as this option is unavailable under the SharePoint list settings.