Newbie - Sharepoint List form without using Powerapps 'form'...... Is this a good approach?!

[jimbobshandy]

Hi there,

As the title suggests I'm a powerapps newbie.

I have a need to create an improved form layout for a Sharepoint list with 90 columns... I tried the approach of customising the form in PowerApps but the 'form' control is a pig to do mass formatting changes. My client is very picky on the layout and I will need to do lots of changes until they are happy; it appears very difficult to do bulk changes rapidly as you can't multi select within the form control. I have researched this a fair bit and am convinced a better way for me to go is building the form from scratch - adding my own dropdowns, text boxes etc.

The bit I'm struggling with is the 'context' and integration with sharepoint. 

How do I tell it to launch my completely custom form (that doesn't use the powerapps 'form'!) and provide the context for a particular item - e.g. so it knows which list item to display in the edit form? Maybe there is a video that explains this approach (I haven't found one which suggests this is not a good approach!).

If I'm making this complicated, please let me know! Although, I'm happy to take the longer route for improved Powerapps knowledge that will benefit me in the long term!

Thanks in advance 🙂

[Silvester]

Hello @jimbobshandy ,
If i get you right, you want to use your custom PowerApps form that you created in place of the one generated with SharePoint right?
I think you just need to delete the old form, and put the custom one in its place. But mind you, when using the custom form, you can't do a SubmitForm, you will have to use Patch function to save the data to the SharePoint list. I suggest these videos for a start
https://youtu.be/yT4gGVunU0o
https://youtu.be/aVEaRpAlaTA

[Mink21]

Hi @jimbobshandy 

It's not a bad approach if you have that many columns and need some customising.

If I understood correctly, you need a way for the Dropdowns and TextInputs to show your data. To do this you'll have to use the Default property of all the fields.
Let's say you have a gallery with all the items in your Shp list. You can use a button (or icon) for each register where you can write the following code:

Select(Parent);
Set(varSelectedRegister, ThisItem);
Navigate(EditScreen)

This way you'll have the record you want to edit in the variable.

On the EditScreen you'll have to set the Default property of every TextInput and Dropdown to:
varSelectedRegister.TheNameOfTheColumn

Once everything is edited, you'll need to use Patch to save the changes. If you need help with that let me know.

I hope this helps!

[jimbobshandy]

Thanks for your response - I was hoping to avoid the use of the gallery as the user likes the Sharepoint list interface where they can set their own views etc. Does not using the gallery make it very difficult to define the item context? The gallery certainly seems to make things easier so it is a shame I can't really use it.

I've watched a few videos on the patch function but haven't put it into practice yet (i'm stuck on generating the form with the existing values) - but I think I'm sorta ok on that one - we'll see though!!!

ps. I should have added that the list items already exist; the users won't be adding items, just editing the existing ones.