Power App Canvas App Leveraging Dataverse Lookup field to User Table Not Searching in Power App/Random Questions

[trstrean]

Hello all,

I'm relatively new to using dataverse within my canvas apps and have been primarily using Sharepoint, so hopefully, these are easy question for someone to answer.  My environment is GCC which does often mean things work a little differently.  

I have a dataverse table that I added a lookup column using the User table.  Within dataverse, this works perfectly (even if the formatting is different than how SharePoint would display the name).  Next I created a canvas app and added the dataverse table as a source, created a page and added a classic form linked to the dataverse table which imported all of the fields (accept the person selection fields) and then added the missing fields.  Here is where things stopped working (even though not adding the people fields seems to be an issue as they should have been since my forms/views all include them).  When I select a person field it shows me Item 1, Item 2, etc.  I went into the settings of the field to confirm it set to Full Name and it is.  Went back into play and then nothing shows up.  Closed the app, came back in and the same issue, blank search field with no options even though I changed nothing and only viewed how it was setup.  Didn't even unlock the field.

Now I added a new style form, and the people field shows #,#,# as my list of options to select.  Again, checked to see how the field is set and moved Full Name to the top.  Played the app and now I see the list of people, however, it seems to be limited to the first couple of hundred people (doesn't get past the As).  If I search for a name that begins with anything other than A, nothing is displayed.  

I also tried using the Entra table instead of the User table, and I have the same issues.  Is there a trick to getting these people lookup fields working within canvas apps?

While that is my primary question, I should also add that the date fields function strangely.  In dataverse, I set date fields to date only but when I add the form it includes time and doesn't submit updates.  I tried adjusting the cards but the canvas app seems to believe time is necessary to submit to dataverse so removing time didn't resolve the issue.  When I went back into dataverse and changed the dates to date and time the form started working.  So, I guess I fixed it, but I would have though the form would just work with date only.  

Last question I have is regarding dataverse attachment fields.  When I created the table, I checked the box for attachments.  Didn't do anything else (for examples, I didn't add a file field) and when I added the form control within Power Apps, I selected the attachment field which works flawlessly for multiple attachments.  However, I can't find that field within the table.  If I wanted to add/edit those attachments within dataverse, how do I access it?

I'd like to leverage a model driven and canvas app as part of this build, so I need to find a solution that works for both approaches.

Thanks!

[BCLS776]

You've got a pile of questions in here, but I'll try to tackle the ones that I think are hanging you up:

First, the dates. A Dataverse date only column doesn't require time and instead will treat the date as though it always occurs at midnight. Make sure the Update property of that form card provides a valid date and not simply a string that looks like a date. If in doubt, use the DateValue() function to make sure it is providing a valid date.

For a related (lookup) column, make sure the Update property of its card is providing a valid record reference. This may mean using the LookUp() function on the Users table to identify the User with the matching email address, for example.

As you've noticed with your combobox on the User field, there are always a bunch of extra users with unusual names frequently starting with #. These are system-generated or added service principals in the environment and you'll likely want to filter those out of your combobox choices so users don't need to choose from them. On the topic of the Users table itself, only in the Default environment will all tenant users be included in the list. In other environments, users must be deliberately added and given a security role, which the Power Apps service does upon sharing an app with them. If you're using environments other than Default (and you should be doing this) and wondering where are all your users, that's what is happening. You can manually add users to the environment in the Power Platform Admin Center and then they will appear in the Users table.

That's a start, and it may be helpful to you and others to break this into separate posts for the forum.

Hope that helps,

Bryan

[trstrean]

I think the question I have is whether people in a normal tenant (not GCC) observe that things just work when using forms within canvas apps?  With a SharePoint list inside of a canvas app, adding a form just works for all SharePoint fields without out any edits.  

The problem I'm running into with the User/Microsoft Entra ID table appears to be similiar to a delegation issue in that only the first 500 people are viewable.  The environment has been shared across my organization and all users are visible within the dataverse table when adding records.  It's only within the forms of Power Apps that searching is limited to the first 500 entires. For the classic form, it also just doesn't appear to work for those fields and appears this way: 

Adjusting the User one makes it blank like the Entra one.  Within the modern form, after a small adjustment of what is displayed, they are searchable up to the first 500 entries.  

I hope that helps explain the issue a little better.  

[BCLS776]

The 500 row delegation limit is a known limitation of the modern control set. For that reason, I frequently use the classic combobox, which can search/handle more than 500 rows.

Please make sure the security role you will be assigning to your users has appropriate permissions on the Users and your new table. To use the form control, they need to have permission to read the Users table at an org level, which sounds like it is configured. In addition, the security role will need read/write/update access at at least the user level on the new table. This can be configured through the Power Platform Admin Center. 

As for the useability of a form control with Dataverse tables immediately after creation - In my experience, it will function, but it may not be the desired function for your use case. Modifying the form properties to achieve a set of business rules or desired user experience is a common thing to do.

Bryan

[trstrean]

I wasn't aware of the 500 limit on the modern controls.  I normally don't use those as I don't like the limits on configuration options.  I only use them to test as sometimes they work differently than the classic form.  Everything is configured correctly for the environment.  For now though, its really just me testing things so it isn't a concern right now whether it will work for others.

It sounds like my issue might just be how the tenant/environment are configured for use with dataverse.  Whether a modern form or classic form, neither works correctly once linked to a dataverse table that leverages a Lookup field to the User or Entra table.  No matter how many times I adjust the classic forms data cards, I can't display the list of users.  It will display the selection made within dataverse, so at least that is working.  Unless someone has a suggestion, I think I'm heading back to SharePoint data sources.

[trstrean · Accepted solution]

I found a strange workaround for this situation.  I often use the calendar control from the Microsoft Teams Power App environment as it provides some improved functionality over the standard Power App environment.  I built a test app in the Teams environment and created the same User and Entra linked fields.  I assumed the Teams environment controls wouldn't have the 500 row limit, and was correct.  When I replaced the classic data card combo box with the Teams variant, everything started working.  I can search and save without issues now!  I hope this helps someone else with that same issue.