Problems with getting a form to do edit and new

[Geosharp]

Hey there,

I've dabbled in powerapps for a while, but when opportunity arose to do a project in it I went for it as it'd force me to learn more, but it seems my knowledge and google-fu have now ran out.....

I'm converting a fairly complex paper form into a powerapp. I figured it'd be easier if I made a sharepoint list and customised the lists form - I do plan to do it all in powerapps with the dataverse (who came up with that name btw, makes me cringe every time I say it) but that's version 2 - so I did that. The form is long enough that i've had to split it over multiple screens, meaning the built in 'Save' button wouldn't work, so I had to use Patch to create the record.

The staff who'd asked me to do this also needed staff to only see records they'd created, so I turned on the draft approval option in the sharepoint list - I have since discovered this doesn't play ball with flows so turned that off.

So, this leads me to my problem. The form works, it patch's a new record in and all is good. However, if I refresh the list and click on an existing record, or get someone else to click it, all the form objects beyond the first appear blank. I can see the data is still there in the list, but the form appears fresh and new (see screenshot).

Now, i'm assuming this is because I have all the form objects in powerapps set to have their Default as 'New' as I need to do that for creating a record. I'd assumed powerapps/sharepoint would be smart and have some built in logic to realise when I was opening an existing form (why I chose to customise a sharepoint list if i'm honest) but it appears I was wrong? Or have I missed something/broke something along the way?

Any help appreciated 🙂

[RandyHayes · Accepted solution]

@Geosharp 

The first thing is, don't use the Patch function to do form splitting - you will lose the capabilities of the Form itself...which is a waste of features that are quite valuable to what you are doing.  I would recommend taking a look at this video on splitting forms Properly without losing functionality.  I know it is often provided as a solution and it is often sited in videos to Patch, but it is a bad thing to do with a form control as it will not support attachments and, again, you will lose the functionality of the forms that provide a tremendous amount of features for you.

As for the issue you are seeing, the forms will not assume what mode they should be in.  They should be connected by mode.  Again, if you review that video you will see how the forms really all end up in Edit mode and the Item property then governs how the data is shown.

If you are doing this as a SharePoint integration app, the video does not address that specifically, but instead as a standalone app, but it is very easy to implement in integration.  

I would be happy to answer any questions on that process should you have them.

I hope this is helpful for you.

[Geosharp]

Hey there,

First - thank you for the quick reply! I may end up watching some more of that video series, it looks like it may be useful.

I've managed to watch the video but not actually try putting it into practice - I think I just need to work out how to have the stuff he attaches to the + button to happen when someone clicks the 'New' button on the sharepoint list - maybe the 'OnNew' property of SharePointIntegration?

I'll try it tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

Cheers 🙂

[RandyHayes]

@Geosharp 

Take a look at this post from this week where I addressed using this method with SharePoint Integration.

Specifically Message #6 in the thread (and a correction to a typo in that message in #10) .  There I explain the formulas needed in each of the Integration actions to make it work.

[Geosharp]

Hey there,

Thank you for that, i've had a read of the posts you mentioned - seems to make sense 🙂

I've implemented it, and I think it's working, but it's throwing an error when I hit submit ''An entry is required or has an invalid value' - I suspect this is due to some of the other things i've got going on on the form so i'm just trying to nail down what's going wrong - following on from that as an aside, do you have any idea how you can use the Monitor tool for a sharepoint form that's live? Obviously it doesn't work in play mode due to it being powered by the SharepointIntegration custom stuff, but I can't work out how to get it to track the live form. - scratch that, fudged it with buttons.

Cheers 🙂

[RandyHayes]

@Geosharp 

So if you're seeing an error because of a required column - check your list settings in SharePoint and make sure you don't have anything required (assuming your app will be the primary consumer of the list).  

If you find that there are and you change them, then refresh the datasource in your app and then, you might even have to then remove and add the column back into the form that was previously required.

[Geosharp]

Hey there,

The problem was as I thought with one of the custom cards I had - owing to how i'd done it it wasn't duplicating over to the master form.

I've marked your original reply a the solution asit clearly is working - i've just got some custom cards I need to work out how to get to work with the edit/view bit.

Thank you for your help, it really is appreciated as i'm entirely learning Powerapps through trial, error (and oh boy is there a lot of that), google and people like you 🙂

I may well be seeking help again if I get stuck with the custom cards 😄

Cheers!

[RandyHayes]

@Geosharp 

Good deal.  Keep it super simple!  There are a lot of ways to do things in PowerApps.  If you think "developer" you will write a lot of formulas and spin a lot of wheels and time.  If you think "Excel formulas" you will finish quickly and easily.

For forms, check out my video on Forms.  It will tell you pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about them and more than you ever thought possible.  The important part with them...Keep them Simple!  Avoid custom datacards unless there is a real particular need.

And as always, post back if you run into problems.

[AutoKris]

Hi, worst experience ever with MS Power Apps! I was trying the simplest Integrate Power Apps with a MS Lists, so I can customize the New Item and Edit Item Form in Lists. So much struggle, need to clear cache all the time to see effects. Couple hours of development wasted. Then when my Form is customized again issues similar as described above, in SharePoint view all works fine, in MS Lists app view everything works fine, but where it is needed meaning in MS Teams Tab view the Edit list item button does not show the form, nothing is being shown, just clicking the edit button and nothing is happening! Demotivating to use Power Apps.