Reset depp link - cant navigate after being linked in to an app.

[Oskarkuus]

i am using deep links to navigate users to a screen in my app.

this works great.

but when they are in the app with one of those links that go directly to a screen, then i have problems understanding how to reset the Param() value so that the navigation does not start again when going to the home screen.

i have set it up like this:

https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/powerapps-deep-linking/

So when the users is on the "detail" screen. And press the "return to startpage" button.

Navigate(START)

Then the timer that is located on the startpage is triggered and the jumps back to the detail screen.

how to reset the value so it does not go back?

[WarrenBelz]

Hi @Oskarkuus ,

This should not be a problem if you have set up your navigation to allow for the presence (or not) of the deep linking parameter. I will give you an example of what I do and you can tell me what you do different. Firstly, I am assuming you are selecting a record with the Deep Link? My OnStart looks like this

If(
   !IsBlank(
      Param("MyParam")
   ),
   Set(
      _ID,
      Value(
         Param("MyParam")
      )
   );
   Navigate(EditScreen),
   Navigate(MainMenu)
)
      

Then when I select the record from a Gallery, I do this

Set(_ID, ThisItem.ID);
Navigate(EditScreen)

Then the Item of the EditForm is

Lookup(
   MyListName,
   ID = _ID
)

All navigation and other settings are unaffected whether opened via deep link or not.

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[Oskarkuus · Accepted solution]

Thank you, ill look at your solution.

I solved my problem with a variable in the "onstart".

If(varStopDeepLink=true;false;
If(Not(IsBlank(Param("ID")));
Navigate(DETALJER;None;{BUF:LookUp(BUF_Listan; ID = Value(Param("ID")))}))
)

So when user click on button "go back to main menu screen"

i just run

Set(varStopDeepLink;true)

[WarrenBelz]

Thanks @Oskarkuus ,

Just a different "flavour" of what I do. You just need to have a consistent way of referring to the selected item in the form that does not depend on how you initiate the app. That way, all other elements are unaffected.

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Thumbs Up.

[WarrenBelz]

Hi @Oskarkuus ,

Just checking if you got the result you were looking for on this thread. Happy to help further if not.

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Thumbs Up.

[DCHammer]

I'm bringing this back from the dead for your help Warren. 🙂

I have the navigation working just like you suggest but need a little help in my use case.

There is a 'landing page' that routes navigation to the browse page or outside the app entirely if necessary. This page is being bypassed in the App.StartScreen property with the following:

If(
    Not(IsBlank(Param("itemID"))),
    TicketdetailsPage,
    If(
        User().Email = "user1@somewhere.com" || User().Email = "user2@somewhere.com",
        DashboardPage,
        scrHome
    )
)

I plan to eventually use Office365Users to figure out how is who so I don't have hardcoded email but until then, this works.

My problem, I think, is that this logic processes before the OnStart logic does. So a deep link goes straight to the Details page but since varItem hasn't been set properly by the OnStart logic, no record is displayed.

I tried adding a Set statement into the logic above so the inbound param "itemID" sets the value of varItem here just as it is in OnStart but can't figure out the syntax.

[WarrenBelz]

@DCHammer ,

Yes - StartScreen seems to execute before OnStart and this is a very old post, so things were a bit different 4 years ago. On all of my deep-linked apps, I have the code normally OnStart on OnVisible of either a "landing splash screen" (shows company logo and something like "loading") which is exited on a Timer or on the first screen a deep-linked app lands on.

[DCHammer]

Oh I think I'm following. So move this variable setting logic related to deep links from the App.OnStart to my landingPage.OnVisible.

Do you have an example of how you exit that landingPage with a timer or the next screen? It's not clear to me how I'd do that. I did try moving the logic to my landing page but since I didn't have a way to 'push' through that page if the url includes itemID. 

I'm also not clear on what if anything I should do to the App.StartScreen logic above.

I think I need to draw some things on a white board maybe.

[WarrenBelz]

Hi @DCHammer ,

Simply have the Navigate OnTimerEnd

[DCHammer]

Well I finally figured out why all my efforts to solve this have been for naught. LOL

When a link is generated, it has the itemID parameter set. Once that parameter is in the url, it stays there.

So all of my logic to determine if the parameter is set breaks when the user then decides to navigate away from the page they landed on.

Because the url still contains the param, all of those checks pass and my variable is set to the record referenced in the url.

So can I strip that parameter out of the url once the first page is viewed? I actually have this same bug in two other apps I've built that no one has found until this week. 😉