Sending push notifications inside If statement not working

[turnbeNZ]

Hi

I have an App that uses the reusable GeoFence conponent, that works fine. The app is a location check in/ out app so when you're in the GeoFence it allows check in, etc

What I'm trying to do is if the person forgets to check out, and they leave the geofence, the app sends them a PushNotification to say, "hey you might have forgotten to check out.."

Since there is no nice way to do this I have a timer control on the screen with the duration set to 5min, restart=true, autostart=true, this is all good.

In the "OnTimerEnd" property I have the following code

If(
    CheckinStatus = true And NotificationSent=false And GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = false Or GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius=false,
    PowerAppsNotification.SendPushNotification(
        {
            recipients: [UEmail],
            message: "You have moved out of the campus zone, but are showing as being checked in, please update your status."
        }
    );
    Set(NotificationSent,true),
    Set(NotificationSent,false);
);

• CheckinStatus is set when they tap the check in button.
• NotificationSent, is used so I have a flag to only send them one push notification and not one every 5 minutes
• UEmail, is a variable I'm storing User().Email in

The current situation with this is, when I travel out of "StevenHouse" radius, the state of "GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius" changes to false as expected, the timer gets to its duration of 5 minutes, and it runs the If statement but the push notification doesnt happen, however it does set the "NotificationSent" variable correctly to true....

I have double checked the app id is correct in the setup of the pushNotification connection.

If I put a button on the form with the onselect property to be as follows the push notification works

    PowerAppsNotification.SendPushNotification(
        {
            recipients: [UEmail],
            message: "You have moved out of the campus zone, but are showing as being checked in, please update your status."
        }
    );

I can see whats happening in the If statement above, when it does set the variable correctly, which should occur after the push notification

Any ideas?

[v-yutliu-msft]

Hi @turnbeNZ ，

Do you mean that your send pushnotification action could only run in timer?

I've made a similar test and not met the same problem like your description.

I put formula like this in a button's OnSelect:

 PowerAppsNotification.SendPushNotification(
        {
            recipients:[User().Email],
            message: "asdasd."
        });Set(var,"aaa")

I put formula like this in a timer's OnSelect:

 PowerAppsNotification.SendPushNotification(
        {
            recipients:[User().Email],
            message: "aaaaaaa."
        });Set(var,"aaa")

Both of them worked correctly.

So I do not think that should be your control's problem, please check these things:

1)check whether these variables are right

CheckinStatus = true And NotificationSent=false And GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = false Or GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius=false

 2)try this formula:

If(
    (CheckinStatus = true && NotificationSent=false)&& (GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = false|| GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius=false),
    PowerAppsNotification.SendPushNotification(
        {
            recipients: [UEmail],
            message: "You have moved out of the campus zone, but are showing as being checked in, please update your status."
        }
    );
    Set(NotificationSent,true),
    Set(NotificationSent,false);
);

(the logic between the variables)

3)whether your network is on good condition

4)you should not click the button too frequently， or else action may not work

5)this action's limit:

• Currently, notifications aren't displayed on Power Apps Mobile for Windows Phone.
• Currently, we don't provide push notifications for users who run apps only in a web browser.
• Notifications show the generic Power Apps icon instead of a specific app icon.
• When you use Power Automate, you can send a push notification to only one recipient at a time.

Best regards,

[turnbeNZ]

I think the problem is in the If statement, I can see that the contents of the variables is correct, but the IF doesn't determine the right result.

I can turn my GPS on an off on the mobile phone for the PowerApps app, to simulate in and out of radius.

CheckinStatus = true

NotificationStatus = false

IsWithinRarius = gps on = true, off = false

Using the code below, and all the variables set as

CheckinStatus = true

NotificationStatus = false

GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = true

GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius = false

When the logic runs on timer end it still runs the true section of the If statement, when it shouldn't

If(
    (CheckinStatus = true && NotificationSent = false) && (GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = false || GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius = false),
    Set(
        NotificationSent,
        true
    );
    Notify("Push sent" & "   CheckinStatus: " & CheckinStatus & "   NotificationSent: " & NotificationSent & "   Is in radius? " & GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius & "   " & GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius),
    
    
    Notify("Push Not sent" & "   CheckinStatus: " & CheckinStatus & "   NotificationSent: " & NotificationSent & "   Is in radius? " & GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius     & "   " & GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius);
    
);

  the problem seems to be with the Or section of the If?

[v-yutliu-msft]

Hi @turnbeNZ ,

If the problem is about the if statement logic, could you describe more clearly about when do you want to send push, when do you want to not send push?

The formula that you use:

(CheckinStatus = true && NotificationSent = false) && (GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = false || GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius = false)

represents this logic:

when  CheckinStatus = true ,

           NotificationSent = false,

          GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius=false or GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius =false

(means these two situations: CheckinStatus = true && NotificationSent = false&& GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = false 

                                              CheckinStatus = true && NotificationSent = false && GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius = false)

send push.

Or else not send push.

Also, please check whether these variables have the right value that you want when you act this action.

Best regards,

[turnbeNZ]

Hi,

After further investigation I think the logic is correct thank you, but there is something odd happening with the contents of the variables.

I am putting the variables into the Notify message, to see what's in them, this is the current running code in the "OnTimerEnd"

If(
    (CheckinStatus = true && NotificationSent = false) && (GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = false || GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius = false),
    Set(
        NotificationSent,
        true
    );
    Notify("Push sent" & "   CheckinStatus: " & CheckinStatus & "   NotificationSent: " & NotificationSent & "   Is in radius? " & GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius & "   " & GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius),
    
    
    Notify("Push Not sent" & "   CheckinStatus: " & CheckinStatus & "   NotificationSent: " & NotificationSent & "   Is in radius? " & GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius     & "   " & GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius);
    
);

Test 1: GPS on

Real world situation

CheckinStatus = true

NotificationSent = false

GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = true

Results

• In the first timer duration interval "Push Sent CheckinStatus: true NotificationStatus: true Is in radius: true false" so the presented variables in the notify statement are correct, but it should not have run the true side of the IF statement, because I was inside one of the radius.
• In subsequent timer duration intervals "Push Not Sent..." which is correct.

Test 2: GPS off

Real world situation

CheckinStatus = true

NotificationSent = false

GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = false

Results

• In the first timer interval "Push Sent CheckinStatus: true NotificationStatus: true Is in radius: false false" so this is the correct response
• In subsequent
• timer duration intervals "Push Not Sent..." which is correct.

Thanks for your help, so in test 1 why did it run the true side first?

[Anonymous]

@turnbeNZ 

This app build hasme intrigued, I like what you are doing here!

To jump in here and offer my idea/s - notwithstanding the great work already provided by @v-yutliu-msft  - I think you may have some GEO math slightly off here.

The logic which has both of your GeoFence checks only needs ONE condition to be true to return true. Your example returns [ true, false ] which equates to TRUE because you are using OR. My suggestion would be to run two If() statements, one for each GeoFence. The other thing you could try is using NOT (!) and rearrange your logic to keep only one If() statement but that get a little messy?

Could it be possible in a real world scenario that a user would be inside one fence but outside the other? I'm trying the picture the geography you are putting a 'fence' around.

[v-yutliu-msft]

Hi @turnbeNZ ,

Do you mean that your test1 firstly run the true side, then run the false side?

Could you tell me the value of GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius in your test1?

Even if GeoFence_StevenHouse.IsWithinRadius = true, if GeoFence_Dunedin.IsWithinRadius=false, the condition still is the true side.

What's more, since the if statement will run true side firstly, false side secondly, please check:

1)whether you've set these variables before the timer runs

2)whether these variables change when the timer runs

3)whether you set any formula in these properties: OnSelect, OnTimeStart

Since you keeps moving when you test the app, I think the most possible problem is the variable changing when timer runs, which will make the timer act differently.

If so, I suggest you change the Timer's Duration to a very small value to avoid time delay.

Best regards,