While using App Offline, How to still fill in Edit Form entries thats connected On Premise SQL Server

[solichin]

Hi, I am new to Power Apps. I created an on premise SQL server database as a data source to an Edit Form function in Power Apps. I want the App to be able to be used Offline, and still have the function to put in entries in the Edit Form. How do I go about coding this? I saw somewhere to create a collection of some sort, but I'm not sure as I'm using sql server. Would really like to figure out this solution, open for any guidance, and many thanks! 

[DennisPreatto]

Hello @solichin,

I understand that you would like, when someone is using your application without an active internet connection, to save the user's actions and then insert the new records as soon as the user is back online.

There are a couple way to do this that come to my mind. First one would be using a timer to check every t seconds if the device is able to perform a request toward the SQL database. If a request is performed when there is no internet connection, the flow or custom connector should return a "Connector.method failed: The request was not sent or there was no response from the server".

So, you could perform a first request to check whether your SQL server is reachable, if not you should save the new entries locally until the device has an active connection. You can create local data using the following function:

SaveData(Collection, "CollectionName");

Then using the timer I talked about earlier, you will need to periodically check if the user is back online, by performing a "check request" like before. As soon as the request returns a successful 200 Code you can perform the INSERT request toward your SQL Database.

If the user closes the application before coming back online, the data will still be saved locally and can be accessed with the LoadData function(which works exactly as the SaveData function, with a collection and collection name). So, in the OnStart event of your application, you will need to check if there is any local data saved and if that is the case you should check if there is an active connection and perform the posting of the records.

If you don't want to use a timer, you can just perform the connectivity checks and INSERT operation when the application starts by following the same logic, checking for local data, checking for a connection and proceeding accordingly.

I hope I gave you some inputs to keep your project going, let me know if you need any more help.

Have a nice day!

[solichin]

@DennisPreattoHello, and thank you for your help. I have some questions about SaveData and LoadData sending locally saved entries to the Edit From that uses SQL Server as a data source. I currently have a function to show online/offline icons, so the user can be notified to start using the SaveData and LoadData. Is there a max amount that can be collected? Also, with respect to creating a collection, what could be the code for the button to take the entries for the Edit Form and save them locally? Also, how are the collection entries then sent to the on-premise SQL database?
Sorry for asking a lot of questions, I appreciate your guidance and time.