defaultItems property in my combobox is not setting a default value

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Here's my formula in the DefaultItems property in my combobox (DATASOURCE: Sharepoint online list)

LookUp('Datasource',OrgUnit = "-")

The datasource is the same one in the Items property.

Here's my Item's property:

SortByColumns(Distinct('Datasource',OrgUnit),"Result",Ascending)

But it's not working. OrgUnit is a text field and I want the default value to be a "-" in the combobox so if the user doesn't select anything there is a value there for my flow that triggers when a button is clicked.

What am I doing wrong?

Regards,

Daniel

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous 

The DefaultItems property must be an item from the Items list, meaning, if the item "-" doesn't exist in your SP list column OrgUnit then you cannot look it up and return it.

If you just want to disable your button you could add this to the DisplayMode of the button

If(
    IsBlank(First(ComboBox2.SelectedItems)),
    DisplayMode.Disabled,
    DisplayMode.Edit
)

If you need your Flow to always run, whether a selection has been made or not then the only way I can think of is to create a collection to use as your Items property. My suggestion would be to use something like this:

// Create added item '-'
ClearCollect( colDistItems, 
              {Result: "-"}
);

// Add distinct values to this colelction
Collect( colDistItems, 
         SortByColumns(Distinct('Datasource',OrgUnit),"Result",Ascending)
)

Then use the collection named colDistItems as the Items of your ComboBox. You would add the above code to the OnVisible or a button/icon or a gallery selection, etc.

[Anonymous]

Hi @Anonymous ,

I'm sorry to only respond now. I sincerely appreciate you answering me.

Unfortunately I was not able to implement what you suggested. I don't understand how to implement it and didn't want to try with my deadlines. I'm keen to learn more about collections because as you said they will most likely be the better tool to use for my scenario. 

I found out, however, that if I used a helper SP list (OrgUnit) with the values (unique values) in the Title column and then put this formula into the items property of my combobox:

SortByColumns(OrgUnit,"Title",Ascending)

Then I put this formula into the DefaultSelectedItems property of the same combobox:

LookUp(OrgUnit, Title = "-")

It works perfectly. 

"-" is a value in one of the rows of the helper SP list. 

I'm still at a loss as to why you can't do this with the one list. In this setup you need your main list and then a helper list to get it working.

Further, I'm trying to understand how the 'defaultselecteditems' property works. Does the datasource referenced in the 'defaultselecteditems' property have to be the same as the datasource is the 'Items' property of a given combobox?

So you can't have the 'defaultSelectedItems' referencing a "helper" SP list if it's not the same as the main datasource connected to your form control in which the combobox appears?

In my scenario I have only one value in my choice field so I can use:

LookUp('helperSPlist',Title="RequiredDataPoint")

In the 'Items' property and leave 'DefaultSelectedItems' as 'Parent.Default' I think. But what how can you handle default values when there are multiple items in the list and you need your 'Items' property to contain the choice field from your main SP list (like this):

Choices([MainSPList].ColumnName)

Thank you so much for your help again.

Regards,

Daniel

[KvB1]

Is it possible that your helper list only has a single column? 

In your first post you use a line that will return the whole row with the value "-" in the column OrgUnit. 

LookUp('Datasource',OrgUnit = "-")

 If you want only the value of that column to be shown in the combobox you should add .OrgUnit at the end

LookUp('Datasource',OrgUnit = "-").OrgUnit

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @KvB1 ,

Thank you for your help but I managed to find the solution on April Dunnam's video on prepopulated fields: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QSoGVh75iQ.

I don't need a helper SP list after all. I can use my main list with the choice function in the items property but I need to set both the 'Default' and 'DefaultSelectedItems' property of my combobox with:

If(SharePointForm1.Mode=FormMode.New,{Value:"DefaultValue"},Parent.Default)

It works now. I really appreciate your reaching out to help a community member.

Best,

Daniel