how to AUTO Populate Fields using with Oracle DB/With Out Database.

[LohithaSannathi]

Can anyone tell me how to create APP using Oracle DB and Fetch data from Oracle DB Tables and Also Auto Populate the data

(For Example : If user selects Supplier name rest of All Supplier fields should be auto Populated. how to accomplish this. Is there any possibility of Writing queries  to fetch the data and Auto populate in Fields based on Selected supplier.

Request you to please propose your thoughts in how many ways we can AUTO Population by using Oracle Database and also Let me know the possible ways with out using Database (We are running on Oracle Applications R12 On-Premise) .So we have only possibility for Oracle DB 

Thanks

Lohitha

[poweractivate]

@LohithaSannathi 

Your first step is to get Oracle DB as a data source in your PowerApp.

Use these instructions for using Oracle DB with PowerApps

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/canvas-apps/connections/connection-oracledb

For remaining query:

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@LohithaSannathi wrote:

For Example : If user selects Supplier name rest of All Supplier fields should be auto Populated. how to accomplish this. Is there any possibility of Writing queries  to fetch the data and Auto populate in Fields based on Selected supplier.

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Regarding the above you can do this by using a combination of Formulas and Variables in PowerApps.

Initialize a variable: On App Start and OnVisible of your first screen, use 

Set(AlmostAnyVariableNameOfYourChoice,SomeInitialValue)

to initialize a variable.

You can use the "Default" property in each Control for AutoPopulation - just change the Default property of a control to the name of a variable you initialized, which is almost any variable name of your choice.

On your Dropdown control, use OnChange to make something happen when the value is changed. This is where you might change your Variable(s) value(s) using something along the lines of the below pseudo-formula for OnChange:

If(NameOfSomeRelevantControlAnyhwerInTheApp.UseCorrectRelevantPropertySuchAsSelected.UseCorrectRelevantPropertyIfApplicableSuchAsValue = "Some Text Value 1",Set(AlmostAnyVariableNameOfYourChoice,SomeNewValue);Set(SomeOtherVariable,SomeOtherValue),SomeOtherSimilarIfConditionForTheElsePartThatCanEvenHaveMoreConditionsNestedWithinItIfNeededInSimilarWay)

So then these changes will be picked up by the Variable and would then be auto-populated in all the Controls due to the Default property of the Controls being set to the appropriate variables.

So we recommend you focus on the data source part first, you are using on-premises Oracle so it is tricky, you'll need to set up a gateway and do initial setup to use PowerApps with Oracle on-premises.

[poweractivate]

@LohithaSannathi 

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@LohithaSannathi wrote:

Let me know the possible ways with out using Database (We are running on Oracle Applications R12 On-Premise) .So we have only possibility for Oracle DB 

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You can use Common Data Service which is a database that is included as part of Power Platform and recommended for most PowerApps. The database lives inside your Microsoft tenant and inside the specific environment. It is a special database and it is easier to use. It can be used immediately with PowerApps with no additional setup in most cases.

If you must move your Oracle data to Common Data Service, you can consider using something like Dataflow or also, Data Import (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/developer/common-data-service/import-data) to model the data and move the data over from Oracle to Common Data Service - however the caveat here with that, is you would need to still involve the gateway and some of the steps we described in our first reply, as well as more steps. 

To Model the data from scratch yourself, go to make.powerapps.com then go to Solutions - make a new solution - begin making entities and relationships.

To see existing system Entities and examples go to make.powerapps.com -> Entities -> Data and take a look around there.

[poweractivate]

@LohithaSannathi 

Finally, you can use no data source at all and just initialize a Collection in PowerApps to completely avoid a database and you can try the autopopulation like that.

However, the data cannot be persisted if you have no data source.

Technically there is at least one more way to persist data without database we know of.  SaveData - but that saves it to the device, it has limits, and is not intended for heavy usage, and it persists to the individual device's storage, not a shared database storage that others can access. SaveData is not intended to be substituted for a data storage layer. The recommended data storage layer and data source to be used with PowerApps is Common Data Service.

[LohithaSannathi]

@poweractivate 

Thank you so much for your quick response.

Can you please suggest which is best fit for achieving Auto population ( which is also not more Tricky).

Is it using with Oracle DB / Without Using Oracle DB ? Please let me know your thoughts (Im newbie to PowerAPPS/Flow/Sharepoint)

Im aware of installing on-premise gateway for connecting to oracle DB. This is in-progress. 

im trying to install on-premise gateway in Server(where this is will running 24/7).

Thanks

Lohitha

[poweractivate]

@LohithaSannathi 

The approach would be about the same either way for either Oracle or Common Data Service. The approach posted in previous replies from us would be same for either data source. PowerApps abstracts away the implementation details of the data source, to increase productivity. So the formulas are supposed to be identical, you are supposed to ideally be able to swap the data source out and keep everything else the same.

Please note the following: some operations are non-delegable on the connectors i.e. limits on how many values can be returned. If you run into this issue and there is no possible workaround, you may need to remodel the data as Common Data Service.  Also, the PowerApps engine is currently not ready to swap out the data source that easily without at least some minor rewriting - at minimum, the data source name may need to be changed in every formula it was used. This caveat is about the only thing here that may prevent the "ideal world" of just swapping out the data source with no change to the actual App itself. Also, some operations are not logically possible on one type of data source compared to another.  This would be real-world stuff that is logical and may need to be done even in an ideal world.

Off top of our head we are unsure which are delegable or not in Oracle compared to Common Data Service. Delegable issue comes into effect if you want to use Filters (e.g. on Gallery, etc.).

We recommend you just try it with Oracle directly first (once you get it set up) and see how it feels.

Assuming the connectors were identical, there would NOT be one that's "trickier" than the other to accomplish. Autopopulation probably wouldn't be where the trick is. It might be how many records your app can "see" from PowerApps (default - 500 max, hard max is 2000 - this is how many records max at random it can see for non-delegable - not good for production). We do not know off top of our head what caveats the Oracle connector has if you do lots of use of Filter on it, though we suspect it will work fine.

If any of the above runs into issues, the easiest way then would be in Common Data Service instead. If the above is not an issue, then it would be the same either way, Oracle or Common Data Service.

Example off top of our head - For SharePoint List, a Choice field cannot be delegated to a Filter (the Filter function is how you get records onto the system narrowed by criteria) - the field must be changed to something else for it to not be impacted by the delegation limit. We do not know off top of our head now any such equivalent for Oracle (if any exist). We think you may be able to use Oracle fine in your case.

[LohithaSannathi]

@poweractivate 

I have to Auto populate into 8 or 9 fields based on Supplier number. do u have any link/Test case/Tutorial to achieve this.

I will use Oracle as suggested in below post

Can you please share .

Thanks

Lohitha

[LohithaSannathi]

@poweractivate 

If user selects Supplier name rest of All Supplier fields should be auto Populated. how to accomplish this. Is there any possibility of Writing queries  to fetch the data and Auto populate in Fields based on Selected supplier.

For above scenario 

The steps you mentioned Initialize a variable is also required to AUTO Populate even if im using Oracle Database Connection.Can you please confirm

Thanks

Lohitha