New Analysis Engine

[GregLi]

Similar to the dependencies between cells in a spreadsheet that drives recalc, Canvas apps depend on understanding all the dependencies between properties of controls so that data can flow between them properly and efficiently.  We call this process "dependency analysis" and it is something that Studio is doing all the time in the background while you are editing an app.

For more than a year, we have been rewriting the analysis engine to both perform better and to optimize the results.  The result is that complex Canvas apps that can take minutes to load should load significantly faster.  It is a major change, at the very heart of Canvas apps, that we have been working on for over a year.

We are very excited to announce that this feature is now available as an experimental feature for your testing and feedback.  Please make a copy of complex apps, turn on this setting, see if you run into any problems in Studio and at runtime, and provide feedback here in the forum.   

Do not use this feature in production!  There could be subtle behavior differences that will take time to discover, just because the app loads and saves doesn't necessarily mean all is well, some testing is needed too.

Thank you!  And with your help we hope to turn this feature on for everyone soon.

[AnthonyLin]

A lot faster but definitely some behavioral differences

[jbrutman]

I noticed one major difference, but otherwise everything is smooth. Below was the problem and how I solved it

On form submission, I used the following code in the first line of the form's OnSuccess property:

UpdateContext({locLastSubmit: FormName.LastSubmit})

After this, I go on to update/create some children records, however, it was struggling using locLastSubmit as the value. I added the code below to Line 2 and now it does not have issues:

UpdateContext({locLastSubmit: LookUp([@DataverseTableName],ThisRecord.Identifier = locLastSubmit.Identifier)});

I had to do this to three different forms that all have children records which require updating/creating after the form is submitted successfully. Really a minor issue, but thought it prudent to report it.

FYI, the app I created/maintained is quite complex (14 screens, 23 custom data tables, 4 built in data tables, 87 collections). It was getting to a point where I had to refresh the editor every 20 min or so as it would slow down significantly. So far, this change seems to have a significant improvement on the editor. Thank you!

[ShantanuP]

@AnthonyLin , Would please provide more details about the differences that you saw?

[ShantanuP]

@jbrutman Thanks for the details. Would you be able to share the app (.msapp) to further investigate the issue? You can send me the file in a message.

[NateF]

I experienced a major issue yesterday that was resolved after I turned off the New Analysis Engine. In Power Apps Studio, using authoring version 3.24012.8, I could create collections and use them as data sources for galleries using the items property, but the collections never appeared in the list of available data sources. Similarly, collections (edit: collections created before enabling New Analysis Engine) I completely removed every reference to remained in the data sources list even after dropping off of the collections section of the variables tab.

After publishing the app and opening it in the web player, in the Android Power Apps app, and through Teams, the galleries using the collections created after enabling the new analysis engine were not populating. When I hard-coded a table (example: '[{ID:1,Data:[{Datum: "A"},{Datum: "B"}]}]') into the items property of a gallery that wasn't populating then re-published the app, the gallery populated successfully.

Using Monitor, I could see Collect, ClearCollect, Remove, and Patch all worked in the background. The only issue was the app failing to update its list of data sources.

[ShantanuP]

Hi @NateF , Thanks for using new analysis engine.  With new analysis engine, collections don't show up in the list of tables in UX for gallery binding. We are aware of this issue. I didn't understand the other issue that you mentioned. Can you please share repro steps on how I can recreate the issue on my end? This will help the team to investigate it better.

[NateF]

Sure thing, @ShantanuP ,

Sorry for the lack of clarity. I meant to bring up only one issue and share some of the symptoms of that one issue.

The issue I observed is after enabling the new analysis engine, the data sources list is not updating as I create or remove collections from the app. Because the data sources list does not include collections created after enabling the new analysis engine, the galleries using those collections do not populate outside of Studio.

Immediately after disabling the new analysis engine and re-publishing the app, the data sources list updates and the galleries using the new collections created while the new analysis engine was enabled successfully populate outside of Studio.

I was able to reproduce the issue in a new blank canvas app following the steps below. I stopped at step 21 in the attached .msapp file so you can see the issue with the removed collection still appearing in the data sources list and the new collection failing to appear in the data sources list.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Create a new blank canvas app. Do not enable the experimental new analysis engine.

2. In App.OnStart create a collection

ClearCollect(BeforeEnablingExperimentalNewAnalysisEngine, "A", "B", "C")

3. On Screen1 insert a blank gallery control

4. Set the Items property of the gallery control to the collection created in step 2

BeforeEnablingExperimentalNewAnalysisEngine

5. Add a label to the gallery template

6. Set the Text property of the label to ThisItem.Value

ThisItem.Value

7. Save and publish the app

8. Open the app outside of Studio to verify the gallery is populating the collection (I used the web player for this repro)

9. In Studio, enable the experimental new analysis engine.

10. Save and publish the app

11. Refresh the page

12. Remove the ClearCollect formula from App.OnStart

13. Remove the collection reference from Gallery1.Items

14. Look in the variables tab -> collections. The collection is gone.

15. Look in the data sources tab. The collection is still showing as a data source.

16. In App.OnStart create a new collection

ClearCollect(AfterEnablingExperimentalNewAnalysisEngine, "D", "E", "F")

17. Set Gallery1.Items to the collection created in step 16. The gallery populates in Studio.

AfterEnablingExperimentalNewAnalysisEngine

18. Save and publish the app

19. Open the app outside of Studio. The gallery does not populate.

20. In Studio, look in the variables tab -> collections. The new collection is there.

21. Look in the data sources tab. The old collection we removed every reference to is still listed as a data source while the new collection is not in the list of data sources.

22. Disable the experimental new analysis engine

23. Save and publish the app

24. Refresh the page

25. The data sources list has updated

26. Open the app outside of Studio. The gallery populates with the new collection.

[Commander_Data]

We are using a global variable named 'defaults' (record e.g. defaults.primaryColor, set to Color.Blue) to set various colour fields on controls automatically so I don't need to use blueprint controls. We use this across several Apps and component libraries.

When I copy an App, switch the New Analysis Engine on in settings, we get several errors that seem to indicate PowerApps is not a fan of this defaults variable. However, if I edit the variable in App.Formula, it fixes the issue until I next load the App, when the same thing happens.

I was hoping that this was not now a reserved word. If it was, then would editing really fix the errors?! Unless I can find a solution, this means I cannot switch on this setting, and therefore cannot use the new App.Formula functions, that require the new engine, without amending all our Apps and Component libraries.

Authoring Version: 3.24015.12 (Have tried the latest version: 3.24022.7 without success)

Any help would be gratefully received.

Thanks

A quick freebie...

fxAddWorkDays(FromDate:Date, Days:Number):Date = IfError(

    With(

        {

            wDOW: Weekday(Today(), StartOfWeek.Monday),

            wDays: Abs(Days)

        },

        If(

            Days = 0,

            FromDate,

            Days < 0,

            DateAdd(FromDate, 0 - (RoundDown(wDays / 5, 0) * 7) - (If(wDOW > Mod(wDays, 5), Mod(wDays, 5), Mod(wDays, 5) + 2))),

            DateAdd(FromDate, (RoundDown(wDays / 5, 0) * 7) + (If(wDOW + Mod(wDays, 5) > 5, Mod(wDays, 5) + 2, Mod(wDays, 5))))

        )

    ),

    Blank()

);

[lesaltzm]

Thanks for testing it out! Sounds like a bug. Can you attach a copy of an app that shows the issue?