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How to add a new item to a ComboBox

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Posted on by sienna28

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I would like to type in and add a new value into a ComboBox.
It does not seem possible to type anything into a ComboBox.

How could I do this?

Currently I am reading data from a SharePoint list into a collection which is then used as the data source for the ComboBox.
To add a new value, I am thinking I would need to add the value into a text box and patch this data to the list. Then refresh the datasource, read to the collection and re-bind to the ComboBox to show the new value.
How to ensure I am not adding a duplicate also?

Trying to add it to the collection and then identify & pull this new value out and add it to the list could get complex.

Any help/code appreciated.

Thank you

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Building Power Apps

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mdevaney 29,989 Moderator on at

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@sienna28

Typing a new value to add into a ComboBox is complicated. The reason is you are supplying a single value but a ComboBox is populated by records which contains multiple values. The question is, how do you intended to fill-in those other values assuming you have more than 1 column in your list.

You have the right idea how to approach adding it. Put code like this in the OnSelect property of your button. This assumes the column you are adding information to is plain-text.

Patch( your_datasource_name, Defaults(your_datasource_name), {ColumnName1: TextInput1.Text} )

To ensure you are not adding a duplicate you could include this check.

If( IsBlank(LookUp(your_datasource_name, ColumnName1 = TextInput1.Text)), Patch( your_datasource_name, Defaults(your_datasource_name), {ColumnName1: TextInput1.Text} ) )

Note: please replace all references with your own control names and SharePoint column names.

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sienna28 514 on at

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Thanks for the reply.

I just wanted to ask if this would work in a form.
I know a form limits to controls from the data source so I wondered if it was possible to add a text box (to enter new items) to the form?

I could just patch all control values and not use a form at all, but wanted to know if your solution could work in my form environment.

The other issue is how to get the newly saved value as the selected item in the ComboBox?
I was thinking of saving the item to a context variable, but how to get it to display as the chosen item?

Thanks

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mdevaney 29,989 Moderator on at

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@sienna28

Yes, this could work in a form.

To get the new values to appear in the ComboBox you could simply Refresh the datasource.

Refresh(your_datasource_name)

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sienna28 514 on at

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Thanks - I meant how to get the new value to appear as the selected one.

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mdevaney 29,989 Moderator on at

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@sienna28

Change your code in the OnSelect property of your "Add Option" button.

Set(newOption, If( IsBlank(LookUp(your_datasource_name, ColumnName1 = TextInput1.Text)), Patch( your_datasource_name, Defaults(your_datasource_name), {ColumnName1: TextInput1.Text} ) ) )

Then put this code in the DefaultSelectedItems property of your ComboBox

LookUp(your_datasource_name, ID = newOption.ID)

This example assumes your AllowMultipleSelections setting is.

false

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sienna28 514 on at

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Thanks - it all seems to work except the last part of defaulting the ComboBox to the added item.

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sienna28 514 on at

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Selected Items property seemed to do it.

Thanks

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micsak 2 on at

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Hi,

I have similar problem:
I have 2 share point lists (Invoices and Suppliers) and I'm working on power app of 1st list. In this power app I have 2 forms.
on the 1st one has source of the 1st list (Invoices) where I enter suppliers from a drop list . When I want to add a new supplier, I have a button to navigate to the 2nd form with data source of 2nd list (suppliers)
The problem is starting when I enter a new supplier (within 2nd form) and when I save the supplier record, I navigate back to 1st form but drop list is not updated with the new supplier.
I tried the above with negative results. Could you assist me ?

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astrontelstar 287 on at

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I want to do this very thing. Did you figure it out?

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Aleksandra1 254 on at

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Hello, can you help me? I have a collection which looks like this:
Collect(
ErrorCodes,
"SOX-DOC",
"QA-EU",
"QA-CON"
);
I need to add a button for user, which will add a new values to a combobox. As I see in a Lookup function you have
ColumnName1 = TextInput1.Text
, but I don't have column name in my collection. This is just list of error codes, how can I write a code for this case?

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