Delegation issues and how to best overcome them without re-writing everything!!

(0) Share

Report

Posted on by CD-28031715-0

183

I’m building a Canvas app using SharePoint lists and I’m running into a large number of delegation warnings, particularly with formulas like CountRows(Filter(...)) for per-contact counts, and First(SortByColumns(Filter(...))) to get the latest related record (e.g. latest interaction or follow-up). I also previously used AddColumns(...) in gallery Items to bring in these values, which caused further delegation issues.

I understand why these are non-delegable, but I’m trying to determine the best overall design approach for a scalable solution as my lists grow beyond 2,000+ records. Is it generally recommended to store summary values (e.g. latest interaction, counts) directly on the main record (e.g. Contact), or are there better patterns within Power Apps/SharePoint to handle these scenarios without relying heavily on Power Automate?

I’d really appreciate advice on best practice for handling these common patterns (counts, latest related records, cross-list summaries) in a way that avoids delegation issues and performs well long-term.

Categories:

Building Power Apps

I have the same question (0)

All responses (4)

Answers (0)

Sort by

Suggested answer

11manish 1,546 on at

Like (1)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Core Design Principle in Canvas Apps

Never compute aggregates in the Canvas App for large datasets

Instead:

Precompute (write-time)

Avoid compute-on-read (runtime)

The best and correct approach is:

Store summary values (counts, latest records) on the parent record (Contact)

Maintain them using Power Automate (write-time updates)

Keep Canvas App read-only for aggregates

Avoid runtime aggregation completely

To build a scalable, delegation-safe Power Apps solution on SharePoint.

Shift logic from UI → data layer

Denormalize + precompute + keep app simple

Avoid runtime aggregation

This is the only scalable approach with SharePoint.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Vish WR 1,245 on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

@CD-28031715-0

As a best practice don't do the calculations during the runtime always do the time at the time writing the data.

Example
When the data saved using auto calculate value or use power automate to calculate and store and use the summary for the reporting

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Suggested answer

WarrenBelz 155,111 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like (1)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Hi @CD-28031715-0,

Firstly, you might have a read of this blog of mine on using the With() statement to manage Delegation. If your case CountRows is not a Delegable function, however if the ultimate row count is less that your (up to 2,000) Data Row Limit, then upi can do this
With( { _Data: Filter( DataSouce, YourDelegableFilterHere ) }, CountRows(_Data) )

However once you get beyond 2,000 records, you will find a solution in the same blog above for up to 4,000 records and another for all records, except that one (if you are using SharePoint) needs a unique numeric identifier other then the ID.

There is also a Power Automate returning the records - send the filter string to the Flow and return the value from a Compose action
length(body('Get_items')?['value'])

I can elaborate on this if required.

Please ✅ Does this answer your question if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider answering Yes to Was this reply helpful? or give it a Like ♥
Visit my blog Practical Power Apps LinkedIn

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
WarrenBelz 155,111 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like (1)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hi @CD-28031715-0,

A quick follow-up to see if you received the answer you were looking for. Happy to assist further if not.

Please ✅ Does this answer your question if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider answering Yes to Was this reply helpful? or give it a Like ♥
Visit my blog Practical Power Apps LinkedIn

Was this reply helpful? Yes No