Collections

Like (0) Share

Report

Posted on 5 Apr 2023 14:08:49 by azizrasul

124

Is it possible to take SQL server table data or SharePoint list data and make it into a collection in PowerApps rather than adding individual data records to a collection?

Categories:

General Questions

I have the same question (0)

All responses (13)

Answers (1)

SebS 4,204 Moderator on 06 Apr 2023 at 10:14:50

Like (1)

Report

Re: Collections

@azizrasul

happy to hear it, and don't be discourage we all was new to this in one or another point hope You enjoy the journey with Power Apps and If You need any more support there is always someone here available to help this community is grate for that.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
azizrasul 124 on 06 Apr 2023 at 10:06:22

Like (0)

Report

Re: Collections

The reason why I was having a problem was that I was not pressing the Play button. I'm a newbie as you can see 🙂

Thanks for your help. The example page you gave me was very useful.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
SebS 4,204 Moderator on 05 Apr 2023 at 16:38:19

Like (1)

Report

Re: Collections

@azizrasul

I strongly recommend to just collect whole List like ClearColect(colData,SP1) and work on this list referring to columns You looking for there is no point to try go down to specific columns as this operation also impact performance to pull specific columns You will need to use ShowColumns and other functions and in the background PowerApps will pull whole DataSet any way so I do not see a point for doing this.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
azizrasul 124 on 05 Apr 2023 at 16:27:51

Like (0)

Report

Re: Collections

Thanks will have a look.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Verified answer

SebS 4,204 Moderator on 05 Apr 2023 at 16:23:49

Like (1)

Report

Re: Collections

@azizrasul

Please visit below link this will explain you with examples how to use collections:

Power Apps Collections Examples (matthewdevaney.com)

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
azizrasul 124 on 05 Apr 2023 at 16:17:37

Like (0)

Report

Re: Collections

I have selected NewCollection as the data source of the gallery.

What do I write in the OnSelect property of the button to get the SharePoint data into the NewCollection collection.

I have tried

Collect(NewCollection,SP1,{FirstName:'First Name', Last Name:'Last Name'})

but all I get is errors.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
SebS 4,204 Moderator on 05 Apr 2023 at 15:58:54

Like (0)

Report

Re: Collections

@azizrasul

So SharePoint creating a lot of support columns and what you see right now is all that data is pulled from SP List. You can ignore it.

Main Columns will be First Name and Last name and you can refer to them depend of situation

Example if You pass this Collection to Gallery items property You will be able to create a label and refer to columns by using "ThisItem" and in your case it will look like ThisItem.'First Name' keep in mind if You used Title column and You did rename it to First Name for example You always will refer to it as Title means You will use ThisItem.Title to display First Name in a label.

You can use collection outside of gallery as well but this will be harder as collection have multiple records and You will need to point to right record to display Text for example in a label out side of the Gallery.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
azizrasul 124 on 05 Apr 2023 at 15:38:30

Like (0)

Report

Re: Collections

So clearing the data is fine, I understand that now.

What I'm still stuck in my understanding is if, let's say I have a SharePoint list called "SP1" which contains say 2 columns "First Name" and "Last Name". I have a PowerApps project open with a blank canvas containing a single button.

If on the OnSelect property of the button I insert

Collect(NewCollection,SP1)

and then go to Collections, I can see the NewCollection as this is the only collection I have, I see there are no records and the field names are not what I have in my SharePoint list and there a lot of field names.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Ygor 44 on 05 Apr 2023 at 14:49:49

Like (1)

Report

Re: Collections

You can use ClearCollect function. The ClearCollect function deletes all the records from a collection. And then adds a different set of records to the same collection.

This link can help you understand how to use collections:
Collect, Clear, and ClearCollect functions in Power Apps

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
SebS 4,204 Moderator on 05 Apr 2023 at 14:42:59

Like (0)

Report

Re: Collections

@azizrasul

If You used Clear(Collection) You can just again do Collect() or ClearCollect() to upload new data to that collection.

you can also use UpdateIF(), Patch() and RemoveIF() with Collections it's all depend what You need to achive.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No