BUG: IsBlank("") is not the same as ""=Blank()

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Posted on by Meneghino

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Thanks to @Anonymous I discovered the following bug:

IsBlank("")

gives true

BUT

""=Blank()

gives false

A fix would be appreciated.

Categories:

Building Power Apps

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v-micsh-msft on at

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Hi @Meneghino,

Thanks for the feedback.

I think here the ""=blank() not return true should be caused by the type.

As "" should only represent string type, and blank() should be able to represent blank for most of the types.

By the way, as the documentation states:

"The Blank function returns a blank value. Use this to store a NULL value in a data source that supports these values, effectively removing any value from the field."

As Blank() would be used to represent a NULL (Not exist) value, I don't think it would equal to the "" value.

Although currently it is not available to patch NULL to data source.

Regards,

Michael

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Meneghino 6,949 on at

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Hi @v-micsh-msft
Thanks for picking this up. I fully agree with you that ""<>null as it would be in most database applications.
But then IsBlank("") should also give false, and in PowerApps this is not the case. In any case it is inconsistent and confusing.
What do you think?

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v-micsh-msft on at

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Hi @Meneghino,

Thanks for the update.

I think the issue here should be mostly related to the documentation, which is inconsistent and confusing for the Blank() and the IsBlank() usage.

The document told that for IsBlank(), Blank values are found in situations such as these:

The return value from the Blank function.

A control property has no formula set for it.

No value is typed into a text-input control, or no selection is made in a listbox. You can use IsBlank to provide feedback that a field is required.

A string that contains no characters has a Len of 0.

An error occurred in a function. Often, one of the arguments to the function wasn't valid. Many functions return blank if the value of an argument is blank.

Connected data sources, such as SQL Server, may use "null" values. These values appear as blank in PowerApps.

The else portion of an If function wasn't specified, and all conditions were false.

You used the Update function but didn't specify a value for all columns. As a result, no values were placed in the columns that you didn't specify.

Basically I think "" should be

A string that contains no characters has a Len of 0.

By the way, thanks for the update, I will collect this as a content feedback.

Regards,

Michael

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Meneghino 6,949 on at

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Hi @v-micsh-msft
I agree that it may be consistent with the documentation, but the problem is that PowerApps is not consistent.
It just does not make sense for IsBlank("") and ""=Blank() to give different results.
For example Blank() could be deprecated and subsituted by Null()
Or for example IsBlank deprecated and substituted by IsBlankOrZeroLengthString()
The current situation is just wrong.

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v-micsh-msft on at

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Hi @Meneghino,

Thanks for the idea.

I agree that PowerApps should be more clear when deal with data.

If convenient, could you please create a new idea to rise this?

Thanks,

Michael

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