Sometimes when using the Backspace button to erase text from the function text box, objects are deleted

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Posted on by irondinges

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Steps that lead to issue:

1. Focus on text box at the top of the app window

2. Press and hold backspace to erase functions in the text box

3. Backspace is still held for maybe half a second after all of the text has been erased

Issue:

Data cards and other objects are deleted from the app.

I just had a case where the DataCardValue object in the data card I was working on was deleted, then the data card was deleted, and finally the sharepoint form itself was deleted.

All of this happened in the space of less than a second.

It could be that my keyboard was registering more presses of that backspace button than I experienced, or that I was pressing backspace multiple times while believing that I was holding it down.

I do understand that Backspace is a shortcut for deleting objects, but I do not understand why this action would be registering while my input is focused on a text box.

This is an extremely annoying issue that shouldn't be possible.

While focused on the text box, I do not expect that my inputs will delete objects on the app, or interact with anything other than the text box in any way.

I assume that the issue might be related to network speed, as I am in South Africa and things like PowerApps typically connect to Europe, which incurs some delay between my client and the server.

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Building Power Apps

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mdevaney 29,991 Moderator on at

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@irondinges

There is a faster way to erase all of the formulas in a Textbox control that will not result in you deleting them.

Click inside the formula bar

Press <Ctrl> + <A> on the keyboard to select all

Press the <Backspace> button a single time.

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irondinges 100 on at

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@mdevaney thank you for the comment.

The issue also occurs when using that method.

I typically erase the text box by highlighting everything and then pressing Backspace.

That does not however address the root issue: input should not be interpreted as hotkeys when in a text edit box.

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mdevaney 29,991 Moderator on at

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@irondinges

Based on your response I would say that's its either an issue with your input device (keyboard) or a network issue. PowerApps doesn't behave like this for me. I can press and hold the backspace button and nothing happens. I can't recreate your scenario.

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irondinges 100 on at

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@mdevaney

Regardless, PowerApps should not respond like that.
Once I am in the text box, until I change focus to something else PowerApps should treat input as if its regarding the text box.

I encounter similar issues in Power Automate, for example:
1. Attempting to edit a text box that already has content in it.
2. I click somewhere in the middle of the text box and start typing.
3. After half a second, the cursor jumps to the end text position in the text box and continues my input in there.

It seems to me like this is what is happening:
1. Click on input.
2. Input trigger is sent to server that user has client on the input.
3. Start typing immediately - text box is on client side so nothing prevents this. The text being edited is all local so it appears to be real time.
4. After a short delay, the server registers that I have selected that text box (from trigger in 2) and runs some sort of initialization procedure, perhaps validating the text box and/or adjusting the context of the dynamic content.
5. Cursor position is changed to the end of the text box.

If your client is close to the server you won't be able to reproduce this issue.
Ping between South Africa and Europe is on the order of 250ms, so for you to reproduce this issue you'll likely have to spin up a VM in a datacenter on the other side of the world and do some work on PowerApps to see if you can reproduce it.

This issue permeates throughout PowerApps and Power Automate and makes it frustrating to use at times.

The solution I'm forced to use is to slow down my working speed. After every click or keystroke I have to give the system a second to catch up. Needless to say this is bad for productivity.

Going back to this topic, it might be something like this:
1. Context: no text box is selected, so the system should interpret keystrokes as hotkeys.
2. I select the contents of the text box and hit backspace.
3. When the server receives the instruction, it still sees my context as being outside of a text box, and registers the keystroke as a hotkey.

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