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Modern ComboBox Can't Search Multiple Columns?

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Posted on by kyasprin

Modern Combo Box does not allow me to search multiple columns. I have table below added to items:

[ 
    { ID: "1", Text: "This"}, 
    { ID: "2", Text: "That"}
]

The Modern Combo Box only allows for one column to be displayed which I've selected as the 'Text' column from the above table. A side effect of selecting a single column appears to be that only that displayed column is searchable even if you use .SearchText in the Items Property to try and pre-filter the table. So for example if I use the table above and display the 'Text' Column, I can search for "This" or "That" to return rows in the modern Combo Box, but searching for "1" or "2" doesn't find anything as they aren't in the 'Text' Column. I tried to get around this by filtering the Items property w/ .SearchText below:

Filter(
    [ 
        { ID: "1", Text: "This"}, 
        { ID: "2", Text: "That"}
    ], 
    Self.SearchText in ID
)

When I search for "1" or "2" in the combo box, the Items property filters the table down to the corresponding record as expected, but the displayed items in the modern Combo Box is blank b/c neither "1" or "2" is in the displayed 'Text" column despite being in the Items table that's already filtered w/ .SearchText.

Concatenating everything I might want to search w/ AddColumns() and displaying in the combo box works but is a completely unreasonable workaround when there could be multiple columns like in a People Picker where you might want to search Full Name, Email, Employee ID, Location, etc. We can't have a combo box that displays an item like 'John A. Smith - jsmith@companyemail.com - 00019385763 - East Coast - 1-800-123-4567' just so we can search intuitively on multiple columns.

Classic Combo Box works for these situations where we add in a single Datasource or collection that is hardcoded or pointing to a set Dataverse/Sharepoint table, but our ultimate goal is create a Branded StarterPack Component Library of controls for our Organization so we need to build something without knowing the input Datasource from our end users. We have an option w/ classic Combo Box using AddColumns() and/or RenameColumns() but its not end user friendly at all to force new users with little experience to figure out how to convert their DataSources to a column structure the custom component can recognize. Or the Classic Comb Box would need to allow dynamic Display fields and Search fields w/ a variable, which it currently doesn't allow. The modern Combo Box has an ability to more easily and dynamically set the displayed column data so end user tosses in Datasource and enters a text representation of the column they would like to display for easier end user plug n play, we just don't have a way to dynamically point at multiple columns to search on and better filter that data.

I'm thinking I might have to add a separate text search box above the modern Combo Box to handle the search that doesn't work in the poorly designed modern control, but I don't really like this option. Has anyone gotten around this oddity with modern combo box to search against multiple columns not displayed directly in the modern combo box?

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MS.Ragavendar 4,977 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi,

This is the limitation of the Modern Combo Box hence Use a Classic Combo Box with Custom Properties.

Recommendation

Classic Combo Boxes allows the flexibility for searching multiple columns but don’t allow dynamic search fields, you could wrap it in a component that standardizes the input.

Items property for the data source.

SearchFields as a string array (["ID", "Email", "Name"]).

AddColumns() internally to create a searchable column

Work around

Modern Combo Box only searches the displayed column, you can add a TextInput box above it to filter the dataset before assigning it to the Combo Box’s Items property.

Filter(
MyDataSource,
SearchTextBox.Text in ID ||
SearchTextBox.Text in Text ||
SearchTextBox.Text in Email ||
SearchTextBox.Text in EmployeeID
)

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item

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kyasprin 41 on at

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For the recommended classic combo box option, I setup a component with input property for .Datasource (table) and .SearchFields (table).

Question 1

i know I can manually enter something like [“email”,”id”, “name” ] and use AddColumns to add those fields to the users data source. Is it possible to do AddColumns() without knowing the columns user will want to select? Or is the only option for end user to manually enter their data source and add these columns using AddColumns() to the component input property for .Datasource?

Question 2

Another option I could see is if i let the end user upload a table with the unique columns in their data source to the component .SearchText input property, then I could reference that table in the classic combo box search fields and/or display fields. The problem with this is if you try to enter something like MyComponent.SearchText, it immediately gets replaced when you click out of the search text or display field property with something in the format of [“ColumnInDatasource”]. Is there a way to turn off or get around the search text and display field properties reverting when trying to enter variables or other control/property references to dynamically control those fields displayed or searched?

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Michael E. Gernaey 53,335 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi @kyasprin

1. to be fair whether its Sunday or my brain I have no idea what you are talking about here.

But datasources themselves, have to be defined in some fashion as an input to the Component. I am only assuming you mean a Canvas App custom component.

If you are expecting a user to add their own datasources, why would you hard code and use Add Columns?

2. No, this is just how it works at the moment. Dynamic isn't supported. so no variables etc here.

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