Is it possible to use Entity List and Fetch xml at the same time?

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Posted on by Audrey Ma

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Hi everyone,

I'm a fresher for power apps portal.

Recently I create a customer portal to record some config info of clients' env.

There I had a need to merge 3 columns' value into another 1 column.

Since the data type of original columns is Option Set, I was told that the merge can only be realized by Fetchxml.

Actually I have no experience in Code-writing. Thus, getting all the data and customizing some button etc. via Fetchxml will be quite difficult for me.

In addition, the target columns that I want to merge is only 3 columns.

I doubt if I can design the main layout through Entity list, and merge the target columns by adding Fetchxml at the same time.

Any ideas about it, please kindly share with me.

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Power Apps portals

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oliver.rodrigues 9,475 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Hi, if you want a code free solution you can take a look at calculated fields:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/customerengagement/on-premises/customize/define-calculated-fields

I am assuming your fields are from the same table/entity. You can create a new field and set the type as calculated, then set the calculation formula using CONCAT option, this should be very similar to an excel formula. And finally you can reference this new field instead of the 3 fields in your entity list/view.

There is no way to "merge" the fields via fetch, I am not sure exactly what you were told. Via code you would have a few other options:

Manipulate via JS the entity list, merging the columns into a single one

Render the entity list via Liquid, merging the columns you want while rendering

Not use entity list and do a complete render via Liquid/FetchXML, again merging the columns you want

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Audrey Ma 134 on at

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@OliverRodrigues
Hi Oliver,
Thank you for your reply.
I'm afraid CONCAT doesn't work for my situation.
I did try it, but the data type of the original columns is Option Set, they can't be attained via Concat.
※CONCAT seems work for text or datetime, not for Option set.

I'm quite interested in what you mentioned below.
Here via code, it's not via fetch xml, but via editing Liquid code?
Could you kindly share with more details or some examples about it? Thanks in advance!
> Via code you would have a few other options:
Manipulate via JS the entity list, merging the columns into a single one
Render the entity list via Liquid, merging the columns you want while rendering

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Fubar 8,497 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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What do you need to merge, why, and when? Often you use a realtime workflow?

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Audrey Ma 134 on at

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Hi @Fubar
I have 3 columns, which represent Hour,Minute, and Second.

I'm now setting their data type as "Option Set", so that in entity form, the end-users can directly select the time number instead of input manually.
After the users finish the form, the info input will be displayed in an entity list.
There, instead of displaying time separately, I hope to merge the 3 columns into 1 column ad HH:MM:SS.

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Fubar 8,497 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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So several options:
Enity Form: add a field to hold the concatenated value, and concatenate with JavaScript prior to form submission (either onChange of the values or in the form validation - you can add to the out of the box validations - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/portals/configure/add-custom-javascript. Note in the dataverse form definition the field needs to be set as visible and editable (you can hide or make it readonly with CSS / JQuery on the portal)
Realtime workflow (or plugin): add a field to hold the concated value, then use realtime workflow to concatenate (set the trigger on create and also on update of the 3 fields) - note must be realtime so the value will refresh in the list view.

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oliver.rodrigues 9,475 Most Valuable Professional on at

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If CONCAT can't do the job, try a real-time workflow as suggested bu @Fubar

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/data-platform/overview-realtime-workflows

that's probably the easiest and simplest way to achieve it

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oliver.rodrigues 9,475 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Also, I don't want to interfere in your data model, but option set for Hour/Minute/Second, is there a reason for that? shouldn't you be looking at Datetime fields?

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Audrey Ma 134 on at

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Hi @OliverRodrigues
About creating real-time flow, it seems that I can't find the option "Run this workflow in the background" in Power Automate.
Is it something that will appear when flow is created successfully? Because now there is an error which made flow-creation fail.
About data type, I know it can be set Datetime. But Date time can only enable users to select from day to minutes, not to seconds.
Do you know if there is any method to make datetime input extend to seconds?

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oliver.rodrigues 9,475 Most Valuable Professional on at

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The real-time workflow is for classic Dataverse/D365 workflows, those aren't applicable for Power Automate Flows. So in this case you would have to create as a classic Workflow. If you don't mind it being Async/having the 15 min cache SLA you can still use Power Automate Flow.

Maybe just to explain better.. if you are populating the data via workflow/flow that is triggered via Portal (for example after create or update of a record), you probably want that data to be reflected in the Portal immediately, so in that case you would need a real-time/classic workflow.

If those fields are populated in another transaction (not triggered via Portal), it doesn't really matter if you are using Power Automate / classic Workflows / Real-Time or Async. You can use whatever you are most comfortable with (probably Power Automate Flow).

Finally with regards to the datatype, yes you are right, by default the seconds aren't displayed, however I am nearly sure if you just change the way the date control is rendered, you will be able to save the seconds.

Is that an Entity Form that you intent to populate the field?

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Fubar 8,497 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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As per Oliver, it is a Workflow not a Flow. Workflow can be background or real-time, Flow is background only (except in certain situations like REST - but not applicable to your scenario).

Needs to be a realtime workflow (or plugin) to get results back straight away (the workflow becomes part of the create/update transaction) so the list view refreshes with the value etc - background ones take a while to get resources to load and then run and are not really part of the create/update transaction (they run after the create/update is committed) and so when the list view refreshes usually the value will not be populated (and because Microsoft's SLA on the cache update is 15mins - it can take a while for the background update to show on the Portal).

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