Answered

Adding a line to a randomized collection

(3) Share

Report

Posted on by LF-14012120-0

I'm trying to do something unusual and creative, but running into errors. Hoping somebody can help me identify a solution.

I essentially have a quiz, and I want PowerApps to create a log of the answers so that I can mark them as correct or not correct (and the correct answer) in a gallery at the end of the quiz.

I used a ClearCollect and a FirstN(Shuffle to choose 10 questions at random from my SharePoint list and put them into a collection. That works great.

ClearCollect(PatientRecords, FirstN(Shuffle('MCI Game: Patient Information'),10))

One of the variables in the collection includes the correct answer, and the answer buttons are set up to add to the VarScore if the button they select matches the correct answer. Also works great.

If(Index(PatientRecords,VarStep).'Best Answer'.Value in "Green",
Set(VarScore, VarScore+5);Set(VarCorrect, VarCorrect+1),false);
Set(VarStep,VarStep+1); If(VarStep = 11, Navigate('Results Screen'),false)

Now, I'm trying to either temporarily write what answer they selected into a column of the collection, so that I can later compare the correct and selected answers to indicate if they got that particular question write OR

Create a new collection and put just the important few variables into it (Question Name, Correct Answer, Selected Answer) so I can display those on the results screen.

I've tried using PATCH, but LOOKUP cannot seem to find that particular line of the collection, because I can't use any particular variable, such as ID number because it's randomized each time.

I tried creating a new collection and adding those few items to it, but it again can't seem to gather the correct row from the randomized collection that allows me to put it into a new collection.

Patch(PatientRecords,Lookup(PatientRecords, VarStep,{ 'Choosen Anwser': "Green"})

Any suggestions?

Categories:

Building Power Apps

I have the same question (0)

All responses (5)

Answers (1)

Sort by

Verified answer

Valantis 6,735 on at

Like
a
(1)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hi @LF-14012120-0,

The issue with your Patch is that LookUp needs a condition that evaluates to true/false per row, not a position number. VarStep is an index, not a column value, so LookUp can't use it directly.

The simplest fix: use a unique identifier to match the row. Since you're using FirstN(Shuffle(...)), each row still has its original SharePoint ID. Use that to match:

Patch(
PatientRecords,
LookUp(PatientRecords, ID = Index(PatientRecords, VarStep).ID),
{ 'Chosen Answer': "Green" }
)

This finds the exact row at position VarStep by its ID and patches the chosen answer into it.

Alternatively, the cleanest approach for a quiz is to build a separate results collection as you go. On each answer button's OnSelect, add a Collect action:

Collect(
colResults,
{
Question: Index(PatientRecords, VarStep).'Question Name',
CorrectAnswer: Index(PatientRecords, VarStep).'Best Answer'.Value,
SelectedAnswer: "Green"
}
)

This builds the results collection step by step as the user answers. On the Results Screen you display colResults directly. No patching needed, no LookUp issues, and it's easy to compare CorrectAnswer vs SelectedAnswer per row in the gallery.

The second approach is simpler and more reliable for a quiz pattern.

Best regards,

Valantis

✅ If this helped solve your issue, please Accept as Solution so others can find it quickly.

❤️ If it didn’t fully solve it but was still useful, please click “Yes” on “Was this reply helpful?” or leave a Like :).

🏷️ For follow-ups @Valantis.

📝 https://valantisond365.com/

💼 LinkedIn

▶️ YouTube

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Suggested answer

11manish 3,333 on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Your approach is actually very good — the main issue is just with how Patch() and LookUp() are being used against the randomized collection.Your approach is

actually very good — the main issue is just with how Patch() and LookUp() are being used against the randomized collection.

On Answer Button :

Collect( QuizResults, { Question: Index(PatientRecords, VarStep).Title, CorrectAnswer: Index(PatientRecords, VarStep).'Best Answer'.Value, SelectedAnswer: "Green", IsCorrect: Index(PatientRecords, VarStep).'Best Answer'.Value = "Green" } ); If( Index(PatientRecords, VarStep).'Best Answer'.Value = "Green", Set(VarScore, VarScore + 5); Set(VarCorrect, VarCorrect + 1) ); Set(VarStep, VarStep + 1); If( VarStep = 11, Navigate('Results Screen') )

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Ram Prakash Duraisamy 5,877 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

Like
a
(1)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Hi,

Can you give a try for below code

// Initialize (put this in Screen OnVisible or App OnStart) ClearCollect(colQuestions, FirstN(Shuffle(PatientRecords), 10)); Clear(colResults); Set(VarStep, 1); // Answer button (example: Green) Collect( colResults, { QuestionID: Last(FirstN(colQuestions, VarStep)).ID, Question: Last(FirstN(colQuestions, VarStep)).'Question Name', CorrectAnswer: Last(FirstN(colQuestions, VarStep)).'Best Answer'.Value, SelectedAnswer: "Green" } ); If( VarStep < CountRows(colQuestions), Set(VarStep, VarStep + 1), Navigate(ResultScreen) ) // Display current question (Label Text) Last(FirstN(colQuestions, VarStep)).'Question Name' // Results Gallery Items colResults // Score (Label) CountIf(colResults, CorrectAnswer = SelectedAnswer)

Please mark as answer if my suggestion helps.
Subscribe here for More Useful videos : https://www.youtube.com/@rampprakash3991

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Suggested answer

timl 37,214 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

Like
a
(2)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Hi @LF-14012120-0

>> Now, I'm trying to either temporarily write what answer they selected into a column of the collection, so that I can later compare the correct and selected answers to indicate if they got that particular question write

On the basis that you want to the approach of writing the answer into a column of the PatientRecords collection, the first step is to add a column to store the answer (if you don't already have an existing column in your 'MCI Game: Patient Information' list to store the answer).

You would modify your call to ClearCollect like so. This will add a 'ChosenAnswer' column with a blank value against each question.

ClearCollect(PatientRecords, AddColumns( FirstN(Shuffle('MCI Game: Patient Information'),10)), ChosenAnswer, "" ) )

In your original formula, you're already picking up the record and answer by ordinal number through the use of the Index function. So to Patch, you would use the same approach. The Patch syntax would look like this:

Patch(PatientRecords, Index(PatientRecords,VarStep), {ChoosenAnwser: "Green"} )

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Suggested answer

Vish WR 3,748 on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

@LF-14012120-0

Instead of trying to update the original randomized collection, the better and simpler approach is to create a separate results collection while the user answers. So on each answer click, you should: * Use Index() to get the current question * Collect() a new collection (e.g. colResults) * Store Question, Correct Answer, and Selected Answer together This avoids lookup issues completely and makes your results screen much easier to build and manage.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No