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Dataverse low code plugin - how to patch a lookup column on ThisRecord?

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Posted on by Ostritch

I want to set a lookup column on ThisRecord using an automated low code plugin. Say I select the Student table and I want to set the teacher column (which is a lookup to Teacher table) for ThisRecord to simply be the first teacher on the Teachers table . From a canvas app, I might have this code:

Set('Main Teacher', First(Teachers))

But when I put that in the plug-in I get an error that "This record cannot be copied. Instead, create an inline record using {...} notation to copy the individual fields desired." with the First function underlined in red.

I tried their suggestion by recreating the full record inside {...} but then was getting error "Invalid argument type (Record). Expecting a Record value instead.".

I also tried to use the Relate function in Power Fx to set the lookup but even though it's not listed on the Formulas not currently supported with low code plug-ins, I get the error "'Relate' is a recognized but not supported function." .

How do I set/patch a column of type lookup on ThisRecord?

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Microsoft Dataverse with Power Apps

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Ostritch 20 on at

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UPDATE
I managed to use Patch for the Create event:
Patch(Students,ThisRecord,{'Main Teacher':First(Teachers)})
But I still think I need to use Set in Update event to avoid an infinite loop...

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NT-23070621-0 on at

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I think you can try:
But be notice that Lookup will return table type and the Patch function's second parameter is a Record data type.
Patch(
<Your Collection>,
<Lookup Result Record>,
{<Your field>: <Your Value>}
);

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autopower 45 on at

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Yes, wrt to Patch the documentation does indeed state in the Best Practices section that:

Don't write a patch statement on an automated plugin upon 'Update' event, where the patch is happening on the same table as the plugin. This leads to infinite loops and plugin execution failures.
Problematic pattern: Using Patch() formula triggers another update.

Did you find any other way to set a lookup (without using Set or Patch)?

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Mark Nanneman 991 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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I spent hours trying to get a low-code plugin to update a lookup column--the error messages in the formula advisor are not that helpful! I finally figured out that by "inline record" it's refering to the With() function, but when you use the "With" function it seems like you have to use a Patch--at least that's how I could get it to work. I had to create "inline records" for both the current record and the related/lookup record.

So this is how you'd need to do it in your case:

With( { vThisRecord: NewRecord, vTeacherLookup: First(Teachers) }, Patch(Students,vThisRecord, {'Main Teacher': vTeacherLookup}) )

I documented how I set lookups for a plugin I was working on in a blog post here:
Use With() to Set Lookup Column with Low-Code Automated Plugin in Dataverse Accelerator – Power Stuff

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ronaldwalcott 3,847 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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The Patch should not cause an infinite loop when run in the created, but it would run whatever code is in the updated since it triggers an update.

The infinite loop would occur in the updated because a Patch triggers an update which would then run what is in the updated which is a patch and so on and so on.

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