Share
ReportPower Apps Studio could gain huge productivity from a small feature inspired by Excel.
Problem
When refactoring or replacing controls, we often need to copy formulas between them. Example: transforming a Dropdown into a ComboBox. We have to manually copy 5–6 property formulas (Items, Default, Visible, etc.), which means:
- Click source control
- Click property
- Ctrl+A → Ctrl+C
- Click target control
- Select same property
- Ctrl+V
That’s 30+ actions just to replicate 5 properties.
Idea
Introduce a new keyboard shortcut — for instance, F9 — that evaluates and replaces the selected formula or expression in the formula bar.
Example
If I type:
DropDown1.Items
and press F9, Power Apps would look up that property and replace it with its evaluated value, e.g.:
["Item 1", "Item 2", "Item 3"]
This mirrors Excel’s existing behavior: selecting part of a formula and pressing F9 replaces it with its computed result.
Why it matters
- Accelerates refactoring and control migration.
- Reduces human error in copy-paste sequences.
- Lets makers explore formulas and static results without opening Monitor.
- Power Apps already evaluates subexpressions (hover preview), so the capability exists.
Behavior rules
- Works only for statically evaluable expressions (pure, no side effects).
- If evaluation is dynamic or fails, show a tooltip warning and leave the text unchanged.
Optional extensions
- Partial evaluation of selected text.
- Undo support (Ctrl+Z restores the original formula).
This would be a small but powerful quality-of-life improvement for Power Apps makers, bringing the formula editing experience closer to Excel’s maturity.
All responses (
Answers (
154,799
