Blog - Recent Posts

How to detect the end-user web browser from within canvas app

There's no direct way to retrieve the session ID from within a running Power App. A workaround to this issue is to retrieve the session ID by calling a Flow. This post walks through how to implement this technique.

SharePoint - How to fix the "skip to main content" error message on integrated forms, or to fix forms where records don't save

Why do I receive a "skip to main content" message when I attempt to save a record on a SharePoint integrated form? This post describes this problem that app builders sometimes encounter.

Android - Here's how to correctly configure the back button to navigate to the previous screen

There are two settings to set when we want to configure the back button on an Android device to navigate the user to the previous screen, rather than quit the running app. Which is the correct setting? In this post, we'll find out.

SharePoint - Use this trick to perform a 'contains' type search in a more delegable way

With SharePoint, it's difficult to perform a 'contains' type search that returns all matching records where the search term appears anywhere within a field, due to the fact that the search function is not delegable. A possible hack is to perform the search through a look up column. This enables us to carry out a delegable 'contains' type search against lists of up to 5,000 records. This post describes this technique in more detail.

SharePoint - Choice function now includes search capability

If you've been using Power Apps for some time, you'll be familiar with the Choices function - the function that retrieves lookup items from a SharePoint or Dataverse datasource. Following an update to Power Apps, this function now offers the built-in ability to filter the results. This post looks at how this applies to a SharePoint data source.

How to generate shorter/friendlier URLs for an app

The web address to start a Power App can look very unfriendly. This post explores how we can use third-party URL shortening services to generate friendlier URLs. In particular, we look at how to use the 'Short URL' service to manage short/vanity URLs from within a canvas app.

Bug - Sending email messages with the Office365Outlook connector that includes SharePoint file attachments no longer works

If you want to use the Office365Outlook connector to send email messages with file attachments from SharePoint, it's useful to note that this no longer works following a recent update to Power Apps.

Forms - How to copy/save an existing record on a form as a new record

A handy feature is the ability to make a copy of an existing record. The typical use case scenario of this is to speed up, or to simplify data entry. This post describes a technique that we can use to carry out this task.

How to retrieve and display the session ID from inside a running Power App

There's no direct way to retrieve the session ID from within a running Power App. A workaround to this issue is to retrieve the session ID by calling a Flow. This post walks through how to implement this technique.

Bug - OnStart property missing from designer - impossible to set OnStart formula

A recent update to Power Apps appears to have introduced a bug that makes it impossible to set OnStart formula. This post documents this issue and describes a workaround.

Forms - How to show Office 365 user profile details on a form

For business apps that are designed to facilitate collaboration, there may be the need to display the details of the currently logged on user, or some other specific user. This post walks through how to display user details on a canvas app form.

Sharepoint - Filtering records by yes/no columns bug - now fixed!

If you've been using SharePoint and Power Apps for some time, you may be aware of the bug that prevents the correct filtering of Yes/No columns. The good news is that this has now been fixed and this post describes in further detail, the past and new behaviour.

Controls - How to create rounded labels - workaround

There's no built-in way to round the corners of a label, however, we can workaround this problem by using a text input control instead. This post describes this technique in more detail.

Data - 3 things you should know before using the MySQL or PostgreSQL connectors

If you're thinking of using Power Apps to connect to MySQL or PostgreSQL databases, here are 3 things you should be aware of before you start.

Does Power Apps still support Internet Explorer (IE) - 2020?

Does Power Apps still support IE? If so, for how much longer? Are there any issues with running Power Apps on IE? This post explores some of these common questions.