Solved: Deep Link to SharePoint Form

TheFlowHawk · ‎05-02-2022

Hey all!

I am using a SharePoint form customized with Power Apps. I have external users that have been added to my SharePoint site accessing the form. Everything works great.

Now, I want to send emails to these users that deep links to the app. I constructed an app url like this:

https://web.powerapps.com/apps/<appid>

where the <appid> is the appid for the SharePoint form. If I click that link, it takes me to the SharePoint form in a full-window experience. If my guest users click this link, they are presented with a screen that says "Sorry, we didn’t find that app."

My guess is that creating an app url like above is treated like a Power Apps standalone canvas app rather than a SharePoint form, and that users would need to have a license with Power Apps enabled to open it. Is there a way to deep link to a SharePoint form that is external/guest user friendly?

TheFlowHawk · ‎05-09-2022

Thanks for checking back in @WarrenBelz! I didn't get the result I was looking for, but it's a technology limitation.

Ultimately I'm super disappointed that the same SharePoint form can be accessed using two links:
1. https://[tenant].sharepoint.com/sites/[SiteName]/Lists/[ListName]/EditForm.aspx

2. https://web.powerapps.com/apps/[appid]

Both links open the same SharePoint form customized with Power Apps. Here are the differences between using the two though:

Licenses

The first link can be accessed by unlicensed users, including external/guest users in your tenant. The second link can only be accessed by user with a valid Power Apps license.

Parameters

The first link can only use the parameter "ID" to pass in a valid SharePoint ID, as well as other SharePoint-official parameters. The second link can pass in ANY valid parameter that you define using the Param() function within the app.

Full-screen

The first link cannot become a full-screen experience. The closest you can get is by appending the url with "env=Embedded" to remove other SharePoint navigation, but you will always have the "Cancel" and "Save" buttons at the top, as well as the breadcrumb of "[Site Name] > [List Name] > [Item Title]" when editing an item. The second link can become full screen by using the parameter "hidenavbar=true", though you must account for ways to save/cancel from within the form, because the buttons will not be available in the header as they are in SharePoint. In both cases, you will be unable to build a truly responsive app because those settings are removed for custom SharePoint forms.

Multiple Content Types

In both cases, the app will not read a specific content type selected from the SharePoint "New Item" menu, which is a major limitation from the Power Apps technology side. It is well-documented that you will have to have a second selection within the new form to select content type, even though it was selected once from SharePoint. If you are in a scenario where you can use the second url to access your app (web.powerapps...) then you can construct buttons in your site that will pass the content type name to the app as a parameter, and avoid the extra clicks. However, if you can only use the first url (access through SharePoint), then you must have the user select the content type again within the app.

That's the essence of my findings. I recorded a video of launching a full-page experience by default from SharePoint instead of having the app appear in the sliding pane, if anyone is facing the same issue and can use the web.powerapps... type of url. That video is here: Full Screen SharePoint Forms - YouTube

View solution in original post

WarrenBelz · ‎05-02-2022

Hi @TheFlowHawk ,

If you have the target item in a Form or Gallery, then

ThisItem.'Link to item'

or as a URL

"<a href='" & ThisItem.'Link to item' & "'>Click on this link</a>"

will send the user to SharePoint and open the default form with that item.

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Thumbs Up.

Visit my blog Practical Power Apps

TheFlowHawk · ‎05-02-2022

Thanks for the response Warren. I'm hoping to have a link that will (1) open a full screen experience for the custom form and (2) allow me to pass more parameters to the url than just the item ID. So far I haven't found anything that lets me do that with a SharePoint custom form, even constructing a Power Apps url for the form using the appid.

WarrenBelz · ‎05-02-2022

Hi @TheFlowHawk ,

That is correct, you cannot open a customised form full-screen and it is not designed to accept incoming parameters the way a Canvas app does.

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Thumbs Up.

Visit my blog Practical Power Apps

WarrenBelz · ‎05-07-2022

Hi @TheFlowHawk ,

Just checking if you got the result you were looking for on this thread. Happy to help further if not.

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Thumbs Up.

Visit my blog Practical Power Apps

TheFlowHawk · ‎05-09-2022

Thanks for checking back in @WarrenBelz! I didn't get the result I was looking for, but it's a technology limitation.

Ultimately I'm super disappointed that the same SharePoint form can be accessed using two links:
1. https://[tenant].sharepoint.com/sites/[SiteName]/Lists/[ListName]/EditForm.aspx

2. https://web.powerapps.com/apps/[appid]

Both links open the same SharePoint form customized with Power Apps. Here are the differences between using the two though:

Licenses

The first link can be accessed by unlicensed users, including external/guest users in your tenant. The second link can only be accessed by user with a valid Power Apps license.

Parameters

The first link can only use the parameter "ID" to pass in a valid SharePoint ID, as well as other SharePoint-official parameters. The second link can pass in ANY valid parameter that you define using the Param() function within the app.

Full-screen

The first link cannot become a full-screen experience. The closest you can get is by appending the url with "env=Embedded" to remove other SharePoint navigation, but you will always have the "Cancel" and "Save" buttons at the top, as well as the breadcrumb of "[Site Name] > [List Name] > [Item Title]" when editing an item. The second link can become full screen by using the parameter "hidenavbar=true", though you must account for ways to save/cancel from within the form, because the buttons will not be available in the header as they are in SharePoint. In both cases, you will be unable to build a truly responsive app because those settings are removed for custom SharePoint forms.

Multiple Content Types

In both cases, the app will not read a specific content type selected from the SharePoint "New Item" menu, which is a major limitation from the Power Apps technology side. It is well-documented that you will have to have a second selection within the new form to select content type, even though it was selected once from SharePoint. If you are in a scenario where you can use the second url to access your app (web.powerapps...) then you can construct buttons in your site that will pass the content type name to the app as a parameter, and avoid the extra clicks. However, if you can only use the first url (access through SharePoint), then you must have the user select the content type again within the app.

That's the essence of my findings. I recorded a video of launching a full-page experience by default from SharePoint instead of having the app appear in the sliding pane, if anyone is facing the same issue and can use the web.powerapps... type of url. That video is here: Full Screen SharePoint Forms - YouTube