Display default value of person column from SharePoint in powerapps

[JimmyWork]

Hi

What I'm trying to achieve is to display the selected person when i click edit form in power apps.

My column is a SharePoint person column named "Approver"

When i go to power apps and click edit the form for the specific item the default value should display the person in the column but it display nothing.

The default value i have tried to set it to ThisItem.Approver but the result is the same it is blank.
If i try ThisItem.Approver.displayName i get an error due to it is a person column and will not display a text string but needs a record.

Approver column = SharePoint Person column.
Approver items = Office365Groups.ListGroupMembers("groupID").value

But how do i fetch back the data from the SharePoint column so it default displays the person in the "Appprover" column

[JimmyWork]

Tried this in Default but still no luck

{ 
  '@odata.type':"#Microsoft.Azure.Connectors.SharePoint.SPListExpandedUser",	
  DisplayName:ThisItem.Approver.DisplayName,
  Claims:"i:0#.f|membership|" & ThisItem.Approver.Email, 
  Email:ThisItem.Approver.Email
}

When the form is in edit mode i want i to pre select the data from the SharePoint person column "Approver"
So if the column contains the user "John Smith"

Then when i click edit form in power apps i want "John Smith" to be pre selected 

[JimmyWork]

Seems that if i put this in DefaultSelectItem it works, don't know why i need the brackets?

[ThisItem.Approver.DisplayName]

[v-qiaqi-msft]

Hi@JimmyWork,

Do you want that whenever users try to add a new record, keep a specific person as selected automatically (default) in person field?

You must set the DefaultSelectedItems property which makes your expressions work. 

I have a test on my side which goes well.

And as an alternative solution, you can try the following formula in DefaultSelectedItems property:

If(

    EditForm1.Mode = FormMode.Edit,

    {

        DisplayName: ThisItem.Approver.DisplayName,

        Claims: "i:0#.f|membership|" & Lower(ThisItem.Approver.DisplayName)

    },

    Parent.Default

)

[JimmyWork]

Thank you @v-qiaqi-msft I have tested your solutions before i saw your post and it does not work for me.

I just want it to keep the when you click edit form/item. If i use your options they will all end up blank.
For example the below will just say "Select Approver" will not display the already selected approver.

If(

    FormEditTicket_1.Mode = FormMode.Edit,

    {

        DisplayName: ThisItem.Approver.DisplayName,

        Claims: "i:0#.f|membership|" & Lower(ThisItem.Approver.DisplayName)

    },

    Parent.Default

)

  Same goes for the part below, i already tested this and it will also just stay blank.

{ 
  '@odata.type':"#Microsoft.Azure.Connectors.SharePoint.SPListExpandedUser",	
  DisplayName:ThisItem.Approver.DisplayName,
  Claims:"i:0#.f|membership|" & ThisItem.Approver.Email, 
  Email:ThisItem.Approver.Email
}

If the column "Approver" contains a person i want that person to be the default value if the form is in display or edit mode. None of the above works. But this line works and i don't know why, the closing brackets makes the difference

[ThisItem.Approver.DisplayName]

[JimmyWork]

bump

[JimmyWork]

I just need to understand what the brackets do and why they work and nothing else.
Can i use the Brackets or is it a big no in powerapps?

[JimmyWork]

Sorry for bumping this again but i really need clarification if i can use with square brackets ?

[ThisItem.Approver.DisplayName]

[v-qiaqi-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi@JimmyWork,

Sorry for the late reply.

Based on the issue you mentioned, let me explain it.

Square brackets usually imply it's a collection/table element. So how you set your Item property determines which symbol you should use to quote.

[ThisItem.Approver.DisplayName]

The expression above may be a table column in your Table, so you have to use “[“,“]” to quote it.

The Item you set the 'Approver' is a table, too.

Best Regards,

Qi Qiao

[JimmyWork]

@v-qiaqi-msft Thank you for the explanation, much appreciated.

 I can now move forward and be happy with using a correct solution 🙂