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LeoGS
Helper III
Helper III

Performance gains by avoiding LookUps?

Hello community,


I just found out yesterday that I can avoid repetition of "LookUps" by simply saving the record I am "looking up" into a variable with UpdateContext and referring to this variable instead of doing the LookUps. What I mean:


Before:

Visible Property:

If( User().Email = varSelectedSubmittedAudit.UserEmail
|| LookUp(dbo_Users, UserEmail = User().Email, Privilege) = "admin"
|| (
LookUp(dbo_Users, UserEmail = User().Email, Privilege) = "local" && LookUp(dbo_BusinessUnits, PrimaryKey = LookUp(dbo_Users, UserEmail = User().Email, FK_BusinessUnit), BusinessUnit) = varSelectedSubmittedAudit.BusinessUnit
),
true, false
)


After:

OnVisible => UpdateContext({ varUserObject: First( Filter(dbo_Users, UserEmail = User().Email) ) })


Visible Property:

If( User().Email = varSelectedSubmittedAudit.UserEmail
|| varUserObject.Privilege = "admin"
|| (
varUserObject.Privilege = "local" && LookUp(dbo_BusinessUnits, PrimaryKey = varUserObject.FK_BusinessUnit, BusinessUnit) = varSelectedSubmittedAudit.BusinessUnit
),
true, false
)


Please notice the red color above. I managed to substitute 3 LookUps for 1 First/Filter.

My question on you is: what is more performative?


The data source I use is Sharepoint Lists.


Thanks a lot for the attention!

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
RandyHayes
Super User
Super User

@LeoGS 

I just read your other post and responded there as well...

To really understand the delays and interaction with the Datasource you have to understand the options you have set in your app settings.  There are different ones that will alter the performance and how PowerApps gathers data.  The MOST performant for starting and app is having PowerApps get data as it is needed.  However, if you are using collections, this will be problematic (another reason to avoid them unless absolutely needed.)

The hits in performance then come from the times that data is not in session and the session manager needs to get it.

Essentially, when you start PowerApps, the session manager (the cloud session) will "stub" out the datasource.  It will be empty.  As you demand data, the session manager will see that it is not loaded yet and will then get it from the real source.  Once it has it, it will maintain it.  If you ask for that data again, it will get it from the session...not the source.  

So, in address to your question, LookUp is always the fastest.  The first LookUp might incur the cost of source to cloud session to app, but after that it is primarily cloud session to app.

First(Filter should just never be used as it will always do more cycles than necessary.  Here is why - in terms of delegation.  If you use a Filter to produce only certain results, it will be delegated to the datasource and ALL the results will be returned to the app.  You then would be using a First to give you the first record.  So, you had all that time and overhead of the filter before it got to the First function.  With LookUp, the criteria is also delegated to the source and the source will return just the record requested matching the criteria, so there is no extra transfer of a table of records.

Your LookUp is precise! The Criteria provided will (should) match only one record.  However, if there are multiple records matching the criteria and you only want the last one, then you need to account for it in the formula. i.e.: LookUp(Sort(yourData, columnX, Descending), columnX="someValue")

 

Now the interesting thing about PowerApps is that it is pretty smart when it comes to what it can and cannot do when multiple functions are chained together.  

To really get an idea, you would need to watch the Monitor Tool and see what it is doing.  For example, on the above formula, it will create a URL query against the session data table.  It will combine all of the functions in that formula into the query url.  Then the session will do all the heavy lifting.

 

So, moral of the story...it all depends!  A lot of PowerApps design is not just about knowing formulas and functions and how PowerApps works just like Excel, but also knowing about your data - what it is and how it will change over time.  These all go into the design process.

 

Hopefully clear and helpful for you.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
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View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5
gabibalaban
Multi Super User
Multi Super User

@LeoGS ,

Use this in visible property:

 

 

With(
   {varUserObject:First(
                     Filter(dbo_Users,UserEmail=User().Email)
                  ),
    varBusinessUnit: First(Filter(dbo_BusinessUnits, PrimaryKey = varUserObject.FK_BusinessUnit, BusinessUnit))
 },
    User().Email = varSelectedSubmittedAudit.UserEmail || 
    varUserObject.Privilege = "admin" || 
    ( varUserObject.Privilege = "local" && 
      LookUp(dbo_BusinessUnits, 
             PrimaryKey = varUserObject.FK_BusinessUnit, BusinessUnit) = 
      varSelectedSubmittedAudit.BusinessUnit)
)

 

 

Hope it helps !

RandyHayes
Super User
Super User

@LeoGS 

If performance is a concern, then you will want to avoid the First(Filter combination.

When you do First(Filter, PowerApps will first Filter ALL of the records in the datasource.  Then it will return that as a full table to the First function...which then will return the first record.

Instead utilize the LookUp function as it will use the same criteria as the Filter, but it will STOP at the first record that it encounters that meets the criteria.  So, it is equivalent to the First(Filter but does not incur the overhead of the Filter statement.

 

So instead, your OnStart would be the following:

UpdateContext({ varUserObject: LookUp(dbo_Users, UserEmail = User().Email) })
UpdateContext({ varBusinessUnit: LookUp(dbo_BusinessUnits, PrimaryKey = varUserObject.FK_BusinessUnit, BusinessUnit) })

And your Visible property would be:

User().Email = varSelectedSubmittedAudit.UserEmail || 
varUserObject.Privilege = "admin" || 
(
   (varUserObject.Privilege = "local") && 
   (varBusinessUnit = varSelectedSubmittedAudit.BusinessUnit)
)

You don't need the redundant If statement.  The above will already return a true of false.

 

I hope this is helpful for you.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Digging it? - Click on the Thumbs Up below. Solved your problem? - Click on Accept as Solution below. Others seeking the same answers will be happy you did.
NOTE: My normal response times will be Mon to Fri from 1 PM to 10 PM UTC (and lots of other times too!)
Check out my PowerApps Videos too! And, follow me on Twitter @RandyHayes

Really want to show your appreciation? Buy Me A Cup Of Coffee!
LeoGS
Helper III
Helper III

Hello @RandyHayes , as always thank you A LOT for the words of wisdom!

 

I will mark the answer above as "Accepted", but before I would like to discuss it a bit:

If I understand it right, then we should consider a "break-even Point" where the Performance of N LookUps will be WORSE than ONE First/Filter.

 

Let me explain. In the example you gave (comparing ONE First/Filter with ONE LookUp), I agree that the First/Filter would be slow, because PowerApps would go through the whole list one time instead of breaking the search as soon it finds the result with the LookUp.

But what would happen if I had 10 LookUps? And let's say, the row to be lookup is in the end of the list? Am I right to assume that, IN THIS CASE, it would be better to run through the list one time (with FIRST/FILTER) and then refer to the variable instead of calling LookUp 10 times?

 

Furthermore: We considered in the discussion only the time PowerApps Need to run through the lists… should we also consider the delay between sending a request to the Server/Data source and obtaining the Response? This is actually what led me to open this post: I see SOMETIMES that SharePoint (or another dynamic data source) Needs SECONDS until I see the result of the query on the screen (it led me to open a new thread, this one: https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Power-Apps/Response-delay-from-Sharepoint-List-causes-w...). I wonder if this Response delay it would escalate if I had 10 requests (via 10 LookUps) to the SAME data source...

 

Thanks for reading!

RandyHayes
Super User
Super User

@LeoGS 

I just read your other post and responded there as well...

To really understand the delays and interaction with the Datasource you have to understand the options you have set in your app settings.  There are different ones that will alter the performance and how PowerApps gathers data.  The MOST performant for starting and app is having PowerApps get data as it is needed.  However, if you are using collections, this will be problematic (another reason to avoid them unless absolutely needed.)

The hits in performance then come from the times that data is not in session and the session manager needs to get it.

Essentially, when you start PowerApps, the session manager (the cloud session) will "stub" out the datasource.  It will be empty.  As you demand data, the session manager will see that it is not loaded yet and will then get it from the real source.  Once it has it, it will maintain it.  If you ask for that data again, it will get it from the session...not the source.  

So, in address to your question, LookUp is always the fastest.  The first LookUp might incur the cost of source to cloud session to app, but after that it is primarily cloud session to app.

First(Filter should just never be used as it will always do more cycles than necessary.  Here is why - in terms of delegation.  If you use a Filter to produce only certain results, it will be delegated to the datasource and ALL the results will be returned to the app.  You then would be using a First to give you the first record.  So, you had all that time and overhead of the filter before it got to the First function.  With LookUp, the criteria is also delegated to the source and the source will return just the record requested matching the criteria, so there is no extra transfer of a table of records.

Your LookUp is precise! The Criteria provided will (should) match only one record.  However, if there are multiple records matching the criteria and you only want the last one, then you need to account for it in the formula. i.e.: LookUp(Sort(yourData, columnX, Descending), columnX="someValue")

 

Now the interesting thing about PowerApps is that it is pretty smart when it comes to what it can and cannot do when multiple functions are chained together.  

To really get an idea, you would need to watch the Monitor Tool and see what it is doing.  For example, on the above formula, it will create a URL query against the session data table.  It will combine all of the functions in that formula into the query url.  Then the session will do all the heavy lifting.

 

So, moral of the story...it all depends!  A lot of PowerApps design is not just about knowing formulas and functions and how PowerApps works just like Excel, but also knowing about your data - what it is and how it will change over time.  These all go into the design process.

 

Hopefully clear and helpful for you.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Digging it? - Click on the Thumbs Up below. Solved your problem? - Click on Accept as Solution below. Others seeking the same answers will be happy you did.
NOTE: My normal response times will be Mon to Fri from 1 PM to 10 PM UTC (and lots of other times too!)
Check out my PowerApps Videos too! And, follow me on Twitter @RandyHayes

Really want to show your appreciation? Buy Me A Cup Of Coffee!
LeoGS
Helper III
Helper III

@RandyHayes, I have no words for your text, it is just amazing. This level of discussion and this kind of information on the in-depth / behind the curtains behavior of PowerApps is exactly what I was looking for.

 

Now I am more convinced anyone can be that LookUp is the best solution. I will re-implement the two or three functions I had re-written using FIRST/FILTER and stick to LookUps.

 

Thank you a lot again!

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