PowerApps Download file button?

[mob]

Is it possible to have a download button in the powerapps?

Now we show the results (stored in the file) in the powerapps, and we display the path of the file.

But, it is possible to have a download button to download this file from this path?

e.g. we display c:\users\desktop\files\xy.txt , but we want to be able also to download this file...

How can this be done?

[Perumal]

Currently its not possible to download the file through PowerApps.

Consider submitting this in PowerApps Ideas.

[mob]

Now I fould a solution... but I don't know if it can work

I inserted a new button and wrote:

Download ("http://petstore.swagger.io/v2/swagger.json")

and when I run and click the button, I get a popup to store the file....

is this my solution?

EDIT:

How do you mean is not possible? For what is then this download function?

[hpkeong · Accepted solution]

Hi

It is possible from DOWNLOAD link.

https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/tutorials/function-param/

...The Download function downloads a file from the web to the local device.

... The user is prompted for a location to save the file. Download returns the location where the file was stored locally as a string. 

Hope the link here helps.

[JimmyS]

Taking this a step further. Is there a way to invoke the Download command from a link in a Browse Gallery?

I created an Excel table in OneDrive with a PDF File Description and Link colums. I created a TextField Button in my Gallery and set an OnSelect to Launch(TextInput1.Text). Works perfectly opening the PDF file that I have saved on the Web in my browser.

But when I tried the same thing with Download, OnSelect Download(TextInput3.Text)  I get an error. Note that I created two different columns in Excel for the links so that I could change the syntax for testing. The error; The URL passed to the function is not valid. I have tried enclosing the URL in brackets, not in brackets, with and without double quotations, with no success. To get Launch to work, I had to remove the brackets and double quotes. Just a raw;  http://filepath.pdf. When I try my Download Button (really a text field) with TextInput1, I get the same error.

So do the Launch and Dowload commands have different characteristics? In the tutorial, they both use the same synta;   Launch(http://filepath.pdf") and Download(http://filepath.pdf"). Would be really nice if this worked. Note, that I was able to create a button to invoke the Download command on a stand alone app page to download these same files, using the same path. But I need the ability to download a Gallery of records; Warranties, specifications, user manuals, etc. All PDF files.

I will keep hacking and offer up a solution if I find the right mix. But if anyone can solve the riddle, I'm all eyes. Thanks.

[JimmyS]

Never mind. I should have know better. I typically use the PowerApps for Windows app. But as I can't figure out how to paste in that app, I moved over to the PowerApps web app, as I was dealing with long URLs. Well, the web app works fine with the Launch command and a URL in a text field (from an Excel spreadsheet) with nothing at the front/back end. So, http://filename.pdf for example. No brackets or quotations. But the Download command does not work at all. I tried a previous proven method adding the URL to a Button, and it also did not work.

I saved my work and reopened the app in PowerApps for Windows. Worked on the first try. Yah! So, you only need one column with a description of your file and another with the link in your Excel spreadsheet. I have the link field in the Gallery, but the Visible property is set to false. Tested it on my Windows phone and both buttons worked. launch File opened my PDF in the browser. Had a problem when I tried opening the file I saved to my SD card. But that may have been all the %20% stuff in the file name. Not sure. Tried again, saving to phone memory and the file opened fine.

This will be a good solution for my field techs when they need to access manuals, specs, etc. Navigating through multiple folders in OneDrive can be difficult for noobs who only use a phone. But clicking a button in a PowerApp is darn easy. Glad I got this to work.

[Anonymous]

Hello JimmyS,

I have a question related to your solution, which is about the same as I'm trying to do myself. Can you look at this question: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/PowerApps-Flow/Download-file-and-store-location-in-variable/t... ?

Or can you share the solution you have build for downloading and opening files?

[Nikhil2]

Hello,

Is it possible to download multiple files within the gallery, in my case i have gallery which has a document library from Sharepoint.

And i have added the checkbox controller to the gallery, so that when needed user can select the multiple documents and download but do we have any command to establish this issue? However i can dowload or launch the single file at a time.

Thanks and Regards,

Nikhil.

[Anonymous]

Hi Jimmy,

I have a similar situation with employees needing to have access to PDF files off line with their devices (phone,tablet).  From your post it looks like you were able to get this to work but I'm not sure how you did it.  Could you please elaborate on just what you had to do to get this to work?

I would need to have my app check to see if there is a new version of the PDF on line, download it and save it to a location on the device so that I could open the PDF even if I was off line.

I've looked at the Download function but it doesn't seem to do anything when I attach it to a button with the URL of a PDF file.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

Ed

[JimmyS]

You need to create an Excel file within your OneDrive account associated with your PowerApps login. Make sure to share the Excel File, so all users can access the data. I named my file PDFDocuments.xlsx. For my needs, I created three Sheets; Warranties, Specs & Manuals. 

For each entry you need to add two fields; Common Name and Link. The common name is what you will see displayed in your PowerApp. The link is the URL to your PDF file. Once you have linked these Sheets to your PowerApp as a Data Source, PowerApps will add a third column, _PowerAppsID_, which includes the unique link to your Excel row with common name and URL. 

I added the link to each entry, labeling it Subtitle1 and hiding it, only displaying the common name. When you click the View button, it looks for Subtitle1, launching the URL and opening the PDF file. Clicking Download opens a Save As dialog box. 

You update your list of PDF files via the Excel spreadsheet. Not sure if you could add a date or version column that might work within the PowerApp to tell you if it is new or revised.The View button is always visible. Download remains grayed until you enter a passocde to unlock it. 

Hope some of this makes sense.