Refresh button only kicks in second time I click

[Ginevra]

Hi community,

I have an App reading from a SharePoint list and a screen with a Refresh button that is not behaving as I expect. When clicked, it should make a loading message start, refresh the data source, collect the data again in local collections, and finally make the loading message disappear.

In the same screen, I am showing values from the local collections, so I can see straight away if an update has worked.

The loading message works fine, but the data does not refresh the first time I click on the button. I need to click twice for the Refresh and the ClearCollect to run completely (as far as I understand?). 

I don't understand why and appreciate any help 🙂 

I have understood that PowerApps is not always great at understanding  sequence of multiple commands. May that be the problem? What is a good work-around then?

I have the following code (EU code, so ; instead of , and so on): 

Button.OnSelect=

Set(AppLoaded;false);;  <---- the variable AppLoaded makes the loading message visible/invisible
Refresh(ListeAlleUnibuss);;
Concurrent(
ClearCollect(AlnaBusser; Filter(ListeAlleUnibuss; Verksted = "Alnabru"));
ClearCollect(KlemetsrudBusser; Filter(ListeAlleUnibuss; Verksted = "Klemetsrud"));
ClearCollect(RosenholmBusser; Filter(ListeAlleUnibuss; Verksted = "Rosenholm"))
);;
Set(AppLoaded; true)

[HEATFreight]

Apparently I do not have that "Use longer data cache timeout and background refresh" setting that @Jj999999 mentioned...

Could the setting "Enhanced performance for hidden controls" have anything to do with this? I have a series of somewhat involved stages of logic contained in buttons that Select() each other, with only the primary button ever being visible. I've never figured out whether it's better to daisychain them or trigger all secondary buttons from one main button, or what the difference is in functionality, but it does seem to work a little differently depending on where you place those Select() functions.

This thread has me thinking that maybe my buttons don't have any logic queued up until clicking the primary button triggers them to be created, as per that "Enhanced performance" experimental setting. I really need that setting, at least until I make a concerted effort to simplify my app, because I've done a lot of lazy things that would increase overhead and lag if not for that setting being enabled.

Can anyone confirm if this is why certain buttons in my app trigger a loading animation (in the editor) ??? Normally I have a "loading" overlay and .gif that become visible while buttons are doing their thing. The symptom of this issue is that I send what I'm 100% sure is a valid click to the primary button, but instead of bringing up my loading overlay and .gif and then triggering the cascade of button logic, the editor shows the loading animation at the top of the screen and nothing seems to happen. Clicking the primary button again successfully brings up my loading overlay and .gif, and the button cascade executes nominally.

Should I maybe switch the hidden buttons to visible but place them behind another element so that the aesthetic remains unchanged but the buttons are always loaded in the background and ready for action?

"Enhanced performance for hidden controls"

Edit 1: Well I tried hiding the secondary buttons behind the title bar with their visibility set to true, but there's still a loading animation on first click, and a second click is still required to get button to work. I can't be sure yet, but I think this typically occurs only on first time clicking that button or if app has sat stagnant for a while. Otherwise if we've already gotten that double click issue out of the way, it seems to work on first click. I think...

Anyway, here's some pseudocode to show the structure of the logic in my hidden button cascade (WARNING THERE ARE PROBABLY TYPOS AND MISSING PARENTHESES, AND SYNTAX IS MOSTLY WRONG FOR THE SAKE OF QUICK AND READABLE PSEUDOCODE, but it should be good enough to convey my use case):

//Logic of Button1, the primary button which is the only visible button
//turn on loading overlay and spinner .gif
Set(flowRunning, true );
//
Concurrent(
//clear some collections
	If(xyz,Set(abc,123)),
	Clear(),
	Clear()
);
//
Concurrent(
//patch some collections
	Patch(),
	Patch(),
	Patch()
);
//
//sort a collection
Sort();
//
Concurrent(
//
	ClearCollect(),
	ClearCollect()
);
//
Select(Button2);
//End Button1
////////////////
////////////////
//Logic of Button2
Select(Button3);
//
Set(varJSON, JSON([{this: colThis},{that: colThat}], IncludeBinaryData));
//
Set(varFlow, PowerAutomateFlow.Run(varJSON));
//set some more variables
Set(); Set(); Set();
//
If(flowFailed<>"true", Notify("Success",Success);Select(Button4), Notify(varFlow.status,Error); UpdateContext({varError: "error"}));
//End Button2
////////////////
////////////////
//Logic of Button3
Set();
//
If(timeToRefresh,
//
	Set(varRefresh,PowerAutomateRefreshFlow1.Run(vars));
//
Concurrent(
//
	If(something, Set(somethingElse), somethingSomething, Set(somethingSomethingSomething)),
	If(something, Set(somethingElse), somethingSomething, Set(somethingSomethingSomething)),
	If(something, Set(somethingElse), somethingSomething, Set(somethingSomethingSomething)),
	Set(),
	Set()
);
//
Set(thisThing,Set(varRefreshThisThing,PowerAutomateRefreshFlow2.Run(vars1)););
//
IfError(thisThing, Set(varRefreshThisThing,PowerAutomateRefreshFlow2.Run(vars1)),false);
Set(); Set();
Set(varRefreshTime),
false
);
//End Button3
////////////////
////////////////
//Logic of Button4
//Oh yeah, technically Button4 is visible too since it's the Back() button
Concurrent(
//update a bunch of variables
	UpdateContext(),UpdateContext(),UpdateContext(),UpdateContext(),
//reset some forms
	ResetForm(),ResetForm(),ResetForm(),ResetForm(),
//set some vars
	Set(), Set()
);
Back();
//End Button4

Edit 2: Ok this is interesting. I Made all the hidden buttons visible and moved them to the front so I could see them each get selected in turn... Well what's happening is Button3 is getting selected and successfully refreshing the stuff it refreshes, but the rest of Button2's logic does not seem to run. Why is my button cascade only partially completing on first usage, requiring it to be clicked twice, but then working fine after that? Oh, well I suppose the refresh step in Button3 is skipped on subsequent runs so it seems to be that when a refresh is required, that causes Button2 to fail to complete all the logic which comes after selecting Button3, whereas if Button3 If() condition does not require a refresh, then Button2 finishes the rest of its logic nominally. So maybe I need to select Button3 at the end of Button1 before I select Button2??? Except that it seems like this causes problems, almost like they are not running entirely sequential but seemingly concurrent? Do sequential Select() functions in the same button run concurrently somehow? I could also move the Button2 Select() to the end of Button3's logic, basically daisychaining them. Since Button3 runs every time but doesn't necessarily perform its refresh function, maybe I can just Select() Button3 at the end of Button1 and Select() Button2 at the end of Button3 (regardless of outcome of refresh condition).

Annnd, yes, I have just tested the above steps and can confirm that rearranging my button Select() functions to daisychain them has fixed the issue. So if your buttons sometimes need two clicks, and you have some sort of button cascade like me, you may benefit from restructuring the cascade such that each button is chained only to the next button, rather than having one of the secondary buttons select multiple other buttons. Daisychaining them ensures sequential logic runs sequentially.