Using Patch on a CheckBox to apply to a collection is causing new rows to be added to the collection

[Anonymous]

Hello,

Using Patch on a CheckBox to apply to a collection is causing new rows to be added to the collection

Oncheck - Patch(colWAPSteps, ThisItem, {stepRowEdit: true})
OnUncheck - Patch(colWAPSteps, ThisItem, {stepRowEdit: false})

 

In the gallery I have two check boxes next to each row.

• One is "Edited?" where if a user OnCheck it patches the Field - Patch(colWAPSteps, ThisItem, {stepRowEdit: true}) and OnUnCheck Patch(colWAPSteps, ThisItem, {stepRowEdit: false})
• And one is "LOTO" where if a user OnCheck it patches field - Patch(colWAPSteps, ThisItem, {stepRowLOTOText: "LOTO"}) and OnUnCheck Patch(colWAPSteps, ThisItem, {stepRowLOTOText: "No"})

If I spam click any of these buttons it will create a blank row in the gallery. I really have to click fast though. Also it only does this in the APP editor. If I'm using the live version it doesn't not happen. The live version also works a lot faster, so I'm not sure if network issues are causing it or not.

It's a plus for me since I've finally be able to reproduce it. But I also don't know how to keep it from happening. 

EDIT: Below doesn't appear to be what is causing the issue like I originally thought.

I have a custom "repeating table" that I created to allow users to build out a step process. 

A Text Box that contains the step number

A Text Box where the user writes out the step information

and an "Add" Button that when pressed it adds the above info to a Gallery (stored by a collection)

So the user would say:

• Step: 1
• Procedure: This is a test for step one
• Step: 2
• Procedure: This is a test for step two

and the Gallery would look like this

Step	Procedure
1	This is a test for step one
2	This is a test for step two

Then below is a back button. When "Back" is clicked it will add all of the steps concat into a variable.

Set(
varWAPStepsAllItems,
Concat(
WAPStepsRT_Gallery.AllItems,
Concatenate(
stepNumber_Input.Text,
";",
stepProcedure_Input.Text,
"|"
)
)
);

Everything looks and works fine when I do my testing. Problem is some users are reporting problems where the steps being added look fine in the gallery, but when they go to save the whole row is blank besides the delimiter. So it ends up looking like this in the field:

1;This is a test for step one|2;This is a test for step two|;|;|;|;|;|

So it's adding to the collection but when it goes to concat all the items in the gallery for some reason it's not grabbing whats in there?

I've been stuck on this for months. It works for most people, but sometimes the above will happen and users lose a bunch of steps. I've tried so many things like patching right away or waiting to patch etc. Please helpppp

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous 

Could you share the code on your 'Add' button and also the Items of the gallery holding the collection.

I suspect that if this is intermittent that users maybe unknowingly pressing the 'Add' button multiple times and adding blank records to the collection. Sorting by Step maybe throwing these blanks to the bottom of the collection where users cannot see them. You may need to look at processes that only allow single click of the 'Add' button.

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous 

Thanks for the reply!

The code for adding to the collection is

Collect(
    colWAPSteps,
    {
        stepNumber: WAPStepNumber_Input.Text,
        stepProcedure: WAPStepProcedure_Input.Text
    }
);
Reset(WAPStepNumber_Input);
Reset(WAPStepProcedure_Input);

Items in gallery are
stepNumber_Input -> Default = ThisItem.stepNumber
stepProcedure_Input -> Default = ThisItem.stepProcedure

The gallery Items = Sort(colWAPSteps, Value(stepNumber))

I don't believe they are adding blank spaces on accident. They're reviewing the steps to ensure they show in the gallery before going back. 

I've noticed it works correctly. Then someone else goes into the item to add some more steps and those end up being the ones not saving. Some users have also said they would add steps 11-50 then steps 33-50 would be blank like that. So it saves some but not others. 

I also want to add that since this is custom. After I concat them all to a regular variable. I'm patching the item in sharepoint. So on save, submitting a form. Then this is the code to patch.

SubmitForm(WAPApproval_EditForm);
Refresh(WAPApproval);
Patch(
    WAPApproval,
    WAPApproval_EditForm.LastSubmit,
    {WAPSteps: varWAPStepsAllItems}

)

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous 

That add code structure could definitely be inadvertently adding blank rows. When you use a Collect() function on a Button/label/icon users can easily double/triple run the OnSelect event without realising it - I've been able to reproduce this in my testing.

Now I do one of 2 things to address this:

1. OnSelect does the Collect() then navigate to a different screen, thereby they cannot add extra events, or

2. Put a condition infront of the Collect() to stop double/triple entry into the collection.

In you case I'd use option 2, something like this:

If(
   IsBlank(
           LookUp(colWAPSteps,stepNumber = WAPStepNumber_Input.Text, WAPStepNumber_Input.Text)
   ),
   Collect(
    colWAPSteps,
    {
        stepNumber: WAPStepNumber_Input.Text,
        stepProcedure: WAPStepProcedure_Input.Text
    }
));
Reset(WAPStepNumber_Input);
Reset(WAPStepProcedure_Input);

You may need to mess around to get the code correct but the basic idea is the same, ie

- check if the record (ie Step Number) exists in your collection already

- if it DOESN'T Collect the new record

Before making this change you could test this theory yourself by trying to double/triple click the Add button. I'm sure if you are like me then in testing you are very careful about click buttons only once but you cannot account for how users use your app - you just have to build code that doesn't let them make mistakes 🙂 

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous 

I tried your suggestion as I see what you mean. I don't think this is the issue though because as the users add to the collection it shows in the gallery in real time. They would notice if it had blank values.

It got me thinking though and I was actually able to reproduce it. I didn't mention this before because I didn't think it was relevant, but now it seems like it is heh.

In the gallery I have two check boxes next to each row.

• One is "Edited?" where if a user OnCheck it patches the Field - Patch(colWAPSteps, ThisItem, {stepRowEdit: true}) and OnUnCheck Patch(colWAPSteps, ThisItem, {stepRowEdit: false})
• And one is "LOTO" where if a user OnCheck it patches field - Patch(colWAPSteps, ThisItem, {stepRowLOTOText: "LOTO"}) and OnUnCheck Patch(colWAPSteps, ThisItem, {stepRowLOTOText: "No"})

If I spam click any of these buttons it will create a blank row in the gallery. I really have to click fast though. Also it only does this in the APP editor. If I'm using the live version it doesn't not happen. The live version also works a lot faster, so I'm not sure if network issues are causing it or not.

It's a plus for me since I've finally be able to reproduce it. But I also don't know how to keep it from happening. 

 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

I think I've solved it!

No idea why it creates new rows.

Changing the code to

Patch(colWAPSteps, LookUp(colWAPSteps,stepNumber=ThisItem.stepNumber), {stepRowEdit: true})

 seems to have solved the problem.