PowerApps | Convert Single Line Text to Combobox or Dropdown Made EASY 

Thanks so much on the compliment! Glad to know it's simple and straight to the point!

Awesome glad it worked Renzo, although I'm no master yet, still learning too 😋

Awesome Jaime glad to know the videos are making an impact! Thanks for watching!

Hi Nebiha, I have another video on combo boxes. Since modern came out a few things have changed. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ONPI9cf2JLQ.html&t

Hi Nickasaur, I go more into that here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lxzUIEaR4P4.html

Thanks Belle!

Hi Freddie, yes you make the Card's Update property using the label, technically you could hide the label from the users if you wanted. You do this to convert it to a single line text field in SharePoint. It would still work if you had 1 field just fine.

@@andrewhess123 But would the code change if you just had one, and how would it be different? I'm building a solution similar to this, but I am not using hard-coded data like you, I am using the combo box to query data from a 2nd SP list. So how would the Concat statement look different with just 1 value and not 3?

@@darkspeed62 The concat statement would not change if you only have 1 selection. The label will display the 1 selection and will not show a comma. Using Concat(ComboBox.SelectedItems, Value, ", ")

Totally possiblee and there are videos out there doing this. I think I have one, can't remember which off the top my head 😀

Thanks for watching Worached

Hi Suresh, Maybe your combobox name is a different name? Mine here is ComboBox2, what is yours? For the red squiglies, did you replace the dropdown with a combobox?

If you set up your gallery correctly to select which line you want to edit, which is normally done on a previous screen and not on this video, yes you should be able to easily edit and update.

There's a few different ways, here is one way that we did in another video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lxzUIEaR4P4.html

Hi J Ray, Yeah thanks! I think that would be fine to just skip the label part and just update the concatenation. I end up doing the labels a lot because when the dropdown is full of choices it will be like "4 choices" and I like to be able to see the choices easier.

Thank you too!

Thank you too for your support! Awesome glad it did!

There's a few different options but it can be similar to this statement, This goes in the DefaultSelectedItems properties of the combobox. I create a context variable called varForm depending if the Form is in Edit Mode or not, when I navigate I set the varForm to true if I'm editing instead of creating new, then I filter the options based on splitting the concat statement. It looks for the options in the previous gallery selected item. If(varForm="Edit",Filter(["","Business","Enterprise","Social"],Value in Split(galSocialMedia.Selected.Language,",")),[])

@@andrewhess123 thanks man, I found this on your other video. Superb workaround!

@@AA-gn3lr Thanks for watching A A!

Thanks for watching el Hdji Yoro Gueye!

Hi Alex, what is your original datatype of the field in SharePoint? For me it was a single line text.

Hmm good question, I guess you could make another field for amount? I think it needs to be thought about in another way. I don't know the answer to this yet!😃 Gonna have to think "outside of the box" or find some examples about how other people do it in other websites.

Hi Chandra! Maybe try putting the office 365 users in a collection first based on a certain filter? I'm sure it's possible, I have just not tried yet. Like the url here: powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Power-Apps/Combo-box-selected-value-from-office-365-user-connection-not/td-p/358206 Another example I saw online also was here: powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Power-Apps/Using-a-combo-box-to-search-Office365-users/td-p/455072 Items = Office365Users.SearchUser({searchTerm:Cmb_Users.SearchText}).DisplayName Once you get the combo box working, then you can convert it to a single line text, using the choices. I have not tried this yet, maybe a future video

This is a great question Antonio. I think it would take a video to answer it. Let me write it down. You would have to format it in a way so the combobox would accept it. Thanks for that question!

Hi Antonio, I did something very similar to your question with my new video. In this new video we use checkboxes to populate a combo choice field in SharePoint. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YNNA-GED2zc.html

Yes I think it would totally be possible you just have to manipulate the delimited text correctly! I'll see if I can come up with a video with this technique. Thanks Jonathan!

@@andrewhess123 Awesome! I look forward to seeing more.

@@jmstampe Hey Jon got your delimited text from one list to use as dropdowns in another list video coming up in 2 hours.

@@andrewhess123 that’s awesome! I look forward to seeing that!!! Another inquiry I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around is limiting list item access based on if the current user is in a requestor field, one of the contacts in a contacts field, or is a member of one of 2 SP user groups.

@@jmstampe ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vxEsJDBm3hQ.html

It depends on where you want to update your multi-select values, for me I prefer to do on the PowerApps side, and you can even give the users the power to make changes to the dropdown. You could create a gallery on a separate page with the multi-select values and store them. Then edit the multi-select options there, remove items, add items, and edit. This might need to be another entire video to demonstrate. Thank you for your insight and the question.

Hi Paul, I'm not sure what is causing your combo box to retain the commas. Maybe check out this video and set your defaultselecteditems like shown here:ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lxzUIEaR4P4.html {Value: Gallery1.Selected.FieldName}

I'm not sure how changing to View Mode can help? But If you can clear out whatever is keeping those commas may be the answer.

@@andrewhess123 I figured out the issue- I am using a Collection for the combo box where I use an operation converting the column to "Result"- so I have renamed the column back to "Value" and now it works! One thing though- after submit, it groups the comma separated values in the combo box together so that in order to edit, you have to delete the initial group and start over. This isn't a big deal but I'm assuming there's no workaround? Thanks again!

@@andrewhess123 Hi Andrew- I've think I've sorted it out- for multi-select,The DefaultSelectedItems needs to use the following format: RenameColumns(Split(ThisItem.FieldName","),"Result","Value"). The "Value" is whatever the column name is in the table/collection. This is instead of {Value:ThisItem.FieldName} which works for single select. Does this make sense to you?

@@paulstrickberger5069 Hi Paul, I think so, I'd have to try it out. There are a few ways to doing it. I'd have to try this one with ,"Result","Value"

Hi Lokasher, that's a good idea for a video, but what you would do is you would have a textbox that is only visible when other is selected. And when you patch you would write an if statement, if other then write the text input, if you did a submit form, you would do it in the update property of the card, if other then write the text input instead of the selected choice.

@@andrewhess123 Hi Andrew, Thank you for the quick response. I am new to PowerApps so I am not aware fully about the patch terms etc but I will try to give this a shot. Let me know if you upload a video about this lol 🤣.

@@Lokasher-A Yeah, so there are 2 answers and it depends on how you set up your form 😅. If you use the out of the box "Form" then you use SubmitForm, if you place all of your text inputs and components custom-ly then most likely you use Patch. Will let you know Thanks for watching!

@@andrewhess123 I created a Combo-Box with manually entered items which are being saved on SharePoint. I have manually entered the items but for the end user it will be seen as a dropdown option. One of the options are 'Other', Which way do you think will be better for me so that once that is selected a textbox opens below for them to add the response manually?

@@Lokasher-A I'm going on vacation this next week, but I don't want to promise 100% but I will try make this video and auto-release it on Monday.

Hi Melis, so the error is not giving us much information as to what is wrong, I would create a simple Concat function then work on a combo box one. Are there special characters in your combobox? Matt Devaney is really good with his blogs here is one on Concat: www.matthewdevaney.com/strings-a-better-way-to-concatenate-text-strings-in-power-apps/ Here is more info about using the formula above: powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Power-Apps/Powerapps-ComboBox-Concat-ComboBox1-SelectedItems-Value-quot/td-p/547260

Thanks for watching!

Thank you so much!!! Problem solved😊@@andrewhess123

Hi Yassine, I think what you could do is convert the multiline text to a gallery and use it similar to a combobox. But, Yes I do think this scenario is possible even if from multi-line text to combobox

There's a few different ways, but once is under advanced settings to allow null values.

Hi Jaris, trying to understand what you are asking. If using single line text in SP list, this video shows how to convert it to combo box. There are a couple of different ways to populate the default property on the combo box. You can do a combo box on the SP side if you want, but I would stay away from LookUps on the SharePoint side, because that comes with some issues you may encounter later on. Maybe this video can help answer you question? I go into more detail: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lxzUIEaR4P4.html&t

@@andrewhess123 Thanks for the link. I tried this with an single line text in SP list and used a combo box in Power App. It works nicely but the issue I ran into was when editing the record/row in PowerApps after it was inserted into SP list. It was showing as a single line in a combo box in Power Apps. This was with multiple values turned on in Power Apps. I was able to get another way working, but was curious if there was a way of keeping the single line text in SP with concat from PowerApps and still seeing it as a combo box for each value. Overall thanks for all your videos! They have been really really helpful.

@@jarisalmanzar2724 Hi Jaris, here is one example of a totally different project where I have worked on that problem: I do a if statement to see if the form is new, then if its new I make it equal to blank, else it filters the options and splits it up in the dropdown. Example formula below, let me know if this helps some? If(varNewClient=true,Blank(),Filter(["", "Previous Eviction","Criminal History","Low Credit Score","Unpaid Arrears"],Value in Split(galClients.Selected.ClientBarriers,",")))

@@andrewhess123 Thanks will give it a try.

Hi Mustafa, There are a couple ways to do this, I have another video on it, but you need to set up the DefaultSelectedItems Property. This video may help. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lxzUIEaR4P4.html

@@andrewhess123 Well I am making a Editable Grid in PowerApps and I am unable to patch my combo boxes and I am facing some issues can you please help me it's really urgent!!

@@mustafahussainmohsin320 Hi Mustafa, sorry I am busy this weekend, and normally work 40-50 hours a week. My normal rates for consulting is around ~$225 an hour.

@@andrewhess123 Well 225$ are kinda lot but its okay.. I will check your videos

Hi faisalmari, that is possible, but would need to know more about your exact scenario. But yes, there are ways to type manually instead. But sometimes you don't want the users typing manually because spelling mistakes can skew data.

@@andrewhess123 Thanks andrew for your kind response. I would appreciate if you upload such video that beside a drop down list, user should be able to type in manually if that item is not there. I heard a Combo Box would do the job...

@@faisalomari7111 Hi faisalomari, usually you need to have some place to store your combo box or dropdown data if you want other people to change it. Would you want to see that information (the options for the drop down list) stored in SharePoint? Combobox just lets you type in and search for the items that are already there.

@@andrewhess123 Thanks Andrew, my data is an Excel file.

Hi Bradley, what type of field are you looking at to convert it into an "allowed values"? What are your options that you do see? Also maybe you have unlocked the field first, once the field is unlocked you can't change it to other options.

@@andrewhess123 The Dataverse tables are Text fields. I am attempting to change the control before unlocking them. If I have unlocked then I removed and re-added. The only options I am provided include "View text" "Edit Text" "Edit multi-line text" FYSA: if I go to add a control or icon in Teams PowerApps, there is NOT a DropDown box. There is a ComboBox option.

@@andrewhess123 Forgot to mention what I am trying to do. Here is an example (and this is what happens when a Network guy tries to build an app). I have Dataverse Tables to support filling in another SharePoint List (I plan on migrating it to Dataverse if I ever get permission to install the Powerapps office add-in). Right now I am working on functions in PowerApp to go modify these supporting tables. I know that I am not conforming to database procedures and there are relational information. But that is for the future. For example, in one Table 'CommsRoom' there is a text field for the 'CommsRoom' #, then there is a text field for 'Building' which I want to fill in that field from another table called Buildings that has more definitive information about the buildings to include the field 'Building_Nickname'. In my development run when outside of teams and using multiple SharePoint lists for the data, I would just choose "allowed values" and then connect up to the field I wanted. Done and Done. Too easy. But I don't see that currently in Teams. So I thought I might have to build a combobox and I have ran into difficulties making it work.

I think maybe I am getting close to a solution with combo boxes without "allowed values"... but ran into a hickup and I would think this should be under another video...but here you go. I believe I have a configuration issue due to one Dataverse field is a single column (Floor) and the other Dataverse field has multiple columns (Building). But here is what I did. Both the CommsRoom and another Table Areas having the same issue....with Buildings combobox NOT showing a value (DefaultSelctedItems). When opening the edit screen, Floor is showing a value in the combobox and Building is NOT showing a value. I left the datacardvalue visable and it is in there. Otherwise everything else is working including updating the database when submitting the form. Datacard for Building AllowMultiselect -> false Update -> ComboboxBuilding2.Selected.Building_Nickname ComboboxBuilding2 Items -> Building DefaultSelectedItems -> BrowseGallery_CommsRoom.Selected Datacard for Floor AllowMultiselect -> false Update -> ComboboxFloor2.Selected.'Floor (cr0za_floor)' ComboboxFloor2 Items -> Floor DefaultSelectedItems -> BrowseGallery_CommsRoom.Selected A work around I used instead of DefaultSelectedItems = I instead used Text = DataCardValueX.Value and then hid the DataCardValueX control.

@@Rilesmansan I'll check some things out and look over this. I have some ideas.

Hi Ravi, I go over the defaultselecteditems for a combobox in a few videos, but in this one(link below) at around 7:00 I show making it visible in an edit form: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lxzUIEaR4P4.html&t Let me know if you get it working, and thanks for watching!

@@andrewhess123 Thank you for your suggestion, now it's working..saving values in SharePoint and edit field values are not blank anymore... But the challenge I may face is saving the form( EDIT AND ADD FORM) once the user Edited or Added a new value ... how can I save it with the changes they made ... I need help with the >>ONCHANGE

@@ravikumararavapalli8850 Hi Ravi, one thing that helps me is to create a variable when you navigate to your form and set it to either Edit or New, sometimes I create a variable like UpdateContext({varForm:"New"}) or UpdateContext({varForm:"Edit"}). Then for testing I put that variable in a label field on the page. Then I do if statements to preform what I'd like to the form to do on a New form, and what I'd like to do on an Edit form.

@@ravikumararavapalli8850 If it's a patch statement you can say if New it patches the a new item, if Edit it patches an existing item. I think this will help you solve your issue.

@@ravikumararavapalli8850 Hope you get it working! Let me know

Hi Marcos, you mean how do you populate the information in the combo box? You need to use the items property. And put something like ["item1","item2","item3"] in the items property. You can also attach an entire datasource there also. Let me know if this is what you were asking?

@@andrewhess123 yeah it is that. I created a collection to populate the combo box (my source was actually a text field splited by comas. I splited this field and created a collection using for all formula). My issue now is that when I select parent my gallery the information in my combobox doesn't refresh. It sucks sometimes

So when you select from your parent gallery do a clear collect on the onselect property, that way the combobox is updated with the most recent changes@@marcosrenan93

@@andrewhess123 I appreciate your help but I've already done that. It works but when I press the Gallery button the combobox updates with the value I have selected before. When I check the table I created with the collection (in the default selected items) it has the right values but the combobox doesn't. I mean I just can't understand what happened.

Yeah hmmm.. not sure whats going on, I can maybe make another video about the subject I have a few on comboboxes already.. This was my newest. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ONPI9cf2JLQ.html Maybe try a modern combobox and the classic, is there any difference? @@marcosrenan93

Hi Vijay, then I would separate them into multiple dropdowns probably alphabetically A-M and N-Z and make sure people can search the combo boxes with search text. 200 options in a combo box is too many in my opinion.

Hi mani, I'm not sure what you are asking.

Thanks electric sheep :)

I think this video may have the answer to your question. Let me know if this helps? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0da7IUYsoz4.html&t

I use a equation similiar to this: If(varForm="Edit",Filter(["","English","Spanish","French","German","Mandarin","Cantonese"],Value in Split(galSocialMedia.Selected.Language,",")),[])

@@andrewhess123 Thanks! Sorry, my question may be a bit stupid galSocialMedia=My combobox1? varFrom=my editFrom? The card placed in editFrom in my combobox1

@@hondaokay galSocialMedia, is my gallery from the previous screen. varForm is a context variable I created when I navigate to the screen, that way I can tell my PowerApp when I'm creating a new form and when I'm editing an existing form columns.

@@hondaokay the way I'm doing it here is by using a Patch Statement. If you are not using Patch and using the command SubmitForm, it would be different.

I believe this video shows you what your're asking for: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0da7IUYsoz4.html either 8:15 for combo box or 5:05 combo-box... let me know if this what you're asking

@@andrewhess123 I'm sorry but no. I’m working on an app where sql is the data source. I have a varchar column there which gives me an input box in the editform. I want to change this input to dropdown. I have set the options for the dropdown with [„option1”,”option2”]. Updating/saving the data to the source based on what i pick in the dropdown works ok. But I do not know what to set in the default property for the dropdown to show the text from the datasource. Right now it displays the first availiable oprion. How do I do this? Parent.Default does not does not work for the dripdown :(

@@twiendlocha You need to use the selected galleries choice. So if you click on the gallery and it brings you to the form use the galleries selected choice. This will populate the dropdown based on the selection. Similar to this: galSocialMedia.Selected.MyColumn

@@andrewhess123 I'm afraid this does not work :( I'm setting Gallery1.Selected.ProdFs for Default in my dropdown. The tooltip (under the code) shows that my Gallery1.Selected.ProdFs is text xxx but the dropdown displays its first item from the list anyway :(

And ... after a night of sleep I think I found the source of my problem. Inside PowerApps I defined one of the options for the Dropdown with a Polish specific sign "ą". In SQL the collumn was set to varchar(255) - varchar does not support Polish specific signs. I altered the collumn in the table in SQL to nvarchar(255) and I think it's ok now. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!