🔹 Working with Forms and Custom Forms in Power Apps – A Complete Guide

📌 Introduction

Forms in Power Apps allow users to view, add, edit, and delete records from a data source like SharePoint, Dataverse, SQL Server, OneDrive, etc.

✅ Why Use Forms?

• 📋 Allows structured data input.
• 🔄 Works with multiple data sources.
• 🖊️ Supports custom validation and conditional logic.
• 🎨 Can be customized for better user experience.

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🔹 Step 1: Adding an Edit Form

✅ Insert an Edit Form

1️⃣ Open Power Apps Studio.
2️⃣ Click Insert → Forms → Edit Form.
3️⃣ Set the DataSource property:

DataSource = Employees

4️⃣ The form automatically binds to the data source and displays fields.

📌 Now, your form is ready for editing records!

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🔹 Step 2: Configuring the Form

✅ Choose Form Mode

Set the DefaultMode property to:

• FormMode.New → Create a new record.
• FormMode.Edit → Edit an existing record.
• FormMode.View → View records in read-only mode.

Example:

Form1.DefaultMode = FormMode.Edit

📌 This controls how users interact with the form!

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✅ Select and Customize Fields

1️⃣ Click Edit Fields in the Properties pane.
2️⃣ Add or remove fields.
3️⃣ Change Data Cards order.
4️⃣ Customize each Data Card (Labels, Inputs, Dropdowns).

📌 This ensures the form displays the correct fields!

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🔹 Step 3: Submitting Form Data

✅ Add a Submit Button

1️⃣ Insert a Button → Set its OnSelect property:

SubmitForm(Form1)

2️⃣ To reset the form after submission, add:

ResetForm(Form1)
Navigate(SuccessScreen, ScreenTransition.Fade)

📌 Now, clicking the button submits data and resets the form!

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🔹 Step 4: Handling Form Errors

✅ Displaying Errors

Forms handle validation automatically. If submission fails:
1️⃣ Add a Label → Set its Text property:

Form1.Error

📌 This displays validation errors when submission fails!

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🔹 Step 5: Creating a Custom Form

A Custom Form allows more flexibility compared to a standard Edit Form.

✅ Steps to Create a Custom Form

1️⃣ Insert Labels & Inputs Manually

• Insert Text Inputs (txtName, txtEmail).
• Insert Dropdowns (ddlDepartment).

2️⃣ Bind Fields to Data
Example:

TextInput1.Text = ThisItem.Name

3️⃣ Submit Data Using Patch Function
Instead of SubmitForm(), use:

Patch(Employees, Defaults(Employees), 
  {
     Name: txtName.Text,
     Email: txtEmail.Text,
     Department: ddlDepartment.Selected.Value
  }
)

📌 This allows full control over form submission!

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🔹 Step 6: Editing and Deleting Records

✅ Edit an Existing Record

1️⃣ Select a Gallery and set its OnSelect:

EditForm(Form1);
Form1.Item = Gallery1.Selected

2️⃣ Now, the form loads the selected record for editing.

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✅ Delete a Record

1️⃣ Add a Delete Button → Set OnSelect:

Remove(Employees, Form1.LastSubmit)

2️⃣ This removes the selected record from the data source.

📌 Now, users can update and delete records easily!

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🔹 Step 7: Validating User Input

✅ Required Fields

Set a Label’s Visible property:

If(IsBlank(txtName.Text), true, false)

📌 This shows a warning if the field is empty!

✅ Email Validation

If(!IsMatch(txtEmail.Text, "^[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}$"), true, false)

📌 Ensures the user enters a valid email!

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🔹 Step 8: Optimizing Performance

✅ Use Delegable Queries

• Avoid using CountRows(), First(), etc., on large datasets.

✅ Limit Data Fetch

• Set the Items property using Filter() to load only necessary records.

✅ Reduce Controls

• Too many controls can slow down the app. Use collections instead.

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🔹 Step 9: Testing and Publishing

✅ Test the App

• Use Preview Mode (F5) to check form behavior.
• Test on mobile & tablet for responsiveness.

✅ Publish the App

• Click File → Save & Publish.

📌 Now, your form is ready for real-world use!

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🔹 Conclusion

Forms in Power Apps allow efficient data input, editing, and validation. Custom forms give developers full control over the UI and user experience.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✅ Use Edit Forms for built-in data handling.
✅ Use Custom Forms with Patch() for more control.
✅ Implement validation for better data quality.
✅ Optimize performance for large datasets.

Now, you’re ready to build powerful forms in Power Apps!

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