#PowerPlatformTip 131 – ‘ForAll & Patch Optimization in PowerApps’

💡 Challenge

Your Power App becomes slow when updating multiple records in SharePoint or other data sources. This often happens when combining ForAll and Patch, resulting in a high number of API calls. Additionally, if some IDs from the source (e.g., a collection) do not exist in the target data source, Patch will create new records for these missing IDs, while updating the existing ones.

✅ Solution

Rearrange the logic: swap the position of ForAll and Patch to enable batch updates. Be aware of the behavior with missing IDs and handle it accordingly if necessary.

🔧 How It’s Done

Here’s how to do it:

1. Review the original formula:
   🔸 Using ForAll wrapped around Patch:
   powerapps ForAll( GalleryName.AllItems, Patch( SharePointList, LookUp(SharePointList, ID = ThisRecord.ID), { Column1: ThisRecord.Column1Input.Text } ) )

2. Rearrange for batch updates:
   🔸 Use Patch outside ForAll:
   powerapps Patch( SharePointList, ForAll( GalleryName.AllItems, { ID: ThisRecord.ID, Column1: ThisRecord.Column1Input.Text } ) )

3. Handle missing IDs:
   🔸 Patch creates new records if IDs don’t exist.
   🔸 Filter out invalid IDs before running Patch if you want to avoid unintended creations.

🎉 Result

– Faster: updates are processed in a single batch.
– Handles missing IDs: you can choose to update only existing records or create new ones.
– Cleaner code: easier to read and maintain.

🌟 Key Advantages

🔸 Up to 50% faster updates for large datasets.
🔸 Flexible handling of missing IDs based on your scenario.
🔸 Reduced API calls and improved scalability.

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🎥 Video Tutorial

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🛠️ FAQ

1. Why did my Power App become slow when updating multiple records?
When combining ForAll with Patch, each iteration triggers a separate API call. Wrapping Patch inside ForAll generates many calls, slowing down performance.

2. How does swapping ForAll and Patch improve performance?
By moving ForAll inside Patch, Power Apps batches all record updates into a single call, reducing the total number of API calls and speeding up execution.

3. How can I prevent unintended record creation during Patch?
Filter your items to only include IDs already in the target data source (e.g., Filter(GalleryName.AllItems, ID in SharePointList.ID)) so Patch updates existing records only.