#PowerPlatformTip 84 – ‘Tabbing in Dynamic Forms’

💡 Challenge

When creating a dynamic form using a gallery in Power Apps, you may encounter issues with the Tab key causing flickering or not functioning correctly. This often happens when the gallery is directly bound to a collection.

✅ Solution

Instead of directly binding the gallery to the collection, use a sequence that matches the number of rows in the original collection. This will allow the Tab key to function correctly without causing flickering.

🔧 How It’s Done

Here’s how to do it:

1. Create a sequence using the Sequence function that matches the number of rows in your original collection.
   🔸 Use Sequence(CountRows(YourOriginalCollection))
2. Bind this sequence to your gallery.
   🔸 Set the Items property of the gallery to the sequence
3. Update your OnChange Patch and the Default properties to match this new setup.
   🔸 Adjust the OnChange property to use Patch with the sequence-driven items
   🔸 Update the Default property to reference the current item from the sequence
4. Additional Method
   🔸 Use the UpdateIf function to modify specific elements in the gallery, effectively ‘patching’ the relevant data item as an alternative or complementary approach

🎉 Result

A more functional and user-friendly dynamic form in Power Apps, eliminating flickering and improving the usability of the Tab key.

🌟 Key Advantages

🔸 Improved usability: Tab key works as expected, enhancing user experience
🔸 No flickering: Eliminates distracting flicker, making the form more stable
🔸 Data integrity: Ensures accurate data handling while improving functionality

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🎥 Video Tutorial

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🛠️ FAQ

1. Why does directly binding a gallery to a collection cause tabbing issues?
Direct binding resets the gallery context on each keystroke, leading to loss of focus and flickering.

2. How do I determine the correct sequence length?
Use Sequence(CountRows(YourOriginalCollection)) to generate a list that matches the number of records in your collection.

3. When should I use the UpdateIf method?
Use UpdateIf when you need to patch specific items without rebuilding the entire record set, offering more granular control.