Set values for Managed Metadata (aka Taxonomy) columns in PowerApps and Flow! (First Release)

Microsoft

Hi everyone,

 

 

As of today, you will be able to set the values of your managed metadata columns (sometimes also called taxonomy columns) in PowerApps (for both multi-value and single value) and in Flow (single value for now, but multi-value coming soon...)

 

Here's a sample multi-value taxonomy column that was tied to a termset for languages.

TaxonomyColumnMulti.PNG

 

 

We are not fully all the way there: the default values are not yet showing up if they are set, and we don't yet let you disambiguate between different paths while you are typing, but we think this is a great net new add for our customers who love and use the managed metadata columns. 

 

Please give it a try, and let us know your feedback. In your First Release tenant, you can create a new app, or custom forms, or go to an existing app and refresh the schema to get the new columns.

 

We expect to start rolling out to Production in the last week of November if we don't hit any blocking issues. 

45 Replies

This is great news. One question that I haven't seen covered anywhere: does this mean that we're also now able to filter gallery items based on the value of a managed meta data field? 

This change is now live for all customers!

Hi @Deleted, no, we will not have that capability yet. It is on our list for 2018, but we don't have a better estimate yet.

Hi @Kerem Yuceturk - thanks for the prompt reply, it's greatly appreciated. That's such a shame about the meta data fields in PowerApps. Do you know if there's any workaround for the current limitation? I have a gallery which is querying a pages library and needs to filter only those pages with a specific managed meta data tag. Would it be possible to map the MMD field to another field in the library using a calculated field?

Calculated columns sadly don't support showing the values for metadata columns. It is a little cumbersome, but you could write a flow to track changed items, and copy the taxonomy values over to a text based column. Make sure you don't do infinite updates by checking if the value is the same before you do an update.

Hi @Kerem Yuceturk, thank you for the suggestion. It is a little cumbersome, but I'll give that a try! :)

@Kerem Yuceturk This is great. I find one thing a bit weird. If I create a customized form for a SharePoint list using PowerApps all my choice/metadata fields are added to the forms in the app. If I however create a standalone PowerApp using the list as data, it skips all choice/metadata fields on the app it creates.

 

Is this a limitation/bug, or something which will be fixed? I tried it two different environments and experienced the exact same thing.

 

I want to create a form app, but need to move it between environments, so a stand-alone app should be the way to go, except I don't get all my needed fields. I'd hate to create a data-wrapper middleman service for this.

Hi @Mikael Svenson, I just tried this on some of my test lists by creating a new app from SharePoint UX, and got the taxonomy columns generated without issue. 

 

Maybe there is some complexity with your columns that we are not catching in our tests? Could you send me the schema of your list in a private message to understand what types of columns you are dealing with?

 

Also, do the columns show up when you open the "Data" panel for your edit/detail forms like in the picture below? If they do, but they are not checked, is the problem fixed if you check the checkboxes?

taxonomy Columns.JPG

@Kerem Yuceturk Thank you for testing and getting back so quick, and I will get back to you tomorrow on this when at work. Good to know the behaviour should be equal. The list has two content types and exceeds the number of lookup columns (12) if you do REST against it, which could be an issue

 

I’ll report back once I have more info.

I didn't think that PowerApps had support for content type columns? At least, it's never worked for me. Whenever I query a list or library meta data, I am able to see any list/site columns, but ones added through the content type are not supported.

That could be the case as I'm using content types and site columns. I've given details to @Kerem Yuceturk so we'll see :)

Kerem has proposed using a Flow to update text columns with the MMD column values, which I've yet to try out as a workaround but should work :)

I would rather create Azure functions to solve this for me - which is an option. I would create a non-conencted PowerApp, using (custom) connectors to get people lookup, term lookup etc. Then send the data to Flow or another azure function to store it in the list.

I have mostly a create scenario, view/edit is not that important right now.

I have a content type on my list which has the managed metadata columns on it.  The columns show up on the Details Screen and the Edit Screen and work correctly.  However, the columns don't show up as a column I can bind on the Browse view.  In my case I really need to display that.  I guess I can use one of the work-arounds in the short term.

Hi everyone,

 

You should be able to use the managed metadata columns in the browse experience by typing the values directly into the text property of the page. Here's one example from the list above, where i had a single value and a multi-value taxonomy column. The multi-value requires some additional handling, but it's not too difficult.

 

See this example here:

TaxonomyBrowse.JPG

Hi @Deleted, we have added content type support around 4-5 months ago if my memory serves me right. It is exposed as the {Content Type} column that is available for your use.

 

You should be able to change the content type, or look at this value and show/hide columns in your list through some If statements in your forms for the "visible" attribute.

 

Here's an example from a list that has two of them (Reservations, and Issue), and you have access to both the name and the ID:

ContentType.JPG

To follow up. My issue was that I have too many lookup columns (people, metadata) , hitting the REST column threshold. I can work around this limit, so nice to know what triggered it at least. Thanks for checking and confirming @Kerem Yuceturk :)

We've encountered an issue where the list of Terms is cut off prematurely:

Capture.PNG

We have a full list of countries which stops at Bhutan, the user can search for other countries and they appear just fine. This is a multi-select field. 

 

Any advice?

Hi, thanks for this update, it's very useful. But I couldn't figure out how to add new values to managed metadata? I have a sharepoint list with managed metadata columns, and using sharepoint default forms, user can add new term if it doesn't exist. When we created powerapps form, user is limited to select from available terms. Is this by design or are we missing something?