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Power Platform Community / Forums / Power Apps - Power Query / Annoying compulsory "N...
Power Apps - Power Query
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Annoying compulsory "Name" column/field

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Posted on by CD-28031715-0 26
I am starting to get somewhere following on from my previous post, thank you to those who responded. I have created two new tables, one called Attendance and one called Group. Each of these tables really only needs one column each, a Date column/field for the Attendance table and a Choice column/field for the Group table. Annoyingly though, Power Apps automatically creates a compulsory Name column/field with each new table created, this has restrictions on what data type it can be and it doesn't suit what I need. I have read that I can use Power Automate to automatically populate the field and then hide it up in the Header. I can't work out how to do this though... any guidance will be very much appreciated. 
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  • CD-28031715-0 Profile Picture
    CD-28031715-0 26 on at
    Annoying compulsory "Name" column/field
    Thanks both, both great answers. I have also discovered that I can create a "Quick create form" and use that from the Contact record and this bypasses the need to fill in the Name field. 
  • Verified answer
    YashBhavsar7 Profile Picture
    YashBhavsar7 11 on at
    Annoying compulsory "Name" column/field
    Marking a Field as Optional in PowerApps
    There is no need to create a Power Automate flow, as it will trigger automatically when the record is created. If the field is not required for your process, you can simply mark it as optional from the entity settings.

    Steps to Follow:
    1. Access PowerApps Maker Portal
      • Go to make.powerapps.com.
      • Select your environment.
         
    2. Open the Table
      • From the left navigation pane, go to Tables.
      • Locate and open the relevant entity.
      • Modify the Column Settings
         
    3. Navigate to the Columns section.
      • Find the column you want to modify.
      • Click on the three-dot menu (⋮) next to it and select Edit.
         
    4. Set the Column as Optional
      • In the Required dropdown, select Optional.


         
    5. Save the entity.
       
    6. Click Publish All Customizations to apply the changes.
    If you find this helpful, please accept this as the answer. 😊
  • Verified answer
    vipuljain03 Profile Picture
    vipuljain03 387 on at
    Annoying compulsory "Name" column/field
    Dataverse requires a Primary "Name" column for every table, which must be of type Single Line of Text. Since you cannot delete or change its data type, the best approach is to automate its population and hide it from users.
     
    You can automatically populate the "Name" column in Power Automate and hide it in Power Apps.
     
    Step 1: Automatically Populate the Name Column Using Power Automate:
    1. Create an Automated Flow
    2. Choose Dataverse → When a row is added, modified, or deleted as the trigger. Select the trigger condition as When a row is added.
    3. Choose the Table Name: Attendance (for attendance records) or Group (for group records)
    4. Add an "Update a Row" Action => Select the same table (Attendance or Group). For the Row ID, use Dynamic Content to pick the ID from the trigger. For the Name column, set a value that makes sense, such as: formatDateTime(utcNow(), 'yyyy-MM-dd') etc.
    5. Click Save and Test
     
    Now, every time a new record is added, Power Automate will automatically populate the Name field.
     
    Step 2: Hide the Name Column in Power Apps: If you don't want users to see or interact with the Name column
    1. In the Table Settings (Dataverse): Open Attendance or Group table. Click Forms. Edit the default form and remove the Name column from the visible fields.
    2. If you are using a Gallery, set ThisItem.Name to "" or remove the column from the list.
    3. If you are using a Form, select the Name field and set Visible property to false.
     
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    If this reply helped you, please mark this reply as suggested answer ✔️ and give it a like to help others in the community find the answer too!
    Thanks,
    Vipul

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