Use Copy() function to copy and paste tabular formated data from Power Apps to Excel

We've been waiting for the copy to clipboard feature in Canvas apps for a long time. Now that it has been added, it opens up many possibilities.

One of the features that I have often been asked for, was to make it possible to copy and paste from a Power Apps to Excel in the form of a table. It's now very easy with the Copy() function!

When we copy a selection of cells from Excel, and paste the contents into Notepad, we can notice that:

1. Columns are separated by a tab
2. Lines are separated by a carriage return

We can therefore use the Concat() and Char() functions to reproduce this format. In the following example, we are going to use a "Sample List", which contains the columns:

• Name (type text)
• Number (decimal type)
• Choice (choice type)
• DateTime (DateType)
• YesNo (Boolean type)
• ImageUrl (Type Text)

We are going to add a button or an icon with the following code in its OnSelect property:

Copy(
? ? Concat(
? ? ? ? 'Sample List',
? ? ? ? Name & Char(9) & Number & Char(9) & Choice.Value & Char(9) & Text(DateTime,DateTimeFormat.ShortDateTime,"fr-FR") & Char(9) & YesNo & Char(9) & ImageUrl,
? ? ? ? Char(13)
? ? )
);Notify("All gallery data copied to clipboard",NotificationType.Success)(        

We concatenate the values of each line, separated by a Char(9) which is the tab character.

We define the separator of our Concat() function with a Char(13) which is the code for the carriage return character.

We then add a Notify() to let the user know the data has been successfully copied to the clipboard.

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At this point, this is what the contents of the clipboard look like:

Lorem *	712.54	Choix 3	08/11/2022 13:15	true	https://i.insider.com/602ee9ced3ad27001837f2ac?width=1000&format=jpeg&auto=webp
Ipsum	196.22	Choix 2	05/09/2022 05:30	false	https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp9414344.jpg
Dolor	504.39	Choix 3	02/09/2022 09:00	true	https://cdn.musicfeeds.com.au/assets/uploads/2021/02/Rick-roll-2021.png
Sit	175.74	Choix 2	06/11/2022 08:00	false	https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Gm2IgoXVB5I/maxresdefault.jpg
Amet	634.15	Choix 3	30/09/2022 09:00	true	https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.kBv7vHExzeSqcP4QQeKTYAHaEK?pid=ImgDet&rs=1
Consecutor	814.4	Choix 1	08/09/2022 09:00	false	https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5GTTYyQ2PKg/hqdefault.jpg
Drecuasers	361.67	Choix 1		false	https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.a_LfXVUcCaxB2Du2aPApwQHaD5?pid=ImgDet&rs=1
Rolmunaris	672.19	Choix 3		true	https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.53397c074774d50bf6869a91fd389b3c?rik=hIsRGz0BBUlt3w&pid=ImgRaw&r=0
Sin Pecador	421.37	Choix 1		true	https://i.imgflip.com/4ty18o.jpg
cansuilis	43.79	Choix 1	23/11/2022 00:00	true	https://www.punto-informatico.it/app/uploads/2021/02/rick.jpg
Veritas	852.33	Choix 1	15/11/2022 00:00	true	https://i.insider.com/602ee9ced3ad27001837f2ac?width=1000&format=jpeg&auto=webp
Nouveau	9.5	Choix 1	15/12/2022 15:30	true	https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Gm2IgoXVB5I/maxresdefault.jpg        

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But once pasted into Excel, each value is housed in its cell !

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