Condition based on multi select column

[FernandB]

Hello,

I would like to create a condition on a multi select field to NOT send an email when "Value Other" is  the only value selected but if other values are selected along with "Value Other" then I would like to send the email, unfortunately this is not the case.

Value 1

Value 2

Value 3

Value Other

I have an Appended String Variable  for a semicolon as a delimiter. How would I accomplish this in the condition?

Thank you Fernand

[Paulie78]

concat
(
  if
  (
    and
	(
	  equals(length(split(variables('mutliSelectValue'), ';')), 1),
	  contains(variables('mutliSelectValue'), 'Value Other')
	),
	'noEmail',
	''
  ),
  if
   (
     and
     (
       greater(length(split(variables('mutliSelectValue'), ';')), 1),
	   contains(variables('mutliSelectValue'), 'Value Other')
     ),
     'sendEmail',
     ''
  )
)

In this example the variable holding the variable is called multiSelectValue. 

First if expression checks if it contains Value Other and the number of values in the delimited string is equal to 1 and outputs "noEmail"

Second if expression check if it contains Value Other and the number of values in the delimited string is greater than 1 (i.e. it contained something else in addition to Value Other) and outputs "sendEmail".

Hope this helps.

[FernandB]

Hi Paulie,

Thank you very  much for your response. Where in my flow would I place this? This is what I have so far.

[Paulie78]

Put the expression on the left side of your condition, the operator should be equal to, the right hand side should be sendEmail.

[FernandB]

Like this?

[Paulie78]

Yep

[FernandB]

It didn't work with "Other" selected or not.

[Paulie78]

Put the expression into a compose action before the condition, so you can see what the output is.

[FernandB]

How do I see the Output. This is what I have now.

[Paulie78]

Run the flow, and when it runs it will show you what output the compose action produced. You could also add another compose action right before that one and put your array in there. That way we would get to see the content of the array and the output of the expression at the same time.

[FernandB]

Al I get is "" in the output. When you say array are you talking about the Append to String?

[FernandB]

When adding the 2nd Compose with the I got the following output/input:

" New or worsening cough;  Other; "

This should have allowed the email to send but the condition result was false instead of true.

[Paulie78]

Ok, I see the problem. Will come back to you shortly - not with a computer right now.

[FernandB]

Thank you!

[FernandB]

I changed Value Other to Other, sorry about that. When I select Other by itself or with other Symptoms the Compose result is "sendEmail" and when I select a Symptom I get 

{

    "expressionResult": false

}

[Paulie78 · Accepted solution]

ok, I had a look, the expression I gave you is not reliable with your delimited string. So you are going to have to make a couple of modifications (This would not be required if you used an array instead of a delimited string, but this will work, take a look at this:

https://ibb.co/n0TH4Yh

Explanation:

The reason it did not work before, is that the input was slightly unreliable (had spaces etc in in and was returning empty array elements.

Example:

Using variable value " New or worsening cough;  Other; "

Step 1 - Split String - The string is split on a semi colon and that produces this array:

[
  " New or worsening cough",
  "  Other",
  " "
]

You can see there is an empty element, and the other elements contain some spacing. Code is:

split(variables('mutliSelectValue'), ';')

Step 2 - Select  - The select in text mode action cleans up the output a bit by trimming the results. The array is now:

[
  "New or worsening cough",
  "Other",
  ""
]

Code is:

trim(item())

Step 3 - Filter - The empty results are removed. The array is now:

[
  "New or worsening cough",
  "Other"
]

The array output is now sensible and we can do run an expression on it in a reliable way.

Step 4 - Condition

Condition is modified, new version works from the filter output and is like this:

concat
(
  if
  (
    and
	(
	  equals(length(body('Filter_array')), 1),
	  contains(body('Filter_array'), 'Other')
	),
	'noEmail',
	''
  ),
  if
   (
     and
     (
       greater(length(body('Filter_array')), 1),
	   contains(body('Filter_array'), 'Other')
     ),
     'sendEmail',
     ''
  )
)

[FernandB]

Thank you so much for this and the explanation! I got the following error unfortunately.

The execution of template action 'Filter_array' failed: The evaluation of 'query' action 'where' expression '@greater(length(item()), 0)' failed: 'The template language function 'length' expects its parameter to be an array or a string. The provided value is of type 'Object'. Please see https://aka.ms/logicexpressions#length for usage details.'.

[FernandB]

In the Filter array my Output is coming from the Select

[Paulie78]

Go into the run history and post the output of your select. I suspect your select was not in "text mode". Which you achieve by pressing this little button:

[FernandB]

Input:

[

  "Other",

  " Other",

  ""

]

Output:

[

  {

    "Other": ""

  },

  {

    "Other": ""

  },

  {

    "": ""

  }

]