How to get an array stored in a string into a collection

(0) Share

Report

Posted on by biterbit

406

I have a structured set of data held as a string in a variable in this format:

{field1: 123, field2: "ABC"},{field1:345, field2: "DEF"}

I am trying to get this data into a collection. It works fine if I paste the string into the statement:

ClearCollect(colTest, {field1:123, field2:"ABC"},{field1:456, field2: "DEF"})

but does not work if I use a variable to pass the data:

Set(gblTest, [{field1:123, field2:"ABC"},{field1:456, field2: "DEF"}]);
ClearCollect(colTest, gblTest)

Am I missing something simple here?

Thanks.

Categories:

Building Power Apps

I have the same question (0)

All responses (10)

Answers (1)

Verified answer

WarrenBelz 153,026 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like (1)

Report
Hi @biterbit ,

You need to "drill down" as you have Value as the top table

Set( gblTest, [ { field1: 123, field2: "ABC" }, { field1: 345, field2: "DEF" } ] ); ClearCollect( colTable, ForAll( gblTest, { Field_1: Value.field1, Field_2: Value.field2 } ) )

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Thumbs Up.

Visit my blog Practical Power Apps

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
biterbit 406 on at

Like (0)

Report

Hi @WarrenBelz. That was very useful and put me on the right track. I don't quite understand why the data is placed within the Value column - does that always happen when you populate a collection from a table of values? Also, is there any way to use the fieldname values from the original data rather than hard-coding them into the ForAll loop?

Many thanks

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
biterbit 406 on at

Like (0)

Report
@WarrenBelz : I've just realised that this still leaves me with the problem that, although this works when I directly set the gblTest variable (as in your example above), it does not work when that same data is in a string variable. I guess I have to convert a string that contains this:
[{field1:123, field2:"ABC"},{field1:456, field2: "DEF"}]
into a table? Is that right?

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
WarrenBelz 153,026 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like (0)

Report
Hi @biterbit ,

Sort of two questions in one - firstly why not simply collect in the first place

ClearCollect( colTable, { field1: 123, field2: "ABC" }, { field1: 345, field2: "DEF" } )

and you will get the structure you want. Your code will automatically create the Value parent table in the Variable.
I must admit I never use Variables to store Tables - that is what collections are for (they are actually Table Variables), but a with bit of experimenting, you can do this.

Set( gblTest, [ { field1: 123, field2: "ABC" }, { field1: 345, field2: "DEF" } ] ); ClearCollect( colTable, ForAll( gblTest, Value ) )

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Thumbs Up.

Visit my blog Practical Power Apps

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
biterbit 406 on at

Like (0)

Report

@WarrenBelz The data I am using is coming into PowerApps from an external source. I can format the input as I want, but it will always come as a string. So the challenge is to get that string into a table/collection structure. The string looks like it is in the same format as you would use to create a collection in PowerApps, but it does not accept that input as a string variable.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
WarrenBelz 153,026 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like (0)

Report

@biterbit ,

What is the exact format of the data coming in (in Text please)

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
biterbit 406 on at

Like (0)

Report
@WarrenBelz : its currently coming in like this:
[{"field1":"123", "field2":"ABC"},{"field1":456, "field2": "DEF"}]
but I've tried a number of alternative formats like:
[{'field1':"123", 'field2':"ABC"},{'field1':456, 'field2': "DEF"}] {'field1':"123", 'field2':"ABC"},{'field1':456, 'field2': "DEF"}
I can get the individual records into a collection using a Split command but I can't get the individual fields recognised as anything but a single string.

Thanks for your help so far.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
WarrenBelz 153,026 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like (2)

Report

Hi @biterbit ,

I will raise the white flag here too - I did some testing and cannot use [ ] or { } dynamically from Text.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
biterbit 406 on at

Like (1)

Report

@WarrenBelz : Yes - looks like a built-in limitation. Thanks for your support in confirming that it's not just me.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
FeierCiprian 20 on at

Like (0)

Report

Set your response from Power Automate as STRING (using expressions)
then in Power Apps you will receive the string of data and you can transform it and store data into collection with the help of this video.
Send Array/JSON Response from Power Automate Flow to Power Apps

Hope it helps

Was this reply helpful? Yes No