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Trouble with flow of email notification formatting (specifically checkbox questions) of new MS Form submission

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Posted on by kvanzile

I'm new relatively to the world of MS & Power Automate and have been doing my best to self educate myself in this new tech since I started in my new role a few weeks ago that's entirely MS driven. I'm used to working in Google Suites so I just need some assistance transitioning my knowledge base over to this new platform.

I work in a university setting and have our staff submitting daily logs through MS Forms to summarize the issues they experienced during their shifts. I want to have those MS Form responses prompt an email response to notify multiple members of our leadership team to keep them informed.

I've got the basic flow of the form figured out and it's working but the formatting is not exactly what I was hoping for. Right now this is what my test response email notification looks like:

RA Duty Log Test.PNG

Four of our questions in the middle of this specific log form are the checkbox style, where individuals can select multiple fields for each question. These checkbox style responses are showing like ["X," "Y", "Z"] when I wanted them to show up on separate lines with line breaks (<br>) in between them (if that is even possible).

The current email format does not look professional and I am trying to make more standard departmental forms and notifications for many of our operations. I've tried a few things but I'm not able to make it go away, so I'd greatly appreciate any feedback! Can anyone help? I feel like such a dummy.

Thanks in advance for your help!

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DamoBird365 8,942 Microsoft Employee on at

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Hi @kvanzile

Take a look at the following https://www.damobird365.com/easily-address-escaped-characters-in-forms-response/

You will need to use the JSON expression and can then split the array to achive the desired formatting you are looking for. All explained in the above.

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.
Cheers,
Damien

P.S. take a look at my new blog here and like & subscribe to my YouTube Channel thanks 😉

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Mitanshu 1,650 Moderator on at

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Since the value is coming in square bracket, so it indicates we are dealing with array.

You can use JOIN expression on this array and use separator as <br>.

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kvanzile 5 on at

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Hello @DamoBird365 ,

Thanks for the excellent guide! I am able to run tests but it does not seem to change anything or give the desired output I am looking for, so I am assuming that something within my JSON expressions I am attempting to use must be incorrect -

Here is a screenshot of my flow:

Here are the JSON expressions being used for this flow:

I'm tagging the individual input in the Question #12: Return Input section
For the Question #12: Convert Response to JSON section my input formula is: json(outputs('Get_response_details')?['body/r2a4b89b94cf04d2e83ff0f7dc8d21fea'])
For the Question #12: Returned List section my input formula is: join(outputs('Question_#12:_Convert_Response_to_JSON'),outputs('Question_#12:_Return_Input'))
If this helps, here are the output returns after the test:

Lastly here is the test email notification which still shows the [","","","] return for those output fields.
Any help that you can provide is greatly appreciated!

Sorry if this is confusing 😕

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DamoBird365 8,942 Microsoft Employee on at

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@kvanzile The final action with the join is wrong. Join has two parameters, the array, which correct and then a string that you want to join the array by. You could join with a space ‘ ‘ or a return line, which is literally a compose with a return key pressed inside.

hope that makes sense

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.
Cheers,
Damien

P.S. take a look at my new blog here and like & subscribe to my YouTube Channel thanks 😉

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kvanzile 5 on at

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Hello again @DamoBird365 ,

I have been reviewing your resources and this response for some time now, but I have had no luck in resolving this issue. Could you provide some additional guidance on how to fix this issue?

Maybe you could write out how to format the final action as I am struggling and needing desperately to get this project completed. I feel like I am loosing my mind trying to troubleshoot with absolutely no luck. Any additional guidance you have would be greatly appreciated.

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DamoBird365 8,942 Microsoft Employee on at

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Hi @kvanzile

It’s your last compose that is wrong. You are splitting the array with another array? If you want to insert a space or html <br> you can do the following :

Question #12: Returned List section my input formula is: join(outputs('Question_#12:_Convert_Response_to_JSON'),’ ‘)
OR
join(outputs('Question_#12:_Convert_Response_to_JSON'),’<br>‘)

If you want to insert a return line, add a compose action (called return line), press the return button on your keyboard once inside the action and then use the following:

join(outputs('Question_#12:_Convert_Response_to_JSON'),outputs(‘return_line‘)

Damien

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