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Null Value and Multiple Choice

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Posted on by MB-04030216-0

Hey Forum,

I have constructed a Form which after some alterations now has 2 branches of multiple-choice questions. (worked prior to branching)

If one of the branches if left unanswered which is always going to be a condition, I'm getting a null value.

I'm aware how to use the "IF" empty or null skip, but I'm not sure how or where to put that expression with a Select Data operation.

I have included a screen shot of my flow. New BHBH and New CHC are the 2 fields which will have a null value depending on the form answers

TIA

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Sam_Fawzi 917 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hey @MB-04030216-0

The fix is to handle the null in the Select action’s From field, not in the map.

Select cannot process null, it must receive an array.

For each Forms multi-choice field that may be blank, use:

json(coalesce(outputs('Get_response_details')?['body/<fieldID>'], '[]'))

That way, if the question is unanswered, Select gets an empty array instead of null.

Keep the mapping as Value : item().

This is a common pattern when sending optional Microsoft Forms multi-select answers into SharePoint multi-choice columns.

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MB-04030216-0 32 on at

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@Sam_Fawzi

Thank you for the reply,

I have as you suggested replaced the From field with

json(coalesce(outputs('Get_response_details')?['body/r14f123c8e8dc423abd10c56b086c630e'], '[]'))

I am unfortunately still getting an error for a Null value.

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Haque 3,653 on at

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Hi @MB-04030216-0,

Point-1: coalesce(..., '[]') returns a string "[]" when null.

Point-2: json("[]") converts that string into an empty array, which is correct.

Point-3: But if the original value is already null or not an array, the Select action still sees it as invalid.

Point-4: The safest approach is to always wrap the source in json() and ensure the fallback is an array literal, not a string.

Can you please try this with fallback chek?

if( empty(outputs('Get_response_details')?['body/r14f123c8e8dc423abd10c56b086c630e']), json('[]'), json(outputs('Get_response_details')?['body/r14f123c8e8dc423abd10c56b086c630e']) )

What's in the condition check: If the response is empty → return a proper empty array (json('[]')). Else, parse the actual JSON response. This ensures the Select action always receives an array, even when the branch is unanswered.

I am sure some clues I tried to give. If these clues help to resolve the issue brought you by here, please don't forget to check the box Does this answer your question? At the same time, I am pretty sure you have liked the response!

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MB-04030216-0 32 on at

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@Haque

Thank you the above worked!

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