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Help with using Split and Skip to define values in Select action

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Posted on by Mummers

Hello All,

I'm creating an automatic flow (email trigger) that collectes data from a table within the body of an email by converting HTML to a JSON array.

My flow is 90% complete but I'm really struggling with an expression for the select action.

The body is the outputs of a Compose action that 'Splits' table rows into an array.

body = ["Jerry’s^Apple^Banana^Orange^Pear^grape^Kiwi^ Lemon",

Etc…

]

Shop = split(item(), '^')[0]

Fruit = skip(split(item(),'^'),1)

Gives me the below ouput. Is there a way to isolate a single fruit in this case Grape? (Highlighted)

I've tried various combintions of Split/Skip on Item() but I haven't had any success. Any advice would be appreciated.

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Building flows

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rzaneti 4,262 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi @Mummers ,

Use this expression: body('Select')[0]['Fruit'][4]

Here is my test:

Let me know if it works for you or if you need any additional help!

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Mummers 21 on at

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Hi @rzaneti,

Thank you for the assits! Your method is a good way to isolate 'grapes' from my array but would it be possible to get the same result using the 'Select' function?
I would like the ouputs from 'Select' to be:

So I can use the 'Parse JSON' step with the following Schema:
and ultimatley get my desired results using expressions such as:

outputs('Parse_JSON')['Body'][0]['shop']
outputs('Parse_JSON')['Body'][0]['Fruit']

outputs('Parse_JSON')['Body'][1]['shop']
outputs('Parse_JSON')['Body'][1]['Fruit']

etc...

Cheers, Mummers.

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rzaneti 4,262 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi @Mummers ,

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you need, but using this expression: skip(split(item(),'^'),1)[4], you will achieve this result:

To access the grapes, we will need it to be always at the same position in the array (5th fruit). If this is not exactly what you need, let me know and we can investigate further 🙂

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Mummers 21 on at

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Hi @rzaneti,

Thank you again for the response 👍

Unfortunatley, I keep getting an invalid template error:

The execution of template action 'Select' failed: The evaluation of 'query' action 'where' expression '{
"Shop": "@split(item(), '^')[0]",
"Fruit": "@skip(split(item(),'^'),1)[4]"
}' failed: 'The template language expression 'skip(split(item(),'^'),1)[4]' cannot be evaluated because array index '4' is outside bounds (0, 0) of array. Please see https://aka.ms/logicexpressions for usage details.'.

I tried to brute force a fix by playing around with the 1 & 4 values, but havent had any luck.

I'm tempted to abandon my JSON attempt and use HTML parsing to achieve my goal, but i do feel like I'm getting close.

Thanks again!

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rzaneti 4,262 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi @Mummers ,

I also believe that you are close to the solution! If you want to move forward with that approach now or in the future, please share an image from the compose output where you have the fruits separated by '^', just to I make sure that I will include the exact same template in my tests to identify the expression's error.

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Mummers 21 on at

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Hi @rzaneti

I did have some success last night. using: skip(split(item(),'^'),5) as the value for Fruit in the 'Select' action I was able to get the following output:

I then used: 'Compose' outputs('Parse_JSON')['Body'][0]['Fruit']

followed by 'Compose' join(outputs('Compose_5'),',') to get: Grape,Kiwi,Lemon

then a final 'Compose' split(outputs('Compose_7'), ',')[0] to get: Grape

It's an inelegant solution - but it works 😃

I've added the outputs from Filter Array 2 below if you can think of 'less-clunky' solution.

Thank you again for all your imput - It's really apprecaited!

]
"Jerry’s^Apple^Banana^Orange^Pear^grape^Kiwi^ Lemon",
"Sam’s^Apple^Banana^Orange^Pear^grape^Kiwi^ Lemon",
"Smith’s^Apple^Banana^Orange^Pear^grape^Kiwi^ Lemon",
"Brian’s^Apple^Banana^Orange^Pear^grape^Kiwi^ Lemon",
"John’s^Apple^Banana^Orange^Pear^grape^Kiwi^ Lemon",
]

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