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removeProperty Object vs Array Error Message

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Posted on by tagustin

Hello,

I am working on a PC Request Notification Flow that runs when a PC request has been edited. My goal is to include a list of what changed in the email. Overall, it is going well, but there are 2 standard fields I don't need to put into the email which are "Modified" and "PCFormVersion". I would like to remove those 2 fields from the list that is included in the notification email. I'm getting an error on my second Select action that states "The 'from' property value in the 'select' action inputs is of type 'Object'. The value must be an array." I'm still new to PowerAutomate so I'm having a hard time figuring out how to adjust the flow. Can you help me?

Here is the Output from the first Select step so you can see what is being returned (this step is not broken).

Here are the flow steps. The last step labeled "Select - Remove" is the one that is throwing an error.

SS2-Get Changes.png

Here are the expressions I am having trouble with in text format:

json(replace(string(outputs('Select')),'Modified','PCFormVersion'))

removeProperty(removeProperty(item(),'Modified'),'PCFormVersion')

Hopefully, only small adjustments are needed. Thanks in advance for your help!

Teresa

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takolota1 4,980 Moderator on at

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The problem is the JSON( ) expression returns a JSON object, not the array a Select action uses.

But my bigger question is why are you trying to do that replace?
If you use the standard Select table format, you can list the column/field names on the left & their corresponding values on the right. Then if you just don’t include Modified or PCFORM… then they won’t be included in the output.
If you need to let it be variable with different possible columns or fields, then why not just use a Compose action & use replace( ) from there?

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WillPage 2,339 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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To remove items from an array use Filter array instead of Select. Put the expression @And(not(equals(item(),'Modified')),not(equals(item(),'PCFormVersion'))) in the advanced editor.

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tagustin on at

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Thank you both for your advice. I really appreciate it. @takolota, if I understand your question correctly, the reason I can't pick out certain fields using the Select action is that the results from "Get changes for an item or a file" varies. I only wish to include fields in the email that have changed. @WillPage I incorporated your expression so I thank you very much.

Here is the current version of the flow. Seems like a lot of steps to get to what I want so let me know if there is a more efficient way to consolidate the steps. Also, if you scroll down further to the email screenshot, you can see it is not very elegant. The internal SharePoint column names are displayed. Is there a way to show the Display Names instead? My Display Names have spaces between words.

Email screenshot:

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WillPage 2,339 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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@tagustin You can get the display names of the columns using the "Send an HTTP request to SharePoint" action.

The request path is _api/Web/Lists/GetByTitle('List Name')/Fields?$select=staticname,title

If the schema is unlikely to change, just hit the URL in a logged in browser (e.g https://myorg.sharepoint.com/sites/mysite/_api/Web/Lists/GetByTitle('List Name')/Fields?$select=staticname,title where myorg is your SharePoint domain, sites/mysite is the path to the site containing the list and List Name is the Display Name of the list or library.

Hit it once in the browser and paste the result into a compose action. Now do another Filter array and input outputs('Compose')?['value'] with the condition body('FilterArray') contains item()?['StaticName]. Replace outputs('Compose') with whatever action contains the output from that HTTP action, whether you do that each flow run or you put it in a compose.
Now the result of that action should contain an array of the relevant columns with the two properties, StaticName and Title, so to get the Display Names of these, do a Select and in there, press the small T icon on the right of the key-value input boxes and in there put the expression item()?['Title']. You can then run the join over the output of that to get a string of the Display Names of the columns.

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tagustin on at

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@WillPage

Thank you Will. I will give this a try tomorrow morning (Wed) and let you know how it works out.

Kind regards,
Teresa

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tagustin on at

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@WillPage

Hi Will,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I had an app meeting with IT that resulted in a lot of great feedback to incorporate into the app so I've been working on that before adjusting the flow since the changes involved adding extra fields. I think I have everything dialed in now so I'm hoping to be able to work on implementing your solution for display names tomorrow. Thanks again for your advice. I really appreciate it!

Teresa

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tagustin on at

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@WillPage

Hello Will,

I finally got a chance to work on this on Saturday. I added a Send an HTTP request step per your instructions and ran the flow. I didn't get any errors and I can see that promising results are being returned.
I wasn't completely sure what you meant 7 lines down where you say "Hit it once in the browser and paste the result into a Compose action." Thinking you might have meant for me to run the flow and paste the body of the Flow Run Outputs section into a Compose action, I went in that direction. The ComposeOutputs text is very long so I'm just showing the beginning and end to help us troubleshoot the error I am getting in the FilterArrayOutputs step.
Here is the error I am getting at the FilterArrayOutputs step. I did make changes to the PC Request Form so I'm not sure why it is returning 'Null'.
Here are the expressions I entered into the step. The expression in the notes section is what I entered into the From field. When I enter body('FilterArrayOutputs') in the Condition body, the expression does not save as it says the step cannot reference itself. This is why I tried (body('ComposeOutputs') instead.

Thinking it might be a flow step order issue, I've tried placing the Send an HTTP step both above and below the Get changes for an item step. It throws the same Null error either way. What should I try next?
Thank you again for your help. I hope you have a nice weekend!
Teresa

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takolota1 4,980 Moderator on at

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@tagustin @WillPage

Try changing that label in the compose from “d” to “body”

You may also need to add more to your expression to get your desired piece of data.
Check the start of this video that explains some of expressions for calling JSON data: https://youtu.be/C52brz28poU

Also I’m not sure if you’re trying to use the static results in a compose here or if you need dynamic results.

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tagustin on at

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@takolota @WillPage

Thank you for the advice, but even after changing the "d" to "body" I am getting the error message "Bad Request. The 'from' property value in the 'query' action inputs is of type 'Null'. The value must be an array."

To answer your question about whether I need dynamic results. In these steps, I'm trying to get the Display Names whether or not the column was changed. If I can get these results back, I can then cherry pick out the ones where the column was changed with the Select action.

Teresa

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tagustin on at

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@takolota @WillPage

Hello,

I'm still trying to solve the issue of how to come up with the display names, but wanted to let you know that I will be off the computer from Fri-Tues as I have family coming to the house for a visit. If you have any more thoughts on what I should adjust I would love to hear them! Have a great weekend! Teresa

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