Hot to use "Queries" in the http card

(0) Share

Report

Posted on by ryanh1

I am getting data from a rest API in a flow.

I am attempting to retrieve a 'Department' from https://api.freshservice.com/v2/#list_all_departments

The Rest API returns all departments so I am them using a "For Each" to loop through the collection and get the item I am after.

I see in the HTTP Card there is an option for "Queries" but I can't find any documentation on it.

I am curious if I can use "Queries" to filter the data in the HTTP card and avoid the additional overhead of the "For Each" loop.

Categories:

Building flows

I have the same question (0)

All responses (6)

Answers (0)

TaylorBecktold 295 on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hey there -

You are right, the documentation on these types of queries are difficult to find.

I've utilized these frequently and this is the format I use:

These two links should help you with further types of queries:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/developer/devenv-connect-apps-filtering
https://github.com/Microsoft/api-guidelines/blob/master/Guidelines.md#97-filtering

Just know that the first column should contain $filter and the second column should be your actual query.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
v-bacao-msft Microsoft Employee on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hi @ryanh1 ,

You can directly use the attribute names in the collection to filter items. If the attribute type is string, you need to add single quotes outside the parameter.

For example, I want to filter the channels in the specified Teams, and only want to get the channel whose display name is General.

In addition, you can also use Parse JSON to parse the response first, and then use the Filter array to filter the items.

http://johnliu.net/blog/2018/6/a-thesis-on-the-parse-json-action-in-microsoft-flow

Best Regards,

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
ryanh1 4 on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
@v-bacao-msft
@Taylor_Becktold

Thanks for the information, I have not found a reference to $filter anywhere! Clearly one of those hidden gems!

I am not querying the Graph API, it's a FreshService API. Does the API endpoint need to support the $filter or is it run against the response?

When I add:
$filter | name eq 'Department 1'

This is returned.

{ "description": "Validation failed", "errors": [ { "field": "$filter", "message": "Unexpected/invalid field in request", "code": "invalid_field" } ] }

For your reference this is an extract of the response I am trying to query/filter

{ "departments": [ { "description": "", "custom_fields": {}, "id": 01, "name": "Department 1", "created_at": "2019-06-26T07:18:05Z", "updated_at": "2019-07-30T12:06:04Z", "prime_user_id": 14000062291, "head_user_id": 14000062291, }, { "description": "", "custom_fields": {}, "id": 02, "name": "Department 2", "created_at": "2019-06-26T07:19:02Z", "updated_at": "2019-06-26T07:19:02Z", "prime_user_id": null, "head_user_id": null, } ] }

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
v-bacao-msft Microsoft Employee on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hi @ryanh1 ,

Maybe you could use another method mentioned in my previous reply to achieve your needs.

You could use Parse JSON to parse Response and use Filter array to filter items.

Please take a try.

Best Regards,

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
ryanh1 4 on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

I can use Parse Json then filter, but that's 2 additional steps in a flow that is already dozens of steps long.
I prefer to use Query if that's what it's there for (the purpose of this post initially)

As I ask, is $filter needing to be supported by the endpoint it is the filter run against the response?

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
TaylorBecktold 295 on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

@ryanh1

You'd need to reach out to Fresh Service and ask if they support the $filter. Looking at their public API documentation, you might not need the '$'. https://api.freshservice.com/v2/#best_practices

Was this reply helpful? Yes No