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retrieve mailaddres from an array with 'select'

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Posted on by AgnesB

I have a SP list which I filter based on certain criteria. I use the criteria for a condition and based on the output of the condition I would like to send an mail. The mailaddress is an object in the array of 'Verantwoordelijke(n)' (translate as "accountable") as you can see in picture 1.

I've used a 'Compose' action to retrieve the array of the 'Verantwoordelijke(n)' and a 'Select' action to retrieve the mailaddress. Ths works fine, but the output of the 'Select' action returns the mailadres with double quotes and brackets. If I use the output in a 'Send an email (V2)' action then I get an error:

originalMessage": "At least one recipient is not valid., Recipient '[\"jane.doe@dummy.nl\"]' is not resolved. All recipients must be resolved before a message can be submitted.".
 
How can I retrieve the mailaddress in a way I can use it for sending an email?

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Lagortinez 128 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi there!

Are you expecting multiple email addresses in that array? If not, you can safely extract just one using this Power FX expression:

if(empty(outputs('Compose_-_Verantwoordelijke')), '', first(outputs('Compose_-_Verantwoordelijke')))

This checks if the array is empty—if it is, it returns an empty string; otherwise, it retrieves the first item. That way, you avoid any runtime errors when the array has no values.

And, if you're inside a for each, you can Append to a String Variable, and just do on the dynamic content the same PowerFX Formula followed after by a ','. That will let you at the end with a big string of email addresses looking like this: 'email1'at'test.com,email2'at'test.com,' and the last thing you would need to remove the last comma (unnecesary), with a PowerFX Formula like:

substring(variables('RecipientEmailsCSV'), 0, sub(length(variables('RecipientEmailsCSV')), 1))

Assuming that RecipientEmailsCSV is your variable name, otherwise replace it 😉

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José Martínez Lago

Solution Architect | Dynamics 365 & Power Platform

Empowering low-code consultants to deliver high-impact solutions

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🔗 LinkedIn: martinezlago

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AgnesB 7 on at

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Hello @Lagortinez,

Thank you for your quick reply,

I'm sorry but I can't get my head around your solution.

I want to retrieve the mailaddress from the item in the 'apply to each'. Below a screenshot of my flow after the 'Condition' action.
If i use a 'append to string variable' in the 'Apply to Each' I need to have a 'Initialize Variable' outside the 'Apply to Each.

The problem is that the 'Select mailadres' action returns the mailadres, but with square brackets and double quotes: ["jane.doe'at'dummy.nl"]

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Pstork1 68,697 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Your problem is that the output of a Select is always an array, even if it only contains one item. But you are using it like a string. That's where the square brackets come from. If you put the output of the select in a first() function you will get the first email in the list as a string. That should solve the problem of the square brackets and the quotes. If the quotes are still an issue then put that output inside a replace() function to remove the quotes.

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AgnesB 7 on at

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Thank you both for your quick reply! I solved the issue by adding an 'compose' action where I use the expression:

first(body('Select_mailadres')) and it works!

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