How to write an expression to know whether certain words exist or not in the file name.

Question

How to write an expression to know whether certain words exist or not in the file name.

King Java 790

This is very related to my previous posts, but I am posting it here with more focused scenario (and I did not get the solution yet).

I am trying to write an expression to do this:

Go thru each csv files, and move csv files to either folder A or folder B based on the name of csv files (whether certain words are contains or not).

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The results should be boolean (true or false) because I am using IF Condition:

So, I am trying to go thru each csv files and create a logic like "if csv file has "LosAngeles" on the file name, this file will to go Folder A".

And "if csv file has word "NewYork" on the file name, this file will to go Folder B. etc"...

@contains(
	activity('Get Metadata2').output.itemName, 
	
	["LosAngeles","NewYork","SanFrancisco"]

	 )

Initially, I was trying to use array parameter Cities (to hold values) ,but I do not understand how to use the array parameter.

"Cities": [
  "LosAngeles",
  "NewYork",
  "SanFrancisco",
  // ... more cities
]

If using array parameter is way to go, please let me know.

Thanks.

Accepted answer

1 additional answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Nandan Hegde 36,156 MVP Volunteer Moderator

Hey,

Either you can iterate across each loop based on the parameter that is passed as stated by Amira,

or you can use the below expression format :

@or(contains(item().name, 'LosAngeles'), contains(item().name, 'NewYork'))

King Java 790 Reputation points

2023-08-25T04:37:08.76+00:00

@Nandan Hegde

Thank you.

I like your simpler version of code.

But I am still not getting the results.

Maybe it is due to either not carrying the variable correctly or due to some other issue.

Somehow, it does not go to into "If Condition1" that I set up. It just stopped at Get Metadata2.

Does this look right (bottom)?

Is it Item().Name or Item().Item name on the expression?
Nandan Hegde 36,156 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-08-25T04:56:16.08+00:00

Sorry, but I am confused :)

Why are you using another GetMetadata activity within for each?

Your main ask is to get the list of file names and move it across folders based on file name values correct?
Then 1st getmetadata would get list of all files and within foreach you can directly use IF activity with item().name directly. NO need of 2nd Getmetadata
King Java 790 Reputation points

2023-08-25T18:17:47.6233333+00:00

@Nandan Hegde

Sorry. I am still lost here.

How do I use IF activity with item().name directly?

I just could not get the @item().name displayed using only one GetMetadata.

Bottom is from other pipeline:

This is what I have so far:

Inside "Get Metadata":

Inside "ForEach":

What am I missing?

Thanks.
Nandan Hegde 36,156 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-08-26T05:37:20.35+00:00
Below are my sample files :

I want to check for 1 and 3 whether those are present in files .

So below logic:

Initial Metadata would give list of all child items.

Then for Foreach iteration :

@activity('Get Metadata1').output.childItems

within for each, use direct IF activity :

@or(contains(item().name, '1'), contains(item().name, '3'))

in my case for demo have used Wait activity but you can replace it with Copy activities.

Output :

So Wait1 should be executed 2 times and Wait 2 should be executed once

I hope this clarifies!!!
not sure why you needed the 2nd Get metadata activity within for each iteration .
Because the for each iteration is already happening on the files present in the path.

So item().name would give you individual file names already
King Java 790 Reputation points

2023-08-27T00:55:46.0933333+00:00

@Nandan Hegde

I finally figured out. :)

The issue was I had the wrong expression on the destination folder that I had "@item().itemName" instead of "@item().name".

But, I was surprised that, just with the one wrong expression, it did not even go into the "If Statement" which made me confused.

I also observed you used "Sequential" (by looking at your example).

Is it better? Wouldn't it take more time to process (and we do not use a Variable in this case)?

Or is it just for safety?

Thanks.
Nandan Hegde 36,156 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-08-27T03:13:32.3066667+00:00

Hey, the sequential aspect was to demo the output in sequential format as wait 1,wait 2,,wait1. Since the files are independent, no need of sequential flow. And I hope, you understood why there is no need of the second getmeta data activity
King Java 790 Reputation points

2023-08-29T20:00:02.6+00:00

@Nandan Hegde I just realized that OR only takes 2 arguments. I have at least 12 arguments. How do I go about doing this? Thanks.
Nandan Hegde 36,156 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-08-30T03:03:21.1466667+00:00

Hey,

You can use nested aspect :
King Java 790 Reputation points

2023-08-30T17:16:54.7433333+00:00

@Nandan Hegde

Thank you so much for your help and feedback!

I see the top expression does not give the 'Bool' result but 'String'.

How do I go about modifying the expression (since I am using the expression in "If Condition") to get the 'Bool' result?

Thanks a lot.
Nandan Hegde 36,156 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-08-31T01:50:00.33+00:00

Hey, since in my demo I am using set variable activity and the variable type was string, so i have used @string at the start. Since in IF activity you need bool type, remove string from the start of expression
Nandan Hegde 36,156 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-09-01T01:24:06.32+00:00

Hey, did this resolve your issue?
King Java 790 Reputation points

2023-09-01T01:24:13.4733333+00:00

@Nandan Hegde

Thank you again.

Does bottom look right?

I have a Parameters created here as shown below:

I am getting error when I ran with this, but unfortunately, I cannot see the detail of error message (so I posted a question regards to this issue).

Thanks.
Nandan Hegde 36,156 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-09-01T02:56:05.6666667+00:00
couple of queries:

Were you able to publish your change?

I see the parenthesis are not correct :
there are 8 ( and there are 9 ).

below is sample expression :

@or(contains(pipeline().parameters.AT,'1' ),or(contains(pipeline().parameters.AT,'2' ),contains(pipeline().parameters.AT,'3' )))

any reason why you are checking the values within the parameter?
wasnt the purpose to check within the file names?
King Java 790 Reputation points

2023-09-01T03:38:00.78+00:00

@Nandan Hegde Thank you again.

So, now, there is no error. It must have been the ')' issue.

Now, I am trying to understand the expression.

What does '1','2' & '3' stand for?

Is it like a 1st, 2nd & 3rd item placeholder in the existing parameter?
Nandan Hegde 36,156 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-09-01T04:24:10.2933333+00:00

Hey,
1,2,3 are strings that I am comparing similar to how you have city names.

My sample string values were Test1, Test2,Test3 and I was trying to check whether the string contains 1,2,3.
Its not a placeholder for anything!!!!

And I am still not sure why are chceking the values within the ADF parameter rather than checking the within item().name meaning the filename

King Java 790

@Nandan hegde

Thank you for your help.

Finally, I was able to get it.

I guess I have to add 8 more on these (since I have 11 more cities that should go to California).

@or(contains(item().name,'LosAngeles' ),or(contains(item().name,'SanFrancisco' ),contains(item().name,'SanDiego' )))


// This is my final product:
@or(
    contains(item().name,'1'),
    or(contains(item().name,'2'),
    or(contains(item().name,'3'),
    or(contains(item().name,'4'),
    or(contains(item().name,'5'),
    or(contains(item().name,'6'),
    or(contains(item().name,'7'),
    or(contains(item().name,'8'),
    or(contains(item().name,'9'),
    or(contains(item().name,'0'),
    or(contains(item().name,'eleven'),
    or(contains(item().name,'twelve'),
    contains(item().name,'thirteen')
    )
  )
 )
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

Thank you so much for all your help.

I am sure I will chat with you again soon.

Answer 2

I already left a comment on your last post and I will try to answer this one :
You can use the "Get Metadata" activity to get a list of files (CSV) in a specific directory.

Use a "ForEach" activity to iterate through each file.

Within the ForEach activity, use an "IF Condition" activity to apply your logic for moving files. The expression could be similar to:

   @contains(item().name, 'LosAngeles')

In the "True" activity path, you can have a "Copy Data" activity to move the file to Folder A. Similarly, in another "IF Condition" activity, you can check for other city names.

Use "Copy Data" activities to copy the files from source to destination based on the conditions.

Here's a rough pseudo-JSON structure:

"ForEach": {
    "Items": "@activity('Get Metadata2').output.childItems",
    "BatchCount": 10,
    "Activities": [
        {
            "If Condition": {
                "Expression": "@contains(item().name, 'LosAngeles')",
                "True Activities": [
                    {
                        "Copy Data": {
                            "Source": ...,
                            "Destination": "Folder A"
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "False Activities": [
                    {
                        "If Condition": {
                            "Expression": "@contains(item().name, 'NewYork')",
                            "True Activities": [
                                {
                                    "Copy Data": {
                                        "Source": ...,
                                        "Destination": "Folder B"
                                    }
                                }
                            ],
                            ...
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}

If you need more advanced file manipulation, you might consider using Azure Functions with a Blob Trigger, or an Azure Logic App, which would allow you to write more complex code in a language like C# or JavaScript. If you need to authenticate against Azure AD, you would use the appropriate SDK or REST API calls for that service, such as the Microsoft Graph API.

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How to write an expression to know whether certain words exist or not in the file name.

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