Alphabetical sorting of two array variables with content from document library columns in SPO with Azure Logic Apps

Question

Alphabetical sorting of two array variables with content from document library columns in SPO with Azure Logic Apps

Cem 110

I have a document library with two person columns (userA, userB) in SharePoint Online (SPO). For my Logic App workflow I need an alphabetical sorted output of the selected user names from the two person columns in two different emails. See below for more details.

In my Logic App workflow I fetch the display names of the two person columns with for each and append it to two arrays. Then I use the expression join () in the email send action. There are two types of email bodys:

first email body (user1 and user 2): each array in seperate lines

usersA: @{join(variables('userA'),'; ')}
usersB: @{join(variables('userB'),'; ')}

second email body (users): both arrays in one single line

users: @{join(variables('userA'),'; ')}; @{join(variables('userB'),'; ')}

This works good so far, but the conent is not sorted and I want to sort it ascending by the last name of the person. With every workflow run I get a different mixed output of display names. I tried it with the expression sort (), but I got an error message of using string instead of array. But my variables are both initialized as arrays.

How can I best achieve this? I hope somebody can help me with the Logic App Workflow. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

MayankBargali-MSFT 70,986 Reputation points Moderator

2023-12-01T13:09:44.23+00:00

@Cem Thanks for reaching out. Can you share the sample two array along with the expected output so I can validate if it is possible or not.

As per your verbatim it looks like you have two array that the JSON object and you want to sort the data after joining both the array with a particular property of the array. Example will help in understanding what is the input and what is the expected output.
Cem 110 Reputation points

2023-12-01T21:45:28.42+00:00

@MayankBargali-MSFT : Thank you for your support. Please see below some screenshots of the relevant Logic App workflow. To be honest I have kept it very simple and basic. Two array variables, appended in for each and then use of join() expression. In the screenshot you just see the initialization and for each for just one array (readers), but there is exactly the same procedure for another array.

a) first email body with each array in seperate lines:

expected output (alphabetical sorted display names of users chosen from person column):

Bearbeiter*: Jones Megan, Smith John
Beobachter: Brown Sarah, Williams Martin

b) second email body with both arrays in one single line:

expected output (alphabetical sorted display names of users chosen from person column):

Bearbeiter*:
Beobachter: Brown Sarah, Jones Megan, Smith John, Williams Martin

Answer accepted by question author

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MayankBargali-MSFT 70,986 Reputation points Moderator

2023-12-01T13:09:44.23+00:00

@Cem Thanks for reaching out. Can you share the sample two array along with the expected output so I can validate if it is possible or not.

As per your verbatim it looks like you have two array that the JSON object and you want to sort the data after joining both the array with a particular property of the array. Example will help in understanding what is the input and what is the expected output.
Cem 110 Reputation points

2023-12-01T21:45:28.42+00:00

@MayankBargali-MSFT : Thank you for your support. Please see below some screenshots of the relevant Logic App workflow. To be honest I have kept it very simple and basic. Two array variables, appended in for each and then use of join() expression. In the screenshot you just see the initialization and for each for just one array (readers), but there is exactly the same procedure for another array.

a) first email body with each array in seperate lines:

expected output (alphabetical sorted display names of users chosen from person column):

Bearbeiter*: Jones Megan, Smith John
Beobachter: Brown Sarah, Williams Martin

b) second email body with both arrays in one single line:

expected output (alphabetical sorted display names of users chosen from person column):

Bearbeiter*:
Beobachter: Brown Sarah, Jones Megan, Smith John, Williams Martin

Answer 1

Sonny Gillissen 3,996 Volunteer Moderator

Hi Cem,

Thank you for reaching out on Microsoft Q&A!

You use join(), but this joins all items in an array as a string with a delimiter. To join two arrays together you need to use union():

union(variables('userA'),variables('userB'))

With the joined arrays you can now use the sort() function to sort them properly:

sort(union(variables('userA'),variables('userB')))

With the result you can use the join() again to make a string of your combined and sorted array:

join(sort(union(variables('userA'),variables('userB')),item()),'; ')

Please click “Accept answer” if you find this helpful. Feel free to drop additional queries in the comments below!

Kind regards,

Sonny

Cem 110 Reputation points

2023-12-05T21:41:39.34+00:00
@Sonny Gillissen : Thank you for your support. It works fine so far, I just had to make a slight change and to remove the item() part in the expression (see final code below). Otherwise I would get an error in run history (error message: "The template language function 'sort' expects its second parameter to be of type string. The provided value is of type 'Null'"). So I deleted this part and it works now as expected. Therefore this issue can be seen as resolved and I have accepted your answer.

join(sort(union(variables('userA'),variables('userB'))),'; ')

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Alphabetical sorting of two array variables with content from document library columns in SPO with Azure Logic Apps

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