Why does a foreach loop refuse inline code results but accepts list files on sftp in logic apps

Question

Why does a foreach loop refuse inline code results but accepts list files on sftp in logic apps

Brian O'Dwyer 1

Hi,

I have searched and searched t'internet but have not yet seen a categoric and official "it just works that way".

I have a list of files from an SFTP list files in folder connector. It is a pure json array within the body of the output.
I read this into inline code and add just pass it out. In my app, I obviously do something with it ;)
The output is also a pure json array within the body of the output but of course, it is not called body but "Results".
My foreach loop will accept Results from inline and Body from list files on server but when I add a step, whatever it is, it sees the object keys from the body from the list but only sees Results from the inline code.
Is this "just how it is"?

Here is the list files output (body raw content)

[
{
"Id": "L1BpY2t1cC9HQ0g2Mzc0OA==",
"Name": "GCH63748",
"DisplayName": "GCH63748",
"Path": "/Pickup/GCH63748",
"LastModified": "2022-03-28T07:41:05Z",
"Size": 6805,
"MediaType": "application/octet-stream",
"IsFolder": false,
"ETag": "\"MDMvMjgvMjAyMiAwNzo0MTowNXw2ODA1\"",
"FileLocator": "L1BpY2t1cC9HQ0g2Mzc0OA==",
"LastModifiedBy": null
}
]
Here is the inline code output (Results raw content)

[
{
"Id": "L1BpY2t1cC9HQ0g2Mzc0OA==",
"Name": "GCH63748",
"DisplayName": "GCH63748",
"Path": "/Pickup/GCH63748",
"LastModified": "2022-03-28T07:41:05Z",
"Size": 6805,
"MediaType": "application/octet-stream",
"IsFolder": false,
"ETag": "\"MDMvMjgvMjAyMiAwNzo0MTowNXw2ODA1\"",
"FileLocator": "L1BpY2t1cC9HQ0g2Mzc0OA==",
"LastModifiedBy": null
}
]

Thank you for any information you can provide to assist me with a workaround or point out my mistake.

Brian.

Mike Urnun 9,792 Reputation points Moderator

2022-04-05T01:34:26.097+00:00

Hello @Brian O'Dwyer - Logic Apps' Designer is usually pretty good at parsing nested data behind the scenes and making them more user-friendly for later use as Dynamic Content. If you're observing this not work consistently for output data returned from the Inline Code action, it is probably so by design because the Designer is not aware of the specific transformation being done to the data in the Inline Code action (as it's done with a Javascript code). You should still be able to access all of the object keys in Code View though, let me know if you need help on that part :)
Brian O'Dwyer 1 Reputation point

2022-04-05T06:13:19.297+00:00

Thank you for your comments.
I had assumed that the designer would treat the input as pure json in the foreach processing and parse it.
If I assign the raw data to an array variable, it also does not work with the foreach loop.
What does work however is using parse json. This is what I do in my code.
Just parsing the array with a schema from the raw output is enough for it to work fine.
I just wanted to see if I can eliminate a step.
I am wary of using code view to add anything even if it will actually benefit me ;)

Your answer

Mike Urnun 9,792 Reputation points Moderator

2022-04-05T01:34:26.097+00:00

Hello @Brian O'Dwyer - Logic Apps' Designer is usually pretty good at parsing nested data behind the scenes and making them more user-friendly for later use as Dynamic Content. If you're observing this not work consistently for output data returned from the Inline Code action, it is probably so by design because the Designer is not aware of the specific transformation being done to the data in the Inline Code action (as it's done with a Javascript code). You should still be able to access all of the object keys in Code View though, let me know if you need help on that part :)
Brian O'Dwyer 1 Reputation point

2022-04-05T06:13:19.297+00:00

Thank you for your comments.
I had assumed that the designer would treat the input as pure json in the foreach processing and parse it.
If I assign the raw data to an array variable, it also does not work with the foreach loop.
What does work however is using parse json. This is what I do in my code.
Just parsing the array with a schema from the raw output is enough for it to work fine.
I just wanted to see if I can eliminate a step.
I am wary of using code view to add anything even if it will actually benefit me ;)

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Why does a foreach loop refuse inline code results but accepts list files on sftp in logic apps

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