Display data from arrays in Adaptive Cards

Adaptive Cards are a versatile tool that can be used to create interactive and engaging conversations in Copilot Studio. In this document, you learn how to display array items in Adaptive Cards in Copilot Studio. We use a hard-coded example for simplicity, but in a real-life scenario, you would likely get the data from a more dynamic source like a SharePoint list etc. by using Power Automate.

Let’s say that you have a list of tasks in an array, and you want to show the list of tasks in the bot.

Initialize a variable with the task list

1. Select Add node (+) to add a node, and then select Variable management -> Set a variable value.

2. Select the box under Set variable, and then select Create new.

3. Select the new variable (e.g. Var1) to show the Variable properties panel.

4. Name your variable something meaningful, such as EmployeeTaskList.

5. Paste the following JSON into To value:

   {
       "employeeName": "Alice",
       "employeeID": "E12345",
       "employeeDepartment": "HR",
       "employeeTasks": [
           {
               "taskID": "T001",
               "taskDescription": "Review employee benefits",
               "dueDate": "2023-10-15"
           },
           {
               "taskID": "T002",
               "taskDescription": "Conduct new hire orientation",
               "dueDate": "2023-09-30"
           },
           {
               "taskID": "T003",
               "taskDescription": "Update HR policies",
               "dueDate": "2023-11-05"
           }
       ]
   }
   

Parse the JSON data into a table

1. Select Add node (+) and Variable management -> Parse value. This is used to convert the JSON string into table that can be used in the adaptive card later.
2. Under Parse value, select the variable you created above. E.g. EmployeeTaskList.
3. Under Data type, select From sample data.
4. Select </> Get schema from sample JSON, and copy and paste the same JSON into the From sample data section of the Data type settings. The sample data automatically generates the schema and datatype. Select Confirm.
5. Under Save as, Select Create a new variable. Select the new variable, and change the Variable name to be TaskTable.

Display the data in an Adaptive Card

1. To display the data in an Adaptive Card, add a Send a message node.

2. Select + Add, and select Adaptive Card from the dropdown.

3. Select the Media section to show the Adaptive Card properties panel.

4. Inside the Adaptive Card properties panel on the right, select the </> Edit JSON dropdown and change it to Formula.

5. Paste the following code.

   {
     type: "AdaptiveCard",
     version: "1.5",
     body: [
       {
         type: "TextBlock",
         text: "Employee Information",
         weight: "bolder",
         size: "large"
       },
       {
         type: "TextBlock",
         text: "Employee Name: " & Topic.TaskTable.employeeName,
         separator: true
       },
       {
         type: "TextBlock",
         text: "Employee ID: " & Topic.TaskTable.employeeID,
         separator: true
       },
       {
         type: "TextBlock",
         text: "Department: " & Topic.TaskTable.employeeDepartment,
         separator: true
       },
       {
         type: "TextBlock",
         text: "Tasks",
         weight: "bolder",
         size: "medium",
         separator: true
       },
       {
         type: "Container",
         items: 
           ForAll(Topic.TaskTable.employeeTasks,
             {
               type: "TextBlock",
               text: "- Task ID: " & taskID & ",  Description: " & taskDescription & ", Due Date: " & dueDate ,
               wrap: true
             }
         )
       }
     ]
   }
   

   1. Now we can refer the JSON record properties using expressions like Topic.TaskTable.employeeName.

   2. To display array items in an Adaptive Card, use the Container element with the items property.

      The items property accepts an array of elements as its value. Each element in the array is displayed in the Adaptive Card, using the 'ForAll' function. Reference the Topic.TaskTable.employeeTasks array, as it allows access to each of its properties.

   If you want to create the topic without following these instructions, you can select Open code editor from the top right command bar, and paste the following YAML code in the code editor view.

   kind: AdaptiveDialog
   beginDialog:
     kind: OnRecognizedIntent
     id: main
     intent:
       displayName: Untitled
       triggerQueries:
         - array
   
     actions:
       - kind: SetVariable
         id: setVariable_uFs69M
         variable: Topic.EmployeeTaskList
         value: "{     \"employeeName\": \"Alice\",     \"employeeID\": \"E12345\",     \"employeeDepartment\": \"HR\",     \"employeeTasks\": [         {             \"taskID\": \"T001\",             \"taskDescription\": \"Review employee benefits\",             \"dueDate\": \"2023-10-15\"         },         {             \"taskID\": \"T002\",             \"taskDescription\": \"Conduct new hire orientation\",             \"dueDate\": \"2023-09-30\"         },         {             \"taskID\": \"T003\",             \"taskDescription\": \"Update HR policies\",             \"dueDate\": \"2023-11-05\"         }     ] }"
   
       - kind: ParseValue
         id: 58zKdp
         variable: Topic.TaskTable
         valueType:
           kind: Record
           properties:
             employeeDepartment: String
             employeeID: String
             employeeName: String
             employeeTasks:
               type:
                 kind: Table
                 properties:
                   dueDate: String
                   taskDescription: String
                   taskID: String
   
         value: =Topic.EmployeeTaskList
   
       - kind: SendActivity
         id: sendActivity_oNXY1r
         activity:
           attachments:
             - kind: AdaptiveCardTemplate
               cardContent: |-
                 ={
                   type: "AdaptiveCard",
                   version: "1.5",
                   body: [
                     {
                       type: "TextBlock",
                       text: "Employee Information",
                       weight: "bolder",
                       size: "large"
                     },
                     {
                       type: "TextBlock",
                       text: "Employee Name: " & Topic.TaskTable.employeeName,
                       separator: true
                     },
                     {
                       type: "TextBlock",
                       text: "Employee ID: " & Topic.TaskTable.employeeID,
                       separator: true
                     },
                     {
                       type: "TextBlock",
                       text: "Department: " & Topic.TaskTable.employeeDepartment,
                       separator: true
                     },
                     {
                       type: "TextBlock",
                       text: "Tasks",
                       weight: "bolder",
                       size: "medium",
                       separator: true
                     },
                     {
                       type: "Container",
                       items: 
                         ForAll(Topic.TaskTable.employeeTasks,
                           {
                             type: "TextBlock",
                             text: "- Task ID: " & taskID & ",  Description: " & taskDescription & ", Due Date: " & dueDate ,
                             wrap: true
                           }
                       )
                     }
                   ]
                 }
   
   

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