Inconsistent data types (Text vs Variant) in List of Map output

Question

I am working with a rule in Appian where I expect a consistent structure of List of Map, but I am seeing inconsistent data types in the output.

a!localVariables(
local!indexval: index(
ri!userFilters,
"userFilter",
null
),
local!filters: split(local!indexval, ";"),
a!forEach(
items: local!filters,
expression: a!localVariables(
local!valueStart: find("value=[", fv!item),
local!valueBlock: if(
isnull(local!valueStart),
"",
mid(
fv!item,
local!valueStart + 7,
len(fv!item)
)
),
local!cleanValueBlock: substitute(local!valueBlock, "]", ""),
/*Values */
local!AccountName: if(
find("name=AccountName", fv!item) > 0,
a!forEach(
items: split(local!cleanValueBlock, ","),
expression: trim(substitute(fv!item, """", ""))
),
{}
),
local!ProductCategory: if(
find("name=Product Category", fv!item) > 0,
a!forEach(
items: split(local!cleanValueBlock, ","),
expression: trim(substitute(fv!item, """", ""))
),
{}
),
a!map(
AccountName: local!AccountName,
ProductCategory: local!ProductCategory
)
)
)
)

expecting ProductCategory and Account name in single map

Harsha Sharma · Answer

rajeshp7374 said: {} 
 The {} come up as List of variant. To avoid having list of variants in the output cast these {} to string using tostring({}). That will give expected output.

subhankar-Maantic · Answer

Try this:

a!localVariables(
local!indexval: index(ri!userFilters, "userFilter", null),
local!filters: split(local!indexval, ";"),

/* Find the segment containing AccountName */
local!accountSegment: a!forEach(
items: local!filters,
expression: if(find("name=AccountName", fv!item) > 0, fv!item, null)
),
local!accountRaw: index(
filter(not(isnull(fv!item)), local!accountSegment),
1, null
),

/* Find the segment containing Product Category */
local!productSegment: a!forEach(
items: local!filters,
expression: if(find("name=Product Category", fv!item) > 0, fv!item, null)
),
local!productRaw: index(
filter(not(isnull(fv!item)), local!productSegment),
1, null
),

/* Parse AccountName values */
local!accountValues: if(
isnull(local!accountRaw),
{},
a!localVariables(
local!start: find("value=[", local!accountRaw),
local!block: mid(
local!accountRaw,
local!start + 7,
len(local!accountRaw)
),
local!clean: substitute(
substitute(local!block, "]", ""),
"isArray=true,", ""
),
filter(
not(isnull(fv!item)) && fv!item <> "",
a!forEach(
items: split(local!clean, ","),
expression: trim(substitute(fv!item, """", ""))
)
)
)
),

/* Parse ProductCategory values */
local!productValues: if(
isnull(local!productRaw),
{},
a!localVariables(
local!start: find("value=[", local!productRaw),
local!block: mid(
local!productRaw,
local!start + 7,
len(local!productRaw)
),
local!clean: substitute(
substitute(local!block, "]", ""),
"isArray=true,", ""
),
filter(
not(isnull(fv!item)) && fv!item <> "",
a!forEach(
items: split(local!clean, ","),
expression: trim(substitute(fv!item, """", ""))
)
)
)
),

/* Single combined map */
a!map(
AccountName: local!accountValues,
ProductCategory: local!productValues
)
)

Issue
Two separate maps
isArray=true
Empty strings in output

Shubham Aware · Answer

Your if() returns empty List of Variant when the condition fails, and a!forEach makes one map per filter (not merged). Type the empty fallback and merge after the loop. See below - Returns one map with both keys as List of Text. a!localVariables(
 local!filters: split(index(ri!userFilters, "userFilter", null), ";"),
 local!parsed: a!forEach(
 items: local!filters,
 expression: a!localVariables(
 local!vStart: find("value=[", fv!item),
 local!vBlock: if(isnull(local!vStart), "", mid(fv!item, local!vStart + 7, len(fv!item))),
 local!values: a!forEach(
 items: split(substitute(local!vBlock, "]", ""), ","),
 expression: trim(substitute(fv!item, """", ""))
 ),
 a!map(
 type: if(find("name=AccountName", fv!item) > 0, "A", "P"),
 values: local!values
 )
 )
 ),
 a!map(
 AccountName: index(local!parsed, wherecontains("A", local!parsed.type), a!map()).values,
 ProductCategory: index(local!parsed, wherecontains("P", local!parsed.type), a!map()).values
 )
)

Inconsistent data types (Text vs Variant) in List of Map output

Top Replies