Data Operation JSON

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) are widely used lightweight data-interchange format for representing structured data and exchanging information between different system.

We will use Primary and Secondary colour dataset to perform CRU operations with JSON

1. Create a JSON data

Method 1: Leverage the compose to create JSON in the power automate flow. The intelligence of the compose function to associate the data type with respect to the input data is a lovely pre-built feature

{
  "Pallet": {
    "Pcolors": [
      {
        "ID": "ID01",
        "color": "red",
        "category": "hue",
        "type": "primary",
        "code": {
          "rgba": [
            255,
            0,
            0,
            1
          ],
          "hex": "#FF0"
        }
      },
      {
        "ID": "ID02",
        "color": "blue",
        "category": "hue",
        "type": "primary",
        "code": {
          "rgba": [
            0,
            0,
            255,
            1
          ],
          "hex": "#00F"
        }
      },
      {
        "ID": "ID03",
        "color": "yellow",
        "category": "hue",
        "type": "primary",
        "code": {
          "rgba": [
            255,
            255,
            0,
            1
          ],
          "hex": "#FF0"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

the output is an array

Method 2: Leverage the Compose function and use the datatype as object and provide the input

{
  "Pallet": {
    "Scolors": [
      {
        "ID": "SID01",
        "color": "green",
        "category": "hue",
        "type": "secondary",
        "code": {
          "rgba": [
            0,
            255,
            0,
            1
          ],
          "hex": "#0F0"
        }
      },
      {
        "ID": "SID02",
        "color": "orange",
        "category": "hue",
        "type": "secondary",
        "code": {
          "rgba": [
            255,
            165,
            0,
            1
          ],
          "hex": "#ffa500"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

2.Merging JSON
To combine two arrays or collections of values into a single array, removing any duplicates in the process we would leverage union function. The ['Pallet'] part is used to access a specific property of the from the output object (PrimCols and SecCols)

union(outputs('PrimCols')?['Pallet'],variables('SecCols')?['Pallet'])

3.Navigating JSON:
The navigation is done by the ?[‘propertyName’] string added to the source reference expression.

outputs('Merge')?['Pcolors']


4.Sorting JSON:
The command outputs('Merge')?['Pcolors'] retrieves the value of the 'Pcolors' property from the output of the 'Merge' action fro step 2. sort leverages specific attribute _color _ to sort the array

sort(outputs('Merge')?['Pcolors'],'color')


5.Navigating JSON
The first part of code retrieves the value of the 'Pcolors' property. The index [0] represents the first element in the array. ?['code']: Retrieves the value of the 'code' property from the selected object. The ? operator is used for optional chaining, which ensures that the expression doesn't throw an error if any intermediate property is null or undefined.

outputs('Merge')?['Pcolors'][0]?['code']

6.Count Objects:
The expression the length function calculates the number of objects in the array.

length(outputs('Merge')?['Scolors'])

By leveraging JSON in Power Automate, you can effectively handle data transformation, integrate with APIs, extract relevant information, and perform custom data operations, enhancing the capabilities and flexibility of your workflows.