How to handle JMESPath contains filter on attribute that may be null?

Question

I want to filter the output from the Azure CloudShell command az ad sp list which outputs a JSON array, eg by filtering to Publisher Name = "ACME". All az commands support a --query argument which accepts a JMESPath expression.

I have a JMESPath filter:

az ad sp list --query "[?contains(publisherName,'ACME')]" --all

that fails with error:

In function contains(), invalid type for value: None, expected one of: ['array', 'string'], received: "null"

I'm confident of my JMESPath syntax since a very similar expression works correctly:

az ad sp list --query "[?contains(displayName,'ACME')]" --all

I have a null filter that works fine:

az ad sp list --query "[?publisherName!='null']" --all

But when I combine the null filter with the contains filter I still get the error:

az ad sp list --query "[?publisherName!='null' && contains(publisherName,'ACME')]" --all

I'm guessing that JMESPath filter doesn't support boolean operations short circuit. However I didn't find any statement about that on http://jmespath.org/ or by googling.

I don't know how to daisy chain or pipe with the Azure az command --query clause to apply the two filters separately.

Any suggestion how to achieve my filtered output?

Lilalilac

The error indicates you have a problem with your jmespath query syntax. It says "invalid type for value" in the contains() function. – Kinescope

Answer 1

Context

• MSFT azure cloud shell console (as of 2019-11-17)
• azure cloud shell az commands with jmespath query
• jmespath handling of potentially-null values in a filter-expression

Use-case

• UserJohnCDeveloper wants to run a JMESPath filter on attributes that may be null
• how to daisy chain or pipe with the Azure az command --query clause

Solution

• Jmespath support for pipe expressions
• Jmespath supports passing the result of one expression to another, though use of pipe expressions. This enables queries of arbitrary complexity through chaining together of multiple sub-expressions and filters.

Example

 --query "[? publisherName!=null]|[? contains(publisherName,'ACME')]" --all

Fadil

Answer 2

The not_null function comes handy. It keeps the intent of the query more readable.

az ad sp list --query "[?contains(not_null(publisherName,''),'ACME')]" --all

The function returns the first non-null argument. This is often called "coalesce" elsewhere.

Amorita

Answer 3

For those looking for a more general approach, use || to create an or-expression:

expression || expression

Ref jmespath.org

Biography