#PowerPlatformTip 129 – ‘Case-sensitive SharePoint Filtering’

💡 Challenge

SharePoint OData filtering is case-insensitive, leading to inaccurate results when exact letter casing matters.

✅ Solution

First use an OData filter for performance, then apply a case-sensitive Filter array action to refine the data.

🔧 How It’s Done

Here’s how to do it:

1. Apply OData filtering in your SharePoint query for an initial selection.
   🔸 Use a filter expression (e.g., Title eq 'Value')
   🔸 Quickly reduces the dataset before further processing
2. Add a Filter array action to the flow.
   🔸 Configure it to match items with exact casing
   🔸 Use an expression like equals(item()?['Field'], 'Value')

🎉 Result

You get fast initial filtering with OData and precise, case-sensitive verification with Filter array, ensuring accurate data retrieval.

🌟 Key Advantages

🔸 Fast initial queries with OData
🔸 Precise case-sensitive validation
🔸 Combined efficiency and accuracy

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🎥 Video Tutorial

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🛠️ FAQ

1. Why is OData filtering case-insensitive?
SharePoint’s OData endpoint applies string comparisons without distinguishing letter casing.

2. Can I perform case-sensitive filtering directly in OData?
No, SharePoint OData does not support native case-sensitive comparisons in the query.

3. Does using Filter array impact performance?
When used after OData pre-filtering, Filter array processes a smaller set in-memory, maintaining good performance.