QGIS – How to Remove Multiple Elements from an Array Using QGIS Expressions

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The problem

Using QGIS expressions with QGIS 3.20, I have an array and I want to exclude a number of elements from this array. Let's say my array is [1,2,3,4,5,6], but I want to get an array like [1,2,3], removing [4,5,6] from the initial array.

What I tried I

There is a function array_remove_all (array,value), but with this, you can just remove one element: array_remove_all (array (1,2,3,4,5,6),6) reults in: [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]. I would like, basically, "subtract" one array from another array, pseudocode:

array_subtract (array(1,2,3,4,5,6), array(4,5,6)) -> [1,2,3].

array_slice is not what I'm looking for as it is based on start- and end-position.

What I tried II: a workaround

A workaround is this, but the if-condition expects an else-value, here: 'x'. If I could avoid creating an element in the array in case the if-condition is false, the problem would be solved, But like this, I have to create an output like 'x' – even an empty output like '' creates an element in the array:

array_foreach (
    array (1,2,3,4,5,6),
    if (
        @element <=3,
        @element, 
        'x'))

returns: [ 1,2,3,'x', 'x', 'x' ]

Now, the 'x' can be removed with:

array_remove_all( array (1,2,3,'x', 'x', 'x'), 'x')

finally returns: [ 1, 2, 3 ]

What I tried II: another workaround

Using a case-statement instead of the if-condition to avoid an else-value does not help, as it still produces NULL-elements in the array that I then have to remove:

array_foreach (
    array (1,2,3,4,5,6),
    case
    when @element <=3 then @element
    end)

returns: [ 1, 2, 3, NULL, NULL, NULL ]

The Question

Is there a better solution to this?

Best Answer

You can use array_filter() combined with in operator, like:

array_filter(array(1,2,3,4,5,6), @element not in (4,5,6))
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