# Set variable producing empty collections from http easybill
**URL:** https://community.make.com/t/set-variable-producing-empty-collections-from-http-easybill/72022
**Category:** Questions
**Tags:** arrays, mapping
**Created:** [March 2, 2025, 12:58pm UTC](https://community.make.com/t/set-variable-producing-empty-collections-from-http-easybill/72022 "2025-03-02T12:58:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Till\_Vienna](https://community.make.com/u/Till_Vienna)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2025, 12:58pm UTC](https://community.make.com/t/set-variable-producing-empty-collections-from-http-easybill/72022/1 "2025-03-02T12:58:56Z")
I am pulling data from easybill via http and I receive it like this:
In the next step I want to pull the “company\_name” which is in data.items from all 12 collections.. But it always comes back empty. I am not even able to pull a single value.
The idea is that I am pulling this data and push it back into a typeform dropdown menu but as pointed out, I am not even able to get the data handed over.
[output.txt](https://community.make.com/uploads/short-url/zycP6txZ19QwhsRY1peXR6XPqaO.txt) (52.8 KB)
attached also the output file from the http module
---
### Author:  [@samliew](https://community.make.com/u/samliew)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2025, 2:19pm UTC](https://community.make.com/t/set-variable-producing-empty-collections-from-http-easybill/72022/2 "2025-03-02T14:19:37Z")
Welcome to the Make community!
You don’t need the double quotes around the `company_name` parameter in the `map` function. Remove them.
Also, the map function works with ARRAYS. You inserted `15.data`, which is NOT an array. Look closely and see which other variables is an array?
You can use the built-in functions `map` and `first` to access variables within an array.
e.g.:
```plaintext
{{ first(map(15.data.items; "company_name")) }}
```
Copy and paste the above line exactly.
For more information, see the “Mapping with arrays” link below.
Here are some useful links and guides you can use to learn more on how to use the Make platform, apps, and app modules. I found these useful when I was learning Make, and hope they might benefit you too —
### Getting Started
- [Help Centre](https://www.make.com/en/help) | [Tutorials](https://www.make.com/en/help/tutorials.html) – Make “Manual”
- [Make Academy](https://academy.make.com) – Basics 101: Learn Make and get certified
### Help Centre Basics
- [Mapping](https://www.make.com/en/help/mapping/mapping) – What is mapping? What can I map?
- [Mapping with arrays](https://www.make.com/en/help/mapping/mapping-arrays) – How to map items in an array
- [Aggregate an array for mapping complex fields](https://www.make.com/en/help/tools/flow-control#customizing-the-output)
- **Date Format** : [tokens for `parseDate`](https://www.make.com/en/help/functions/tokens-for-date-time-parsing) | [tokens for `formatDate`](https://www.make.com/en/help/functions/tokens-for-date-time-formatting)
- [HTTP modules](https://www.make.com/en/help/tools/http) – Make a request, Get (download) a file
- [Webhooks](https://www.make.com/en/help/tools/webhooks) – Error Handling, Responding to webhooks
### Articles & Videos
- [Router Magic Formula](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q-5BsCtJu4) - YouTube
- [Error Handlers in Make](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRE9E-rAD8U10mx2TRs54Nq1XJDdK9Kx4) - YouTube playlist
- [Getting started with OpenAI](https://community.make.com/t/getting-started-with-openai-gpt-3-and-make/7796) - How to setup and use OpenAI (ChatGPT) in Make
- [How to use Regex in Make](https://community.make.com/t/how-to-use-regex-in-make/202) - How to use pattern matching to extract the text you want
- [Webhooks – Make Academy](https://academy.make.com/courses/IntermediateC04) – tutorial on how to use Webhooks
Hope this helps! Let me know if there are any further questions or issues.
— @samliew
P.S.: Investing some effort into the [Make Academy](https://academy.make.com) will save you lots of time and frustration using Make.
---
### Author:  [@Till\_Vienna](https://community.make.com/u/Till_Vienna)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://community.make.com/t/set-variable-producing-empty-collections-from-http-easybill/72022/3 "2025-03-02T14:41:04Z")
Thanks, that is already very helpful.
I tried that now but the variable still comes back empty.
my educated guess is that, as you pointed out “items” is an array, while “1,2,3 etc.” are again a “collection”. Which in turn seems to be the reason I am not getting the company name back but an empty "collection.
---
### Author:  [@Till\_Vienna](https://community.make.com/u/Till_Vienna)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2025, 4:02pm UTC](https://community.make.com/t/set-variable-producing-empty-collections-from-http-easybill/72022/4 "2025-03-02T16:02:58Z")
tried now “Set variable”, “iterartor” and even changing the http modul from json to html but I am still not able to pull a single data point into the next module. Maybe it is a general issue and I should rebuild it in a new scenario from scratch
---
### Author:  [@samliew](https://community.make.com/u/samliew)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2025, 7:35am UTC](https://community.make.com/t/set-variable-producing-empty-collections-from-http-easybill/72022/5 "2025-03-03T07:35:53Z")
If you need further assistance, please provide the following:
Please provide the text (not screenshot) for **output** bundles of module [15] by running the scenario (you can also get this without re-running your scenario from the [History tab](https://www.make.com/en/help/scenarios/scenario-execution-history)).
Click on the white speech bubbles on the top-right of each module and select “Download input/output bundles”.
### A. Upload as a Text File
Save each bundle contents in a plain text editor (without formatting) as a `bundle.txt` file.
You can upload the file here by clicking on this button:
### B. Insert as Formatted Code Block
If you are unable to upload files on this forum, alternatively you can paste the formatted bundles.
These are the two ways to format text so that it won’t be modified by the forum:
- **Method 1: Type code block manually**
- **Method 2. Highlight and click the format button in the editor**
Providing the input/output bundles will allow others to replicate what is going on in the scenario, especially if there are complex data structures (nested arrays and collections) or if external services are involved.
This will allow others to better assist you. Thanks!
— @samliew
P.S.: Investing some effort into the [Make Academy](https://academy.make.com) will save you lots of time and frustration using Make.
---
### Author:  [@Till\_Vienna](https://community.make.com/u/Till_Vienna)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2025, 11:52am UTC](https://community.make.com/t/set-variable-producing-empty-collections-from-http-easybill/72022/6 "2025-03-03T11:52:40Z")
[output easybill.txt](https://community.make.com/uploads/short-url/dGdoU0jRCTFf40IRzh84wYBOAbC.txt) (29.7 KB)
here is what the output looks like. I now switched to the easybill module for “search customers” directly.
and this is what choices I have when I want to select a variable value for the “set variable”
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### Author:  [@Till\_Vienna](https://community.make.com/u/Till_Vienna)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2025, 12:03pm UTC](https://community.make.com/t/set-variable-producing-empty-collections-from-http-easybill/72022/7 "2025-03-03T12:03:24Z")
[output HTTP.txt](https://community.make.com/uploads/short-url/bBeJXEB2MIB32Acsho80QsxqDF8.txt) (52.7 KB)
and here the output if I use the HTTP get function
and what it looks like if I try to set the variable value in the set variable module
---
### Author:  [@Make\_Bot](https://community.make.com/u/Make_Bot)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2025, 11:12am UTC](https://community.make.com/t/set-variable-producing-empty-collections-from-http-easybill/72022/8 "2025-06-01T11:12:30Z")