Text Examples

In the sections below, the calculated attribute text functions are grouped by purpose and are demonstrated in simple terms using a variety of value templates:

  • Escape Functions can be used to allow for special characters during text manipulation.
  • Identify Functions can be used to display the defined data.
  • Modify Functions can be used to modify defined data.
  • Regular Expression Functions can be used to search and modify text based on a defined template.
  • Representative Text Functions can be used to produce an alternative value for the defined text.
  • Test Functions can be used to perform a test and return a result.

For function syntax information and more detailed use cases, refer to the Text Functions documentation here.

Escape Functions

These functions can be used to allow for special characters during text manipulation.

The examples in the following table do not require specific object data to produce the defined result. Copy and paste any of the Value Template text below into the Function Editor, select any object, and click the Evaluate button to display the defined Result.

Value Template

Result

Notes

 
escapemerge(';', '/', "Red", "Orange; Blue", "Violet")

Red;Orange/; Blue;Violet

Write semicolon (;) (split character) after each element and include slash (/) (escape character) when split character is found in text.

 
escapesplit(';', '/', 'Red;Orange/; Blue;Violet')

RedOrange; BlueViolet

Write elements without semicolon (;) (split character) unless it is escaped with a slash (/) (escape character).

Identify Functions

These functions can be used to display the defined data.

The examples in the following table do not require specific object data to produce the defined result. Copy and paste any of the Value Template text below into the Function Editor, select any object, and click the Evaluate button to display the defined Result.

Value Template

Result

Notes

 
left('hello')

h

1 character from left 

left('hello',3)

hel

3 characters from left

 
right('hello')

o

1 character from right

 
right('hello', 3)

llo

3 characters from right

 
mid('hello',2,3)

ell

3 characters starting at character 2

 
len('hello')

5

number of characters in string

Modify Functions

These functions can be used to modify defined data.

The examples in the following table do not require specific object data to produce the defined result. Copy and paste any of the Value Template text below into the Function Editor, select any object, and click the Evaluate button to display the defined Result.

Value Template

Result

Notes

 
concatenate("hello", "hallo")

hellohallo

join multiple text strings into a single text string

 
trim('   hello   ')

hello

remove spaces before and after text

 
upper('hello')

HELLO

convert to uppercase letters

 
lower('HELLO')

hello

convert to lowercase letters

 
proper("hello, are you john's son?")

Hello, Are You John'S Son?

capitalize the first letter of each word, including capitalization after punctuation

 
firstnamefirst("Johnson, John S.")

John S. Johnson

transpose words using comma as separator

 
firstnamefirst("Joe Dalton")

Joe Dalton

transpose words using comma as separator

 
replace('hello',2,3,'el')

helo

insert 'el' in place of 3 characters, starting at character 2

 
substitute('hellohellohello', 'ell', 'al')

halohalohalo

update all instances of 'ell' with 'al'

 
substitute('hellohellohello', 'ell', 'al', 2)

hellohalohello

update only instance 2 of 'ell' with 'al'

Formatting Text

The example calculated attributes below use an object with the attribute values defined in the following table.

Attribute>

height

width

length

Product1

50 cm

135 cm

75 cm

Product2

50 cm

 

75 cm

Note: Text used for 'attribute-id' and 'unit-id' is case-sensitive.

After creating the data above, copy and paste any of the Value Template text below into the Function Editor, select the object with the defined data, and click the Evaluate button to display the Result.

Value Template

Object

Result

Notes

 
concatenate(
prodval('height'),
prodval('width'),
prodval('length'))

Product1

5013575

 

Concatenating only the values excludes the unit information and results in an unformatted number.

 

 
concatenate(
prodvalsimple('height','unece.unit.CMT'),' H x ', 
prodvalsimple('width','unece.unit.CMT'),' W x ',
prodvalsimple('length','unece.unit.CMT'),' L')

Product1

50 cm H x 135 cm W x 75 cm L

Static text strings provide a typical display for dimension information.

 

 
list(listconcatenate(
prodval("height"),
prodval("width"),
prodval("length")),'*')

Product2

50*75

Since the width value is empty, this needs to be concatenated without an extra separator '*' so the LISTCONCATENATE and LIST functions are used.

Alternatively, the IF function can be used to check whether a value is empty or not before concatenating, but would require additional code to check for each concatenating value.

The example calculated attributes below use an object with the attribute values defined in the following table.

Attribute>

prodname

Product3

ACME-BP-1001 Super XBP

Note: Text used for 'attribute-id' is case-sensitive.

After creating the data above, copy and paste any of the Value Template text below into the Function Editor, select the object with the defined data, and click the Evaluate button to display the Result.

Value Template

Object

Result

Notes

 
replace(prodval('prodname'),
6,2,'Boardroom Projector Series')

Product3

ACME-Boardroom Projector Series-1001 Super XBP

 

Update the first occurrence of BP while leaving the second instance untouched.

Note: If the position (6) or length (2) to be replaced was miscounted, whatever text is found at the location will be replaced.

 
substitute(prodval('prodname'),
'-BP-',' Boardroom Projector Series ')

Product3

ACME Boardroom Projector Series 1001 Super XBP

Update all occurrences of -BP-, so that the second instance of BP is not changed.

 

 
substitute(prodval('prodname'),
'BP','Boardroom Projector Series')

Product3

ACME-Boardroom Projector Series-1001 Super XBoardroom Projector Series

Update all occurrences of BP.

 
substitute(prodval('prodname'),
'BP','Boardroom Projector Series',1)

Product3

ACME-Boardroom Projector Series-1001 Super XBP

Update only the first occurrence of BP.

Regular Expression Functions

These functions can be used to search and modify text based on a defined template.

For more information on creating regular expressions, refer to the Regular Expression documentation here.

The examples in the following table do not require specific object data to produce the defined result. Copy and paste any of the Value Template text below into the Function Editor, select any object, and click the Evaluate button to display the defined Result.

Value Template

Result

Notes

 
regexpsearch('e.*he', 'hellohello')

2

2 is the start point for 'ellohe' as a case sensitive match for the regexp

 
regexpsearch('[ABC]\\d', 'HELLOHA2MSTER')

7

7 is the start point for 'A' + any digit as a case sensitive match for the regexp. [ ] indicates only one of the enclosed letters is required. \\d indicates a digit.

 
regexpsearchi('[efg]|[ojk]', 'HELLOHELLO')

2

2 is the start point for 'E' as a case insensitive match for the regexp looking for either 'e, f, g' or 'o, j, k'. [ ] indicates only one of the enclosed letters is required. | indicates 'or.'

 
regexpsearchi('[abc]|[ojk]', 'HELLOHELLO', 3)

5

Searching starting at position 3, 5 is the start point for 'O' as a case insensitive match for the regexp looking for either 'a, b, c' or 'o, j, k'. [ ] indicates only one of the enclosed letters is required. | indicates 'or.'

 
regexpsubstitute("kat;abe", "(.*);(.*)", "$2$1")

abekat

Save all characters before the semicolon in Group 1, save all characters after the semicolon in Group 2; display Group 2 then Group 1, without any space or the semicolon

 
regexpsubstitute("kat  abe", "(\\w*)\\s*(\\w*)", "$2$1")

abekat

Find first word (and save it in Group 1) followed by a space, then find another word (and save it in Group 2), display Group 2 then Group 1 without the space. \\w indicates a word and \\s indicates a space.

Representative Text Functions

These functions can be used to produce an alternative value for the defined text.

The examples in the following table do not require specific object data to produce the defined result. Copy and paste any of the Value Template text below into the Function Editor, select any object, and click the Evaluate button to display the defined Result.

Value Template

Result

 
soundex("hello")

H400

 
metaphone3("Joel Dalton")

JLTLTN

 
metaphone3alternate("Joel Dalton")

ALTLTN

Test Functions

The functions can be used to perform a test and return a result.

The examples in the following table do not require specific object data to produce the defined result. Copy and paste any of the Value Template text below into the Function Editor, select any object, and click the Evaluate button to display the defined Result.

Value Template

Result

Notes

 
exact("hello", "hallo")

0

Exact match not found

 
exact("hello", "hello")

1

Exact match is found

 
if (exact('hello','you'), 'true', 'false')

false

Exact match is not found so the second result is returned

 
find('llo','hellohello')

3

The position of the first occurrence

 
find('llo','hellohello', 4)

8

The position of the first occurrence found after character 4

 
find('lllo','hellohello')

N/A

Match is not found

Testing Text

The example calculated attributes below use an object with the attribute values defined in the following table.

Attribute>

PowerCordIncluded

Product4

Yes

Product5

yes

After creating the data above, copy and paste any of the Value Template text below into the Function Editor, select the object with the defined data, and click the Evaluate button to display the Result.

Value Template

Object

Result

 
if(exact(prodval('PowerCordIncluded'),'Yes'),
'A 2 meter power cord is included.',
'Power cord is not included.')

Product4

Product5

A 2 meter power cord is included.

Power cord is not included.