Workflow String Functions
In Designer Cloud, a string function performs operations on text data. Use a string function to cleanse data, convert data to a different format or case, compute metrics about the data, or perform other manipulations. A string function can only be used with String data types.
Contains
Contains(String, Target, CaseInsensitive=1): Searches for the occurrence of a particular string within a string. Returns True if (String) contains (Target), else returns False.
Example
Contains('123ABC', 'ABC')returns True.
Contains('123ABC', 'abc')returns True.
Contains('123ABC', 'abc', 0)returns False.
CountWords
CountWords(string): Returns the count of words in the specified string. Words are defined by characters separated by a space.
Example
CountWords("Basic Variables Households")returns 3.
CountWords("Basic Variables Age:Female (Pop)Age 1")returns 5.
EndsWith
EndsWith(String, Target, CaseInsensitive=1): Checks if a string ends with a particular string. Returns True if (String) ends with (Target), else returns False. It defaults to case insensitive.
Example
EndsWith('123ABC', 'ABC')returns True.
EndsWith('123ABC', 'abc')returns True.
EndsWith('123ABC', 'abc', 0)returns False.
FindString
The FindString function is case sensitive.
FindString(String,Target): Searches for the occurrence of a particular string (Target) within another string (String) and returns the numeric position of its occurrence in the string.
Returns the 0-based index of the first occurrence of (Target) in (String). Returns -1 if no occurrence.
Example
FindString([Name], "John")returns 0 when the string starts with John and returns -1 when the string does not.
IF (FINDSTRING([Name], "John") =0) THEN "John Smith" ELSE "Other" ENDIF returns John Smith when the string contains John and returns Other when the string does not.
GetWord
GetWord(string, n): Returns the Nth (0-based) word in the string. Words are defined as a collection of characters separated by a space. 0-based index, means the first word is at the 0 position.
Example
GetWord("Basic Variables Households", 0)returns "Basic".
GetWord("Basic Variables Households", 1)returns "Variables".
Left
Left(String, len): Returns the first (len) characters of the string (String). If len is less than 0 or greater than the length of String, String remains unchanged.
Example
Left("92688", 3)returns a value of "926".
Length
Length(String): Returns the length of the string (String).
Example
Length("92688")returns a value of 5.
LowerCase
LowerCase(String): Converts a string to lower case.
Example
LowerCase("M1P 1G6")returns "m1p 1g6".
PadLeft
PadLeft (String, len, char): Pads the string to the left with the specified character to the specified length. If the padding (char) is more than one character long, only the first character is used.
Example
PadLeft("M", 4, "x")returns "xxxM".
PadRight
PadRight (String, len, char): Pads the string to the right with the specified character to the specified length. If the padding (char) is more than one character long, only the first character is used.
Example
PadRight("M", 4, "x")returns "Mxxx".
REGEX_Match
REGEX_Match(String,pattern,icase): Searches a string for an occurrence of a regular expression.
Tells if the string matches the pattern from the first character to the end.
To look for something that does not necessarily start at the beginning of the string, start the pattern with '.*'.
To look for something that does not necessarily go all the way to the end of the string, end the pattern with '.*'.
Consult the Boost Regex Perl Regular Expression Syntax page for more information on how to properly construct a regular expression.
icase is an optional parameter. When specified, the case must match. By default icase=1 meaning ignore case. If set to 0, the case must match.
Example
REGEX_Match("123-45-6789", "\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}")returns -1 (True).
REGEX_Replace
REGEX_Replace(String, pattern, replace, icase): Returns the string resulting from the RegEx find pattern and replace string.
The replace parameter can be either a specified value as shown below or a marked group, like "$1". Make sure that marked groups are wrapped in double quotes.
icase is an optional parameter. When specified, the case must match.
By default icase=1, which means ignore case.
If set to 0, the case must match.
Example
REGEX_Replace("Don't reveal your Social Security number, 123-45-6789","\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}", "CLASSIFIED") returns Don't reveal your Social Security number, CLASSIFIED.
REGEX_Replace("Change all domain names from alteryx@Alteryx.com","@.*\.", "@extendthereach.") returns Change all domain names from alteryx@extendthereach.com.
REGEX_Replace("25 test","(\d+)\s.*","$1") returns 25.
ReverseString
ReverseString(String): Reverses all the characters in the string.
Example
ReverseString("abcdefb") returns "bfedcba".
Replace
Replace(String, Target, Replacement): Returns the string (String) after replacing each occurrence of the String (Target) with the String (Replacement).
Example
Replace("Good judgment comes from experience", "experience", "awareness")returns "Good judgement comes from awareness"
ReplaceChar
ReplaceChar(String, y, z): Returns the string (String) after replacing each occurrence of the character (y) with the character (z). If the replacement character (z) is a string with more than one character, only the first character is used. If (z) is empty, each character (String) that matches any character in (y) is simply removed.
Example
ReplaceChar("abcdefb", "b", "_")returns "a_cdef_".
ReplaceChar("@a#b%c", "@,#,%", "_")returns "_a_b_c".
ReplaceFirst
ReplaceFirst(String, Target, Replacement): Returns the string (String) after replacing the first occurrence of the string (Target) with the string (Replacement).
Example
ReplaceFirst("abcdefb", "b", "_")returns "a_cdefb".
Right
Right(String, len): Returns the last (len) characters of the string. If len is less than 0 or greater than the length of String, the string remains unchanged.
Example
Right("92688", 3)returns a value of "688".
StartsWith
StartsWith(String, Target, CaseInsensitive=1): Checks if a string starts with a particular string. Returns True if String starts with a particular string Target, else returns False.
Example
StartsWith('ABC123', 'ABC')returns True.
StartsWith('ABC123', 'abc')returns True.
StartsWith('ABC123', 'abc', 0)returns False.
Substring
Substring(String, start, length): Returns the substring of (String) starting at (start), stopping after (length), if provided.
Example
Substring("949-222-4356", 4, 8)returns "222-4356".
Substring("949-222-4356", 4, 6)returns "222-43".
Substring("949-222-4356", 4)returns "222-4356".
TitleCase
TitleCase(String): Converts a string to title case.
Example
TitleCase("john smith")returns "John Smith".
Trim
Trim(String, y): Removes the character(s) in the string (y) from the ends of the string (String). Y is optional and defaults to trimming white space. Notice in the TRIM function examples the specified characters are trimmed. It doesn't matter what order the characters are in.
Example
Trim("!see instructions!!!", "!")returns "see instructions".
Trim(" Test123 ")returns "Test123".
TrimLeft
TrimLeft(String, y): Removes character in the string (y) from the beginning of the string (String). Y is optional and defaults to trimming white space.
Example
TrimLeft("** special invitation ", " *") returns "special invitation ".
TrimRight
TrimRight(String, y): Removes character in the string (y) from the end of the string (String). Y is optional and defaults to trimming white space.
Example
TrimRight("John Smith ")returns "John Smith".
TrimRight("John Smith**","*")returns "John Smith".
While you might be passing in a string of characters to trim, the TRIM functions do not respect the order of the characters; it treats the string as a "list." Therefore it will trim ALL of the characters in the list. If you are looking to replace a string, use a REPLACE function or a REGEX function in your expression.
Uppercase
Uppercase(String): Converts a string to upper case.
Example
Uppercase("John Smith")returns "JOHN SMITH".