A function takes zero or more parameters, performs some calculation, and then returns a single value.
A wide range of functions are available to help you perform different tasks – these are listed in the table below.
In addition, two specific functions, Data(name) and System(name) are also available, which return source table data and system metadata respectively — these are described [page here]
Eightwire is generally case-insensitive. This means that you can write your expressions in uppercase, lowercase, or any combination, provided you spell things correctly.
When providing function parameters for comparison/searching type activities, these will work no matter what their case, provided they are otherwise an exact match – pay attention to any spaces or other punctuation, these count when searching or comparing things.
| Property | Expression | Description |
|---|---|---|
String | Find(value, before, after) | Return the text in value between before and after.
For example, the following expression returns " quick ":
Find("The quick brown fox","The ", "Brown") |
String | First(value, length) | Return the first length characters from value.
For example, the following expression returns "The qui":
First("The quick brown fox", 7) |
String | Last(value, length) | Returns the last length characters from value.
For example, the following expression returns "own fox":
Last("The quick brown fox", 7) |
String | FirstFilled(value [,.., value]) | Returns the first value parameter that is not empty, not null and not encoded-null (chr(0)). This function takes one or more parameters. The left-most parameter is checked first, then the next, and so on, until one is found that is not blank and this value is returned. If no non-blank parameters are found, an empty string is returned ("").
For example, the following expression returns "fox":
FirstFilled("", "", "", "Fox", "") |
String | Lowercase(value) | Returns value as lowercase text.
For example, the following expression returns "brown fox":
Lowercase("Brown Fox") |
String | IndexOf(value, find) | Returns the left-most character index of find within value. If find does not occur as a substring of value then -1 is returned. Character indexes are 0-based.
For example, the following expression returns 1:
IndexOf("Fog Dog Log", "og") |
String | LastIndexOf(value, find) | Returns the right-most character index of find within value. If find does not occur as a substring of value then -1 is returned. Character indexes are 0-based.
For example, the following expression returns 9:
LastIndexOf("Fog Dog Log", "og") |
String | PadLeft(value, length)
PadLeft(value, length, padding) | Returns value, right-aligned, padded with the padding character, resulting in text length characters long. If padding is not provided, the result will be padded with whitespace.
For example, the following expression returns "--Fox":
PadLeft("Fox", 5, "-") |
String | PadRight(value, length)
PadRight(value, length, padding) | Returns value, left-aligned, padded with the padding character, resulting in text length characters long. If padding is not provided, the result will be padded with whitespace.
For example, the following expression returns "Fox--":
PadRight("Fox", 5, "-") |
String | Replace(value, find, replace) | Finds all occurrences of find in value and replaces them with replace, returning the resulting text.
For example, the following expression returns "The slow fox":
Replace("The quick fox", "quick", "slow") |
String | SubString(value, start)
SubString(value, start, length) | Returns length characters in value, starting from character position start, which is 0-based. If length is not provided, the remainder of the text is returned after start.
For example, the following expression returns "ui":
SubString("The quick fox", 5, 2) |
String | Token(value, index)
Token(value, index, separator) | Splits value into multiple tokens, using the separator character (or whitespace if not provided), then returns the index token (0-based).
For example, the following expression returns "brown":
Token("The quick brown fox", 2) |
String | FirstToken(value)
FirstToken(value, separator) | Splits value into multiple tokens, using the separator character (or whitespace if not provided), then returns the first (left-most) token.
For example, the following expression returns "The":
FirstToken("The quick brown fox") |
String | LastToken(value)
LastToken(value, separator) | Splits value into multiple tokens, using the separator character (or whitespace if not provided), then returns the last (right-most) token.
For example, the following expression returns "fox":
LastToken("The quick brown fox") |
String | Trim(value) | Returns value with any leading and trailing whitespace removed.
For example, the following expression returns "fox":
Trim(" fox ") |
String | TrimLeft(value) | Returns value with any leading whitespace removed.
For example, the following expression returns "fox ":
TrimLeft(" fox ") |
String | TrimRight(value) | Returns value with any trailing whitespace removed.
For example, the following expression returns "fox":
TrimRight(" fox ") |
String | Uppercase(value) | Returns value as uppercase text.
For example, the following expression returns "BROWN FOX":
Uppercase("Brown Fox") |
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| Property | Expression | Description |
|---|---|---|
Miscellaneous | Length(value) | Converts value into text and returns the number of characters it contains, including whitespace.
For example, the following expression returns 19:
Length("The Quick Brown Fox") |