Unable to split parm in email script

[dauger]

Hello devs!

I am having trouble with parm2 in an email script I am writing.

var parm = event.parm2;
var splitParm = parm.split('~');

Using that code I had thought splitParm would be delimited by ~ but when I print splitParm the data is delimited by ;

Am I going about this the wrong way? How can I have parm2 use ~ as a delimiter?

Let me know if there's any other information needed.

[dauger]

Hey @Tanushree Maiti 

Here's the script:

var parm = event.parm2;
var splitParm = parm.split('~');

And here is how I'm printing:

template.print("START TEST<br>");
template.print("parm: " + parm + "<br>");
template.print("splitParm: " + splitParm);
template.print("<br>END TEST<br>");

And the output:

START TEST

parm: Other; Data Center Engineering Services; $300000.00; 115.02; 5 year contract (Note, *** would like a full 5 year term, without the restrictions imposed on C001175); Facilities Management; This procurement is intended to replace C001175. The term of C001175 was for 5 years, expiring on 6/5/2029. However, *** required language in the contract limiting the period that new work can be assigned to Sigma7 to only three years, which will be reached on 6/5/2027.; ; ; 3050389; 12751; 55252; 10600; 51092; *** requires engineering services related to data center facility maintenance, including disaster recovery planning; performing mechanical and electrical reviews; assisting with the implementation of a branch circuiting management system process; assisting *** with planning for future growth; creating an accurate infrastructure capacity profile; and providing new or updating existing engineering/architectural site drawings and technical documents. These services are necessary to ensure our Data Center continues to operate as a Tier III facility.; Colin ***** - 03/10/2026 03:07 PM; Pete * ******* - 03/10/2026 03:08 PM; Request for Qualifications (RFQual); Kellie * **********, Patrick ******, Peter * *****, Sara * ******; Sara * ******; 2027-06-07; Peter *****; Peter *****; Continuing; Lack of Expertise; C001175; undefined; ; ;

splitParm: Other; Data Center Engineering Services; $300000.00; 115.02; 5 year contract (Note, *** would like a full 5 year term, without the restrictions imposed on C001175); Facilities Management; This procurement is intended to replace C001175. The term of C001175 was for 5 years, expiring on 6/5/2029. However, *** required language in the contract limiting the period that new work can be assigned to Sigma7 to only three years, which will be reached on 6/5/2027.; ; ; 3050389; 12751; 55252; 10600; 51092; *** requires engineering services related to data center facility maintenance, including disaster recovery planning; performing mechanical and electrical reviews; assisting with the implementation of a branch circuiting management system process; assisting *** with planning for future growth; creating an accurate infrastructure capacity profile; and providing new or updating existing engineering/architectural site drawings and technical documents. These services are necessary to ensure our Data Center continues to operate as a Tier III facility.; Colin ***** - 03/10/2026 03:07 PM; Pete * ******* - 03/10/2026 03:08 PM; Request for Qualifications (RFQual); Kellie * **********, Patrick ******, Peter * *****, Sara * ******; Sara * ******; 2027-06-07; Peter *****; Peter *****; Continuing; Lack of Expertise; C001175; undefined; ; ;

END TEST

parm and splitParm are identical, from what I can tell.

Based on what @Juhi Poddar said I know that parm.split('~') won't work since parm2 is delimited by ;

Any info on how to have parm2 be delimited by ~ would be helpful! Since my main issue is how the data contains a paragraph where a user used semi-colons to separate thoughts, but in so doing made the delimiting give incorrect data to fields in an email notification.

[Juhi Poddar]

@dauger 

It looks like your parm2 value is actually delimited by ;. Since the string does not contain ~, split("~") will not break the string.

Why don’t you try using:

var splitParm = parm.split(';');

This should split the values correctly based on the delimiter present in your data.

Hope this helps!

Thank You
Juhi Poddar

[Tanushree Maiti]

Hi @dauger ,

In JavaScript split()  is a method that divides a string into an array of substrings using a character (it could be special char) as the separator.

Here Parm is your string and it is NOT having ANY  '~' char separator. 

Either in param2  input source , you replace ';' by '~'

OR  You change your separator  

       from: 

var splitParm = parm.split('~');

To 

var splitParm = parm.split(';');

It will work.

[dauger]

@Juhi Poddar 

Thank you for your responses!

My issue is that a user used semi-colons in a field as parts of a sentence, thereby delimiting by semi-colons would throw off the rest of data as it's placed into an email.

Given what I've learned from folks on here, I believe that the best solution would be to change how parm2 is being populated before my script attempts to use it.

@Tanushree Maiti 

Any idea how to change the parm2 input source?

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@Tanushree Maiti wrote:

Either in param2  input source , you replace ';' by '~'

---

[Tanushree Maiti]

SO @dauger 

In the input source where you need the splits you can try with a special char which we generally do not use like '#'  etc.