String transform functions
Summarize
Summary of String Transform Functions
String transform functions in Flow Designer are designed to reformat or perform calculations on string data. These functions require a string input data pill, and using the correct data type is crucial; otherwise, the original input value will be returned without transformation.
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Key Features
- Convert String to Number: Transforms a string into a numeric value.
- Contains: Checks if a string contains a specific sequence of characters.
- Does Not Contain: Validates if a string does not include a given character sequence.
- Ends With: Determines if a string ends with a specific sequence of characters.
- First Character: Retrieves the first character of the input string.
- Last Character: Returns the last character of the input string.
- Replace String: Replaces substrings based on a provided regular expression and replacement string.
- Size: Calculates the total number of characters in a string.
- Split: Divides the input string into an array based on a specified separator.
- Starts With: Checks if a string starts with a specific sequence of characters.
- Substring: Extracts a substring based on provided start and end indices.
- To Lower Case: Converts all characters in a string to lowercase.
- To Proper Case: Capitalizes the first letter of each word in the string.
- To Upper Case: Converts all characters in a string to uppercase.
- Trim: Removes whitespace from the beginning and end of a string.
Key Outcomes
By utilizing these string transform functions, ServiceNow customers can effectively manipulate string data within their workflows. This allows for more dynamic data handling and enhances automation processes, ensuring that string data is processed accurately and according to business requirements.
Use string transform functions to reformat or perform calculations on String data pills.
String transform functions require a String input data pill. Make sure to use the correct input data pill type when applying string transform functions. If a string transform function is applied to an improper data type, the data is not transformed at runtime and the input value is returned instead. For more information on confirming your flow runtime values, see Test a flow.
Convert String to Number
Converts a string into a number.
| Input data pill | Output data pill |
|---|---|
| String | Number - Number converted from a string. |
- Input:
“500” - Output:
500
Contains
Returns true when the input string contains a given sequence of characters.
| Input data pill | Parameters | Output data pill |
|---|---|---|
| String | Characters to search for. | Boolean indicating whether a sequence of characters exists in the input string |
- Input:
Cheese Pizza - Parameter:
Cheese - Output:
true
Does not Contain
Returns true when the input string does not contain a given sequence of characters.
| Input data pill | Parameters | Output data pill |
|---|---|---|
| String | Characters to search for. | Boolean indicating whether a sequence of characters does not exist in the input string |
- Input:
Cheese Pizza - Parameter:
Joey - Output:
true
Ends With
Returns true when the input string ends with a given sequence of characters.
| Input data pill | Parameters | Output data pill |
|---|---|---|
| String | Characters to search for. | Boolean indicating whether the input string ends with the given sequence of characters |
- Input:
Cheese Pizza - Parameter:
Pizza - Output:
true
First Character
Returns the first character of the input String.
| Input data pill | Output data pill |
|---|---|
| String | String - Transformed String as the first character of the input String |
- Input:
Madrid - Output:
M
In this example, the flow triggers when a User [sys_user] record is created. The flow then updates the City field for the User [sys_user] record with a code that is represented as the first character of the city's name.
Last Character
Returns the last character of the input String.
| Input data pill | Output data pill |
|---|---|
| String | String - Transformed String as the last character of the input String |
- Input:
Madrid - Output:
d
Replace String
Returns a replaced string from the input string based on the provided regular expression (regex) and replacement string. Use the JavaScript regular expression format.
| Input data pill | Parameters | Output data pill |
|---|---|---|
| String |
|
Resulting string after replacement with given parameters |
- Input:
"Example input string." - Parameters:
- Regex:
\" - Replacement string:
\\\"
- Regex:
- Output:
\"Example input string.\"
Size
Returns the total number of characters in the input String.
| Input data pill | Output data pill |
|---|---|
| String | Integer |
- Input:
Example input string. - Output:
21
Split
Returns an Array.String based on a provided Separator that splits the input String. If the Separator field is left blank, the transformation is ignored and the system returns the input String. If entering any data type other than a String as the Separator, the system converts the provided value to a String.
| Input data pill | Parameters | Output data pill |
|---|---|---|
| String | Separator - Enter a delimiter that specifies where the input String should be split. If left blank, the input String is not transformed at runtime. | Array.String - An array of substrings from the input String |
- Input:
Example, input, string. - Separator:
, - Output:
["Example", "input", "string."]
Starts With
Returns true when the input string starts with a given sequence of characters.
| Input data pill | Parameters | Output data pill |
|---|---|---|
| String | Characters to search for. | Boolean indicating whether the input string starts with the given sequence of characters |
- Input:
Cheese Pizza - Parameter:
Chees - Output:
true
Substring
Returns a substring from the input String that is based on the provided Start Index and End Index. Input String index starts at 0.
| Input data pill | Parameters | Output data pill |
|---|---|---|
| String |
|
String - Transformed String as a substring of the input String |
- Input:
Example input string - Start Index:
3 - End Index:
6 - Output:
mple
To Lower Case
Converts the input String to all lowercase characters.
| Input data pill | Output data pill |
|---|---|
| String | String in all lowercase characters |
- Input:
ExamPle inpuT stRing - Output:
example input string
To Proper Case
Changes the case of words in the input string. Capitalizes the first letter of each word and makes the remaining letters in the word lower case. A word is considered any string separated by a space, hyphen, backslash, or forward slash character. The transform function always evaluates words from left-to-right to determine the first letter.
| Input data pill | Output data pill |
|---|---|
| String | String in proper case |
- Input:
exAMPle-input string/TEXT - Output:
Example-Input String/Text
To Upper Case
Converts the input String to all uppercase characters.
| Input data pill | Output data pill |
|---|---|
| String | String in all uppercase characters |
- Input:
ExamPle inpuT stRing - Output:
EXAMPLE INPUT STRING
Trim
Removes white space from the beginning and end of the input String. Does not remove white space within the input String.
| Input data pill | Output data pill |
|---|---|
| String | String - Transformed String with trimmed white space |
- Input:
SQL Server APAC 1 - Output:
SQL Server APAC 1
In this example, the action makes a REST call to a third-party system and GETs a response body containing data about a server. Then, the Trim transform function removes any unwanted white space before adding the server's name to a new record in the Server [cmdb_ci_server] table.