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CONCATENATE

Use the '+' (plus) operator to concatenate strings or a combination of strings and other type values to produce a single string value.

Syntax

string1 + string2 + ... + value1 + ...
  • string1 - The first string that you want to concatenate.
  • string2 - The second string that you want to concatenate.
  • value1 - A value of some type of number, date or boolean that you want to add to the new string value.

Return type

  • string

Examples


  • 12 + " kilometers" = "12 kilometers"
  • "This statement is " + TRUE + "." = "This statement is true."
  • "I was born on " + Me.birthDateAndTime + "."  (Me.birthDateAndTime = 01-12-1970 23:00:45) = "I was born on Tue Dec 01 23:00:45 CET 1970."

There exists a STR_CONCAT (string, string) function in the expression language. As it can only concatenate 2 strings, and is much longer in typing, we advise to use above way for concatenating strings.

 

JOIN

This function joins a series of values into one string, separated with a character of your choice.

Syntax

JOIN( argument1 , argument2 , ... , separator )
  • argument1, argument2 - Attributes or expressions that contain the values that will be joint to a single string. JOIN works for all base types, even multivalued.
  • separator - A string value that will be used as separator symbol.

Return type

  • string
an UNKNOWN value will be represented as an empty entry in the result string.

The CONCAT function is identical to the JOIN function.

Examples

Suppose you have a model containing the following attributes.

 

AttributeBasetypeValue
Person.namestring"John"
Person.date_of_birthdate01-01-1995
Person.family_namestring 

 

  • JOIN( Person.name , Person.date_of_birth , ";" ) = "John;Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 CET 1995"
  • JOIN( Person.name , Person.name , "@" ) = "John@John"
  • JOIN( Person.name , Person.family_name , YEARS BETWEEN Person.date_of_birth AND DATE(2015,01,01) , ";" ) = "John;;20"

MATCH

The MATCH function compares a string pattern to another string and returns TRUE if the string exactly matches the pattern, and otherwise FALSE. The MATCH function is case-sensitive.

Syntax

MATCH( pattern , string )
  • pattern - An attribute of base type string or a string value. String must be a valid regular expression. The regular expressions used in several Blueriq Studio functions are common Java 1.4 expressions. For a complete documentation we refer to the online java documentation.
  • string - String value, attribute of base type string or an expression that results in a string value.

Return type

  • boolean

Examples

If the attribute File.name is of base type string and its value is "Thisfile_1.doc" then

  • MATCH( "Thisfile_1.doc" , File.name ) = TRUE
  • MATCH( File.name , "Thisfile_1.doc" ) = TRUE
  • MATCH( " Thisfile_1.doc" , File.name ) = FALSE
  • MATCH( "thisfile_1.doc" , File.name ) = FALSE
  • MATCH( "[A-Z]hisfile_1.doc" , File.name ) = TRUE
  • MATCH( "[a-z]hisfile_1.doc" , File.name ) = FALSE
  • MATCH( "Thisfile_[0-9].doc" , File.name ) = TRUE
  • MATCH( ".............." , File.name ) = TRUE
  • MATCH( ".*" , File.name ) = TRUE
  • MATCH( "**" , "**" ) results in an error message, because "**" is not a valid regular expression

FIND

The FIND function looks for a string pattern within another string and returns the first matching characters. The function is case-sensitive.

Syntax

FIND( pattern , string )
FIND( pattern , string , startIndex )
  • pattern - An attribute of base type string or a string value. String must be a valid regular expression. The regular expressions used in several Blueriq Studio functions are common Java 1.4 expressions. For a complete documentation we refer to the online java documentation.
  • string - An attribute of base type string or an expression that results in a string.
  • startIndex - A positive integer value indicating at which character of the string the search should start (inclusive). This can be either an attribute of base type integer, an expression that results in an integer or a constant integer value. The first character starts at index 0.

Return type

  • string

Examples

If File.name is an attribute of base type string with value "Thisfile_1.doc", then:

  • FIND( "_[1-5]" , File.name ) = "_1"
  • FIND( "File" , File.name ) = UNKNOWN
  • FIND( "el" , "Hello" ) = "el"
  • FIND( "el" , "Hello" , 2 ) = UNKNOWN
  • FIND( "eo" , "Hello" ) = UNKNOWN
  • FIND( "\s[a-zA-Z]+" , "Hello world example" ) = "world"
  • FIND( "\s[a-zA-Z]+" , "Hello world example" , 6 ) = "example"

FIRST

FIRST returns the first character(s) of a string, based on the number of characters you specify.

Syntax

FIRST integer CHARACTERS OF string
FIRST CHARACTER OF string
  • integer - A positive integer value. This can be either an attribute of base type integer, an expression that results in an integer or a constant integer value. FIRST CHARACTER OF can be used to retrieve only the first character of the string.
  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.

Return type

  • string

If you prefer a functional syntax, you can use the STR_FRONT( string, integer ) function. Example: STR_FRONT("Blueriq", 3) = "Blu"

Examples

If File.name is an attribute of base type string with value "Thisfile_1.doc" and the integer attribute File.prefix has value 8 then:

  • FIRST File.prefix CHARACTERS OF File.name = "Thisfile"
  • FIRST CHARACTER OF File.name = "T"
  • FIRST 5 CHARACTERS OF "pieceofcake" = "piece"

LAST

LAST returns the last character(s) of a string, based on the number of characters you specify.

Syntax

LAST integer CHARACTERS OF string
LAST CHARACTER OF string
  • integer - A positive integer value. This can be either an attribute of base type integer, an expression that results in an integer or a constant integer value. LAST CHARACTER OF can be used to retrieve only the last character of the string.
  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.

Return type

  • string

If you prefer a functional syntax, you can use the STR_BACK ( string, integer ) function. Example: STR_BACK("Blueriq", 3) = "riq"

Examples

If File.name is an attribute of base type string with value "Thisfile_1.doc" and the integer attribute File.extension has value 3 then:

  • LAST File.extension CHARACTERS OF File.name = "doc"
  • LAST CHARACTER OF File.name = "c"
  • LAST 4 CHARACTERS OF "pieceofcake" = "cake"

LENGTH

LENGTH returns the length of a string

Syntax

LENGTH ( string )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.

Return type

  • integer

Spaces at the start of the end of the string are counted as well, the string is not trimmed.

Example

  • LENGTH( "Blueriq" ) = 7
  • LENGTH( " Blueriq " ) = 9
  • LENGTH( ? ) = ?

UPPER

UPPER returns a string with all characters in uppercase

Syntax

UPPER ( string )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.

Return type

  • string

Example

  • UPPER( "hello" ) = "HELLO"

  • UPPER( "WORLD" ) = "WORLD"

  • UPPER( "hello world " ) = "HELLO WORLD "

  • UPPER( " hELLo " ) = " HELLO "

  • UPPER( ? ) = ?

LOWER

LOWER returns a string with all characters in lowercase

Syntax

LOWER ( string )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.

Return type

  • string

Example

  • LOWER( "hello" ) = "hello"
  • LOWER( "WORLD" ) = "world"
  • LOWER( "Hello World " ) = "hello world "
  • LOWER( " hELLo " ) = " hello "
  • LOWER( ? ) = ?

CAPITALIZE

CAPITALIZE returns a string with the first character uppercased

Syntax

CAPITALIZE ( string )
CAPITALIZE ( string, lowerTheRest )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.
  • lowerTheRest - An attribute of base type boolean, an expression that results in a boolean or a constant boolean value, indicating that the other characters need to be lowercased. This parameter is optional and if it is not supplied, the other characters are left untouched.

Return type

  • string

Example

  • CAPITALIZE( "hello" ) = "Hello"
  • CAPITALIZE( "WORLD" ) = "WORLD"

  • CAPITALIZE( "hello world " ) = "Hello world "

  • CAPITALIZE( " hELLo " ) = " hELLo "

    The input string is not trimmed, so in this case the first character is a space.

  • CAPITALIZE( "hello" , TRUE ) = "Hello"
  • CAPITALIZE( "WORLD" , TRUE ) = "World"

  • CAPITALIZE( "hello world " , TRUE ) = "Hello world "

  • CAPITALIZE( " hELLo " , TRUE ) = " hello "

    The input string is not trimmed, so in this case the first character is a space.

  • CAPITALIZE( ? ) = ?

TRIM

TRIM strips the leading and trailing spaces from a string 

Syntax

TRIM ( string )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.

Return type

  • string

Example

  • TRIM( "Hello" ) = "Hello"
  • TRIM( "Hello World" ) = "Hello World"
  • TRIM( "   Hello   World   " ) = "Hello   World"
  • TRIM( ? ) = ?

INDEXOF

INDEXOF returns the index of the first occurrence of a specified substring in a string

Syntax

INDEXOF ( string , substring )
INDEXOF ( string , substring , startIndex )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.
  • substring - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.
  • startIndex - A positive integer value indicating at which character the search for the substring should start (inclusive). This can be either an attribute of base type integer, an expression that results in an integer or a constant integer value. The first character starts at index 0.

Return type

  • integer - the index of the first occurrence of the specified substring or -1 if it is not found

Example

  • INDEXOF( "Hello world" , "o" ) = 4
  • INDEXOF( "Hello world" , "o" , 5 ) = 7
  • INDEXOF( "Hello world" , "a" ) =  -1
  • INDEXOF( "Hello world" , "o" , 8 ) =  -1

LASTINDEXOF

LASTINDEXOF returns the index of the last occurrence of a specified substring in a string

Syntax

LASTINDEXOF ( string , substring )
LASTINDEXOF ( string , substring , startIndex )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.
  • substring - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.
  • startIndex - A positive integer value indicating at which character the search for the substring should start (inclusive), searching backwards. This can be either an attribute of base type integer, an expression that results in an integer or a constant integer value.

Return type

  • integer - the index of the last occurrence of the specified substring or -1 if it is not found

Example

  • LASTINDEXOF( "Hello world" , "o" ) = 7
  • LASTINDEXOF( "Hello world" , "o" , 6 ) = 4
  • LASTINDEXOF( "Hello world" , "a" ) =  -1
  • LASTINDEXOF( "Hello world" , "o" , 3 ) =  -1

SUBSTRING

SUBSTRING returns the substring of a given string starting from the index provided and ending at the end index if provided, or the end of the string

Syntax

SUBSTRING ( string , startIndex )
SUBSTRING ( string , startIndex , endIndex )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.
  • startIndex - A positive integer value indicating at which character the substring should start (inclusive). This can be either an attribute of base type integer, an expression that results in an integer or a constant integer value. The first character starts at index 0.
  • endIndex - A positive integer value indicating at which character the substring should end (exclusive). This can be either an attribute of base type integer, an expression that results in an integer or a constant integer value. The endIndex cannot exceed the length of the string and should be larger than the startIndex.

Return type

  • string

Example

  • SUBSTRING( "Hello world" , 1 ) = "ello world"
  • SUBSTRING( "Hello world" , 0 , 1 ) = "H"
  • SUBSTRING( "Hello world" , 1 , 5 ) = "ello"
  • SUBSTRING( "Hello world" , 0 ) = "Hello world"
  • SUBSTRING( "Hello world" , 0 , LENGTH( "Hello world" ) ) = "Hello world"

SUBSTRING-BEFORE

SUBSTRING-BEFORE returns the start of a given string before the first occurrence of substring, or an empty string if substring is not found

Syntax

SUBSTRING-BEFORE ( string , substring )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.
  • substring - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.

Return type

  • string

Example

  • SUBSTRING-BEFORE( "hello:world" , ":" ) = "hello"
  • SUBSTRING-BEFORE( "hello:world:all" , ":" ) = "hello"
  • SUBSTRING-BEFORE( "hello:world" , "h" ) = ""
  • SUBSTRING-BEFORE( "hello:world" , "a" ) = ""

SUBSTRING-AFTER

SUBSTRING-AFTER returns the end of a given string after the first occurrence of substring, or an empty string if substring is not found

Syntax

SUBSTRING-AFTER ( string , substring )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.
  • substring - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.

Return type

  • string

Example

  • SUBSTRING-AFTER( "hello:world" , ":" ) = "world"
  • SUBSTRING-AFTER( "hello:world:all" , ":" ) = "world:all"
  • SUBSTRING-AFTER( "hello:world" , "a" ) = ""

SPLIT

SPLIT returns a multivalue attribute containing every substring that is delimited by the given pattern

Syntax

SPLIT ( string , pattern )

  • string - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.
  • pattern - An attribute of base type string or a string value. String must be a valid regular expression. The regular expressions used in several Blueriq Studio functions are common Java 1.4 expressions. For a complete documentation we refer to the online java documentation.

Return type

  • string (multivalue)

Example

  • SPLIT( "Hello world" , "o" ) =  [ "Hell" , "w" , "rld" ]
  • SPLIT( "Hello world" , "a" ) =  [ "Hello world" ]
  • SPLIT( "Hello" , "o" ) =  [ "Hell" , "" ]
  • SPLIT( "ooo" , "o" ) =  [ "" , "" , "" , "" ]
  • Usage: remove dots from a string in combination with the JOIN function
    JOIN( SPLIT( "H.E.L.L.O" ) , ".") = "HELLO"

REPLACE

The REPLACE function replaces every occurrence of a string pattern within another string with a provided replacement string The function is case-sensitive.

Syntax

REPLACE( pattern , string , replacement )
  • pattern - An attribute of base type string or a string value. String must be a valid regular expression. The regular expressions used in several Blueriq Studio functions are common Java 1.4 expressions. For a complete documentation we refer to the online java documentation.
  • string - An attribute of base type string or an expression that results in a string.
  • replacement - An attribute of base type string or an expression that results in a string.

Return type

  • string. If the pattern is not found, the original string is returned.

Examples

  • REPLACE( ":", "hello:world:example" , " " ) = "hello world example"
  • REPLACE( "o" , "hello world" , "a" ) = "hella warld"
  • REPLACE( "O" , "hello world" , "a" ) = "hello world"
  • REPLACE( "\s" , "hello world example" , "" ) = "helloworldexample"

  • REPLACE( "\d{2}" , "hello1 world22 example333" , "@" ) = "hello1 world@ example@3"

EQUALS

EQUALS compares two strings and returns TRUE if and only if they are equal. This function is case sensitive.

Only use this function if you need a case sensitive comparison of two strings. If you want to compare strings case insensitive, use the '=' operator instead.

 

Syntax

EQUALS ( string1 , string2 )

  • string1 - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.
  • string2 - An attribute of base type string, an expression that results in a string or a constant string value.

Return type

  • boolean

Example

  • EQUALS( "hello" , "hello" ) = TRUE
  • EQUALS( "hello" , "Hello" ) = FALSE

     

    Note that "hello" = "Hello" will return TRUE because it is case insensitive

  • EQUALS( "hello " , "hello" ) = FALSE

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