This page explains how to create custom record fields in your record type with data sync enabled.
One of the benefits of syncing your data into Appian is that you can make changes in your applications faster, and this benefit applies to changes to your data as well. When you enable sync, you can extend your data by transforming and manipulating existing record data into new custom record fields.
Custom record fields allow you to use predefined templates or free-form expressions to easily define how your record data is calculated, simplified, or transformed, then present those values as new fields in your record type.
In the past, if you wanted to transform your data, you'd need to create expression rules to query and manipulate your data, and then reference these rules throughout your applications. Alternatively, you may have transformed this data outside of Appian using complex SQL statements to create database views. Now, you can avoid creating elaborate queries in a database view or in Appian by creating custom record fields.
For example, say you have a Support Case record type that has the record fields dateSubmitted and dateClosed, and you want to know which tickets took longer than 7 days to close. Instead of creating an expression rule or a database view to continuously calculate this value, you can create a custom record field called slaStatus.
Using a low-code template, you can calculate the difference between the ticket's submitted date and its closed date, then display values as On Time when a ticket is open less than 7 days, and Late when a ticket is open longer than 7 days. You can even account for tickets that are still in progress using a display value, so any tickets without a closed date display as In Progress.
Once you create a custom record field, the field is available on the record type and the values are cached in Appian. This allows you to reference custom record fields as quickly and easily as any other record field in the record type–no additional properties or queries necessary. With simple record type field references, you can leverage your custom record fields in grids, reports, user filters, and more.
Back in our example, the Support Case record type can now display the slaStatus field as another column in a read-only grid, and even filter and sort the list by slaStatus. You can also create reports that shows the number of cases by status, or which support engineers close the most cases on time. To learn how to leverage records in your reports, see Configure Charts Using Records or Configure Read-Only Grids.
Custom record fields can be created on any record type that has data sync enabled.
Depending on the template you select, you can either reference record fields in the record type, or related record fields from a one-to-many relationship. References to other existing custom record fields are not currently supported in the custom record field configuration.
Record types with sync enabled can only have 100 fields, and no more than 20 of them can be custom record fields. For example, if your record type has 98 fields, you can only create two custom record fields.
To create a custom record field:
The custom record field will appear in the list of record fields with a calculator icon .
Once you create your custom record field, you can edit or remove the fields by:
Appian provides a series of templates that allow you to create a custom record field using a guided experience. These templates provide an alternative to modifying or rearchitecting your source data to fix even small changes.
Use the following templates to create your custom record fields:
The Groups based on a range template uses a range to organize your numerical data into groups. This template only supports record fields of type Number (Integer) or Number (Decimal).
To use this template, determine the range of values to include in each group. The group name will replace the numerical values in the new custom record field. You must have a minimum of two groups, and the last group will always include any remaining values that were not specifically placed in a group.
For example, let's say you have a record field called price, and you want to create a chart that shows the distribution of prices in your orders.
Using this template, you can create a new custom record field called priceGroup so all prices that are less than or equal to $10 display as Low, prices greater than $10 and less than or equal to $30 display as Medium, and all other prices display as High.
Once you create the custom record field, you can use the record type to build a chart and easily display the count of items by price group.
The Groups based on text values template allows you to organize the text values from a record field into groups. This template only supports record fields of type Text.
To use this template, specify which text values to add to each group. Use the Contains operator to include any record field values that contain a partial match to the specified keyword or keywords, or use the In operator to specify the exact record field values to include in the group.
When you add text values to a group, the group name will replace those values in the new custom record field. You must have a minimum of two groups, and the last group will always include any remaining values that were not specifically placed in a group.
For example, say you have a record field called title that contains all job titles in your organization, and you want to create a pie chart that displays the number of employees per functional area.
Using this template, you could combine all titles that contain the keyword "Software" or "Quality" into a group called Engineers. This means any employees with titles like Associate Software Engineer, Quality Engineer II, or Lead Software Engineer will appear as Engineering in the custom record field. You could create a group for each functional area using this same logic, and include any remaining titles in the Other group.
With your new custom record field, you can now build a pie chart that displays the number of employees per functional area.
The Groups based on a date difference template allows you to calculate the difference between two dates and organize the difference into groups. This template requires two record fields of type Date or Date and Time.
To use this template, you'll first choose a unit of time like Days, Weeks, Months, or Years to calculate the difference between the two dates. The difference is returned as an Integer, which can then be organized into groups. You must have a minimum of two groups, and the last group will always include any remaining values that were not specifically placed in a group.
For example, say you have the record fields dateAssigned and dateClosed and you want to display the number of days it took to close each ticket on your record list. Using this template, you can create a custom record field that calculates the number of days between the ticket's assigned date and closed date. Then, you can organize the differences into groups:
But what if the ticket hasn't been closed? This would make the dateClosed null. To handle a null date, you can specify a Default Value to appear on the custom record field. In this example, we could set the Default Value to In Progress.
Functions that return dynamic values, like today() or now(), are not currently supported in custom record fields. To edit your custom record field, see the list of supported functions.
Now you can easily reference this new custom record field in your record list, and even sort and filter the list by this new field.
The Extract partial dates template allows you to return a particular value from a Date or Date and Time record field.
To use this template, select a Date or Date and Time field, then select the Unit of Time that you want to extract. You can choose to extract the day, month, or year from the field, or calculate the day of the week, the week of the year, or the quarter from a given date.
For example, say you have a Date and Time field called dateSubmitted, but you only need to know the date a ticket was submitted, not the time. You could use this template to create a custom record field called shortDateSubmitted to extract the date from the dateSubmitted field and set the new field to type Date.
Now, you can use this field to display submission dates on your record lists, records, and reports.
The Aggregate related record fields template allows you to aggregate and filter a related record field from a one-to-many relationship. You can use this template when your record type has a one-to-many relationship, or when a related record type has a one-to-many relationship.
To use this template, select a related record and choose an Aggregation Function to calculate the sum, average, count, distinct count, maximum, or minimum of the related record field. If needed, you can also apply one or more filters to your aggregation to determine which values are included in the calculation.
For example, let's say you have a Customer record type that has a one-to-many relationship with the Case record type, and you want to create a report that shows the number of open cases associated with each customer.
On the Customer record type, you can use this template to create a custom record field that calculates the count of Ids from the Case record type that have a status of Open.
Once you create the field, the aggregation will automatically be grouped by the common field shared between the two record types. In this example, that would be the customer Id. You could then reference this field in a KPI or read-only grid to quickly and easily display an aggregations without any additional queries.
In the example above, you are aggregating and filtering on the same related record type (the Case record type). Now, let's look at an example where you aggregate and filter on different related record types.
For example, let's say the Customer record type also has a one-to-many relationship with the Order record type, and you want to create a report that shows, for each customer, how many orders include a clearance item.
In this example, the order item information is on a separate record type called Order Item. Since the Order record type has a relationship with the Order Item record type, you can reference related record fields from the Order Item record type in the custom record field.
To create this custom record field on the Customer record type, you would get the count of Ids from the Order record type, then apply a filter on the isClearance field from the Order Item record type.
Since there is a one-to-many relationship between the Order and Order Item record types, the custom field will count any orders that have at least one clearance item. This at least one filter behavior occurs when there is a one-to-many relationship between where you are aggregating and where you are filtering.
Learn more about "at least one" filter behavior.
When you filter the aggregation by a date or date and time field, you can select a Date Preset as your filter value.
These presets will dynamically filter your data based on the selected time frame. For example, if you select the date preset Today, the filter value will update each day to reflect the correct date. When you use a Date Preset, all date and time values are returned in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
The tables below lists the available date presets for Date or Date and Time related record fields. To ensure you're selecting the correct date preset, review the underlying expression associated with each preset.
You cannot modify the underlying expression of the date preset, nor can you create your own expression in this template. The tables below are for reference only.
| Filter Operator | Available Date Preset | Underlying Expression | Example (If today is September 24, 2021) |
|---|---|---|---|
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Today | today() |
9/24/2021 |
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Yesterday | today()-1 |
9/23/2021 |
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Day Before Yesterday | today() -2 |
9/22/2021 |
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Today Last Week | today() - 7 |
9/17/2021 |
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Today Last Month | date(year(eomonth(today(), -1)), month(eomonth(today(), -1)), day(today())) |
8/24/2021 |
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Today Last Year | edate(today(), -12) |
9/24/2020 |
| Date Range | Week-to-Date (From Monday of the Current Week) | {today() - weekday(today(), 2) + 1, today()} |
{9/20/2021, 9/24/2021} |
| Date Range | Week-to-Date (From Sunday of the Current Week) | {today() - weekday(today(), 1) + 1, today()} |
{9/19/2021, 9/24/2021} |
| Date Range | Previous Week-to-Date (From Monday to Today of the Previous Week) | {todate(today() - 7 - weekday(today(), 2) + 1), today() - 7 } |
{9/13/2021, 9/17/2021} |
| Date Range | Previous Week-to-Date (From Sunday to Today of the Previous Week) | {todate(today() - 7 - weekday(today(), 1) + 1), today() - 7 } |
{9/12/2021, 9/17/2021} |
| Date Range | Month-to-Date | {eomonth(today(),-1) + 1, today()} |
{9/1/2021, 9/24/2021} |
| Date Range | Previous Month-to-Date (From Beginning of Last Month to Today Last Month) | {eomonth(date(year(eomonth(today(), - 1)), month(eomonth(today(), - 1)), day(today())), - 1) + 1, date(year(eomonth(today(), - 1)), month(eomonth(today(), - 1)), day(today()))} |
{8/1/2021, 8/24/2021} |
| Date Range | Month-to-Date Last Year (From Beginning of This Month Last Year to Today Last Year) | {eomonth(today(),-13) + 1, edate(today(), -12)} |
{9/1/2020, 9/24/2020} |
| Date Range | Year-to-Date | {date(year(today()), 1, 1), today()} |
{1/1/2021, 9/24/2021} |
| Date Range | Previous Year-to-Date (From Beginning of Last Year to Today Last Year) | {date(year(today())-1, 1, 1), edate(today(), -12)} |
{1/1/2020, 9/24/2020} |
| Date Range | Beginning of Last Month to Today | {eomonth(today(),-2) + 1, today()} |
{8/1/2021, 9/24/2021} |
| Date Range | Trailing 3 Months | {eomonth(today(),-4) + 1, eomonth(today(),-1)} |
{6/1/2021, 8/31/2021} |
| Date Range | Trailing 6 Months | {eomonth(today(),-7) + 1, eomonth(today(),-1)} |
{3/1/2021, 8/31/2021} |
| Date Range | Trailing 9 Months | {eomonth(today(),-10) + 1, eomonth(today(),-1)} |
{12/1/2020, 8/31/2021} |
| Date Range | Trailing 12 Months | {eomonth(today(),-13) + 1, eomonth(today(),-1)} |
{9/1/2020, 8/31/2021} |
| Date Range | Trailing 18 Months | {eomonth(today(),-19) + 1, eomonth(today(),-1)} |
{3/1/2020, 8/31/2021} |
| Filter Operator | Available Date Preset | Underlying Expression | Example (If today is September 24, 2021 at 2:30 PM GMT) |
|---|---|---|---|
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Today: Current Time | now() |
9/24/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00 |
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Today: Beginning of the Day | todatetime(today()) |
9/24/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00 |
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Yesterday: Current Time That Day | now() - 1 |
9/23/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00 |
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Yesterday: Beginning of the Day | todatetime(today()-1) |
9/23/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00 |
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Day Before Yesterday: Current Time That Day | now() -2 |
9/22/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00 |
=, <>, >, >=, <, <= |
Day Before Yesterday: Beginning of the Day | todatetime(today()-2) |
9/22/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00 |
| Date Range | Today: From Midnight to Current Time | {todatetime(today()), now()} |
{9/24/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/24/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Yesterday: From Midnight to Current Time That Day | {todatetime(today()-1), now()-1} |
{9/23/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/23/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Day Before Yesterday: From Midnight to Current Time That Day | {todatetime(today()-2), now()-2} |
{9/22/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/22/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Week-to-Date (From Monday of the Current Week) | {todatetime(today() - weekday(today(), 2) + 1), now()} |
{9/20/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/24/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Week-to-Date (From Sunday of the Current Week) | {todatetime(today() - weekday(today(), 1) + 1), now()} |
{9/19/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/24/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Previous Week-to-Date (From Monday to Today of the Previous Week) | {todatetime(today() - 7 - weekday(today(), 2) + 1), now()-7} |
{9/13/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/17/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Previous Week-to-Date (From Sunday to Today of the Previous Week) | {todatetime(today() - 7 - weekday(today(), 1) + 1), now()-7} |
{9/12/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/17/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Month-to-Date | {todatetime(eomonth(today(),-1) + 1), now()} |
{9/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/24/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Previous Month-to-Date (From Beginning of Last Month to Today Last Month) | {todatetime(eomonth(date(year(eomonth(today(), - 1)), month(eomonth(today(), - 1)), day(today())), - 1) + 1), datetime(year(eomonth(today(), - 1)), month(eomonth(today(), - 1)), day(today()), hour(now()), minute(now()), second(now()), milli(now()))} |
{8/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 8/24/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Year-to-Date | {datetime(year(today()), 1, 1), now()} |
{1/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/24/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Month-to-Date Last Year (From Beginning of This Month Last Year to Today Last Year) | {todatetime(eomonth(today(),-13) + 1), if(isleapyear(year(now())), now() - 366, now() - 365)} |
{9/1/2020 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/24/2020 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Previous Year-to-Date (From Beginning of Last Year to Today Last Year) | {datetime(year(today()) - 1, 1, 1), edate(today(), - 12) + (now() - today())} |
{1/1/2020 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/24/2020 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Beginning of Last Month to Today | {todatetime(eomonth(today(),-2) + 1), now()} |
{8/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/24/2021 2:30 PM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Trailing 3 Months | todatetime({eomonth(today(),-4) + 1, eomonth(today(),-1) + 1}) |
{6/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Trailing 6 Months | todatetime({eomonth(today(),-7) + 1, eomonth(today(),-1) + 1}) |
{3/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Trailing 9 Months | todatetime({eomonth(today(),-10) + 1, eomonth(today(),-1) + 1}) |
{12/1/2020 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Trailing 12 Months | todatetime({eomonth(today(),-13) + 1, eomonth(today(),-1) + 1}) |
{9/1/2020 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00} |
| Date Range | Trailing 18 Months | todatetime({eomonth(today(),-19) + 1, eomonth(today(),-1) + 1}) |
{3/1/2020 12:00 AM GMT+00:00, 9/1/2021 12:00 AM GMT+00:00} |
In addition to using a guided template, you can use Write your own expression to define your custom record field in Expression mode.
When you edit a custom record field, it will also appear in Expression Mode so you can make further customizations. The only exception to this is the Aggregate on Related Record Fields template, which allows you to edit the field using a guided experience.
When creating or editing a custom record field, note that constants, rules, and relationship references are not currently supported.
The following section provides a list of supported functions to use in your expressions, as well as some sample custom record field recipes. To use these recipes, you must have a record type with data sync enabled and modify the record type references to match your own record type.
When creating or editing a custom record field in Expression Mode, use the following supported functions.
Not all Appian functions can be used to create custom record fields. For a full list of functions, see the Appian Functions page.
| Category | Function | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Array | a!flatten() | Converts an array that contains other arrays into an array of single items. |
| Array | a!update() | Inserts new values or replaces existing values at the specified index or field name and returns the resulting updated data. |
| Array | append() | Appends a value or values to the given array, and returns the resulting array. |
| Array | index() | Returns the data[index] if it is valid or else returns the default value. |
| Array | insert() | Inserts a value into the given array and returns the resulting array. |
| Array | joinarray() | Concatenates the elements of an array together into one string and inserts a string separator between each element. |
| Array | ldrop() | Drops a given number of values from the left side of an array and returns the resulting array. |
| Array | length() | This function returns the number of elements in an array. |
| Array | rdrop() | Drops a given number of values from the right side of an array, and returns the resulting array. |
| Array | remove() | Removes the value at a given index from an array, and returns the resulting array. |
| Array | reverse() | Returns an array in reverse order. |
| Array | updatearray() | Inserts new values or modifies existing values at the specified index of a given array, and returns the resulting array. |
| Array | where() | Returns the indices where the values in the input array are true. |
| Array | wherecontains() | Receives one or more values and returns an array of indices that indicate the position of the values within the array. |
| Base Conversion | bin2dec() | Converts a Binary number as text to a Decimal number. |
| Base Conversion | bin2hex() | Converts a Binary number as text to a Hex number as text. |
| Base Conversion | bin2oct() | Converts a Binary number as text to an Octal number as text. |
| Base Conversion | dec2bin() | Converts a Decimal number to a Binary number as text. |
| Base Conversion | dec2hex() | Converts a Decimal number to a Binary number as text. |
| Base Conversion | dec2oct() | Converts a Decimal number to an Octal number as text. |
| Base Conversion | hex2bin() | Converts a Hex number as text to a Binary number as text. |
| Base Conversion | hex2dec() | Converts a Hex number as text to a Decimal number. |
| Base Conversion | hex2oct() | Converts a Hex number as text to an Octal number as text. |
| Base Conversion | oct2bin() | Converts an Octal number as text to a Binary number as text. |
| Base Conversion | oct2dec() | Converts an Octal number as text to a Decimal number. |
| Base Conversion | oct2hex() | Converts an Octal number as text to a Hex number as text. |
| Conversion | displayvalue() | Tries to match a value in a given array with a value at the same index in a replacement array and returns either the value at the same index or a default value if the value is not found. |
| Conversion | externalize() | Converts the given value to a string representation so that it can be saved externally. |
| Conversion | toboolean() | Converts a value to Boolean. |
| Conversion | todate() | Converts a value to Date with Timezone. |
| Conversion | todatetime() | Converts a value to Date and Time. |
| Conversion | todecimal() | Converts a value to Decimal (double precision floating point). |
| Conversion | toemailaddress() | Converts a value to email address. |
| Conversion | tointeger() | Converts a value to Integer. |
| Conversion | tointervalds() | Converts a value to Interval (Day to Second). |
| Conversion | tostring() | Converts a value to Text. |
| Conversion | totime() | Converts a value to Time. |
| Conversion | touniformstring() | Converts a value to Text, preserving the original scalar or array structure. |
| Date and Time | caladddays() | This function adds a given number of working days as designated on the process calendar to a Date and Time value, and returns a Date and Time value that falls within the work time defined in the process calendar. |
| Date and Time | caladdhours() | This function adds a given number of hours to a Date and Time plus any non-working hours (as designated on the process calendar) and returns the resulting Date and Time. |
| Date and Time | calisworkday() | This returns whether or not the given Date and Time is a work day, according to the calendar defined for the system. |
| Date and Time | calisworktime() | This returns whether or not the given Date and Time is within working hours, according to the calendars defined for the system. |
| Date and Time | calworkdays() | This returns the actual number of work days between two Date and Times (both inclusive), according to the calendar defined for the system. |
| Date and Time | calworkhours() | This returns the actual number of work hours between two given Date and Times (both inclusive), according to the calendar defined for the system. |
| Date and Time | date() | Converts text into data accepted by the date data type and functions that require date parameters. |
| Date and Time | datetime() | Converts the given Date and Time into a serial number that holds the Date and Time data type. |
| Date and Time | datevalue() | Converts a value to a date. |
| Date and Time | day() | Returns the day of the month from the day specified. |
| Date and Time | dayofyear() | Returns the day number within the year. |
| Date and Time | days360() | Returns the number of days between two dates, based on a 360-day calendar. |
| Date and Time | daysinmonth() | Returns the number of days in the given month in the given year. |
| Date and Time | edate() | Returns the date that is the number of months before or after the given starting date. |
| Date and Time | eomonth() | Returns the date for the last day of the month that is the number of months before or after the given starting date. |
| Date and Time | gmt() | Subtracts a time zone offset from a given Date and Time. |
| Date and Time | hour() | Returns the hour from the time specified. |
| Date and Time | intervalds() | Converts the given time components into an equivalent time duration, an interval expressing days to seconds. This value is treated as a duration (Joe ran the marathon in 3 hours and 23 minutes), not a point in time. |
| Date and Time | isleapyear() | Returns a Boolean value for whether the given year is a leap year. |
| Date and Time | lastndays() | Returns a Boolean value for whether the given date is within the last given number of days. |
| Date and Time | local() | This is a Date and Time addition function, adding time zone offset to given Date and Time. |
| Date and Time | milli() | This function returns the millisecond portion of a timestamp or the decimal number that represents 1 millisecond in days. |
| Date and Time | minute() | Returns the minute from the time specified. |
| Date and Time | month() | Returns the month from the specified date. |
| Date and Time | networkdays() | Returns the number of working days between two specified dates. |
| Date and Time | second() | Returns the seconds from the specified time. |
| Date and Time | time() | Converts the given time into an equivalent time value. |
| Date and Time | timevalue() | Converts the given time into an equivalent interval. |
| Date and Time | timezone() | Returns the default offset in minutes from GMT, which is generally the process initiator's time zone. |
| Date and Time | timezoneid() | Returns the time zone ID for the current context. |
| Date and Time | weekday() | Returns the day of the week of the specified date. |
| Date and Time | weeknum() | Returns the week number within the year for the given date using a given methodology. |
| Date and Time | workday() | Returns the date the given number of workdays before or after the given date. |
| Date and Time | year() | Returns the year for the date specified. |
| Date and Time | yearfrac() | Determine the fraction of the year. |
| Evaluation | a!localVariables() | Lets you define one or more local variables for use within an expression. When used within an interface, the value of each variable can be refreshed under a variety of conditions, configured using a!refreshVariable(). When used outside of an interface, all refresh properties configured using a!refreshVariable() are ignored. |
| Evaluation | load() | Lets you define local variables within an expression for an interface and evaluate the expression with the new variables, then re-evaluate the function with the local variables' values from the previous evaluation. |
| Evaluation | with() | Lets you define local variables within a function and evaluate the expression with the new variables. |
| Informational | a!defaultValue() | Returns a default value when the specified value is null or empty. When there are multiple default parameters, each parameter is evaluated in order and the first non-null and non-empty default will be returned. |
| Informational | cast() | Converts a value from its existing type to the specified type. |
| Informational | error() | Raises an error with the given message, used for invalidating execution.This function never returns a value. |
| Informational | infinity() | Represents a constant number that stands for positive infinity or a negative infinity if you negate the value. |
| Informational | isinfinite() | Tests given numbers against positive and negative infinity, returning |
| Informational | isnegativeinfinity() | Tests given numbers against negative infinity, returning true if number is negative infinity, false if number is not negative infinity. |
| Informational | a!isNotNullOrEmpty() | Returns |
| Informational | isnull() | Returns true if value is null, false otherwise. |
| Informational | a!isNullOrEmpty() | Returns |
| Informational | ispositiveinfinity() | Tests given numbers against positive infinity, returning |
| Informational | nan() | Constant number representing Not A Number, generally used for comparison to the result of mathematical operations with invalid inputs. This is equivalent to a decimal (floating point) null, but nan() is provided for more explicit usage in mathematical expressions. |
| Informational | null() | Returns a null value. |
| Informational | runtimetypeof() | Returns the numerical representation of an Appian system data type when used during process execution. |
| Informational | typename() | Returns the type name of a given type number. |
| Informational | typeof() | Returns the type number of a given value. |
| Logical | and() | Returns |
| Logical | choose() | Evaluates the |
| Logical | false() | Returns the Boolean value |
| Logical | if() | Returns |
| Logical | a!match() | Evaluates the value against multiple conditions and returns a value based on a match. If no match is found, the default is returned. For example, if "a" then "b" else "c". |
| Logical | not() | Converts |
| Logical | or() | Returns |
| Logical | true() | Returns the Boolean value |
| Looping | a!forEach() | Evaluates an expression for each item in a list and returns a new array of the results. |
| Looping | all() | Calls a rule or function that returns either true or false for each item in list, asks the question, "Do all items in this list yield true for this rule/function?", and returns true if all items in list evaluates to true. |
| Looping | any() | Calls a rule or function that returns either true or false for each item in list by asking the question, "Do any items in this list yield true for this rule/function?" with the intent to discover if any item(s) yield true. |
| Looping | apply() | Calls a rule or function for each item in a list, and provides any contexts specified. |
| Looping | filter() | Calls a predicate for each item in a list and returns any items for which the returned value is true. |
| Looping | merge() | Takes a variable number of lists and merges them into a single list (or a list of lists) that is the size of the largest list provided. |
| Looping | none() | Calls a rule or function that returns either true or false for each item in list by asking the question, "Do all items in this list yield false for this rule/function?" with the intent to discover if no items will yield true. |
| Looping | reduce() | Calls a rule or function for each item in a list, passing the result of each call to the next one, and returns the value of the last computation. |
| Looping | reject() | Calls a predicate for each item in a list, rejects any items for which the returned value is true, and returns all remaining items. |
| Mathematical | abs() | Returns the absolute value(s) of the specified number(s). |
| Mathematical | ceiling() | Rounds the number up to the nearest multiple of the specified significance. |
| Mathematical | combin() | Calculates the number of unique ways to choose m elements from a pool of n elements. |
| Mathematical | a!distanceBetween() | Returns the distance between the two locations (in meters) specified by the start and end coordinates. The distance is calculated by tracing a line between the two locations that follows the curvature of the Earth, and measuring the length of the resulting arc. |
| Mathematical | e() | Returns the value of e. |
| Mathematical | enumerate() | Returns a list of integer numbers from 0 through n-1. |
| Mathematical | even() | Rounds positive numbers up to nearest even integer and negative numbers down to the nearest even integer. |
| Mathematical | exp() | Returns e raised to the specified power. |
| Mathematical | fact() | The factorial of specified number. |
| Mathematical | factdouble() | The double factorial of specified number (mathematically n!!). |
| Mathematical | floor() | Rounds the number down to the nearest multiple of the specified significance. |
| Mathematical | int() | Rounds the specified number down to the nearest integer. |
| Mathematical | ln() | Returns the natural logarithm of the specified number, which is the power that e must be raised to in order to equal the specified number. |
| Mathematical | log() | Returns the logarithm of the number using the specified base, which is the power that base must be raised to, to equal the number. |
| Mathematical | mod() | Returns the remainder of dividend when divided by the divisor. |
| Mathematical | mround() | Rounds the number to the specified multiple. |
| Mathematical | multinomial() | Adds the specified integers and divides the factorial of the sum by the factorial of the individual numbers. |
| Mathematical | odd() | Rounds positive numbers up to nearest odd integer and negative numbers down to the nearest odd integer. |
| Mathematical | pi() | Returns the value of pi. |
| Mathematical | power() | Returns the base number raised to the specified exponent. |
| Mathematical | product() | Returns the product of the specified numbers. |
| Mathematical | quotient() | Returns the quotient when numerator is divided by the denominator, and drops the remainder. |
| Mathematical | round() | Rounds off the number to the specified number of digits. |
| Mathematical | rounddown() | Rounds the number down to the specified digit. |
| Mathematical | roundup() | Rounds the number up to the specified digit. |
| Mathematical | sign() | Returns the number divided by its absolute value, which is 1 if the number is positive and -1 if the number is negative. |
| Mathematical | sqrt() | Returns the square root(s) of the specified number(s). |
| Mathematical | sqrtpi() | Multiplies the number by pi, then returns the square root of the product. |
| Mathematical | sum() | Returns the sum of the specified numbers. |
| Mathematical | sumsq() | Squares each number and then returns the sum of the squares. |
| Mathematical | trunc() | Truncates a decimal number to the specified number of places after the decimal point. |
| Scripting | offsetFromGMT() | Returns the offset (in minutes) from GMT of the given date and timezone. |
| Scripting | property() | This function extracts a bean's property under a given key name (the |
| Array | contains() | Checks whether an array contains the value. |
| Array | difference() | Returns the values in array1 and not in array2. |
| Array | intersection() | Returns only those elements that appear in all of the given arrays. |
| Array | symmetricdifference() | Returns the values unique to two arrays but are not in the intersection of them. |
| Array | union() | Returns all unique elements from the given arrays. |
| Statistical | avedev() | Returns the average deviation of the specified number(s). |
| Statistical | average() | Returns the average of the specified number(s). |
| Statistical | count() | Returns the number items in all arrays passed to the function. |
| Statistical | frequency() | Uses the bin array to create groups bounded by the elements of the array. |
| Statistical | gcd() | Returns the greatest common denominator of the specified non-negative number(s), which is the largest number that divides all the given numbers without a remainder. |
| Statistical | geomean() | Returns the geometric mean of the specified number(s). |
| Statistical | harmean() | Returns the harmonic mean of the specified number(s), which is the number of terms divided by the sum of the terms' reciprocals. |
| Statistical | lcm() | Returns the least common multiple of the specified non-negative number(s), which is the smallest number that is a multiple of all the given numbers. |
| Statistical | lookup() | Returns location of data within multiple values, or valueIfNotPresent. |
| Statistical | max() | Returns the maximum of the specified number(s). |
| Statistical | median() | Returns the median of the specified number(s). |
| Statistical | min() | Returns the minimum of the specified number(s). |
| Statistical | mode() | Returns the mode of the specified number(s), which is the most commonly repeated element. |
| Statistical | rank() | Returns an integer representing the rank of the number in the specified array. |
| Statistical | stdev() | Returns the standard deviation of the specified number(s). |
| Statistical | stdevp() | Returns the standard deviation of the specified number(s), assuming that the numbers form the entire data set and not just a sample. |
| Statistical | var() | Returns the variance of the specified number(s). |
| Statistical | varp() | Returns the variance of the specified number(s), assuming that the numbers form the entire data set and not just a sample. |
| System | a!map() | Creates a map of values (Any Type) with each value stored at the corresponding string key. Values stored in maps are not wrapped in variants. |
| Text | char() | Converts a number into its Unicode character equivalent. |
| Text | charat() | Returns the character at given index within specified string. |
| Text | clean() | Returns the specified text, minus any characters not considered printable. Printable characters are the 95 printable ASCII characters plus three special characters: BACKSPACE (0x08), TAB (0x09), and NEWLINE (0x0a). |
| Text | cleanwith() | Returns the specified text, minus any characters not in the list of valid characters. |
| Text | code() | Converts the text into Unicode integers. |
| Text | concat() | Concatenates the specified strings into one string, without a separator. |
| Text | exact() | Compares two given text strings in a case-sensitive manner, returning true only if they are exactly the same. |
| Text | extract() | Returns the value (or values, if the text contains multiple delimited values) between the delimiters from the given text. |
| Text | extractanswers() | Returns an array of strings that respond to the questions provided. |
| Text | find() | Returns index location of case-sensitive substring with given string. |
| Text | fixed() | Rounds the specified number off to a certain number of decimals and returns it as text, with optional commas. |
| Text | initials() | Returns only the uppercase characters from within the given text. |
| Text | insertkey() | Returns the provided text, wrapped with the specified delimiters. |
| Text | insertkeyval() | Returns the provided key-value pairs, wrapped with the specified delimiters. |
| Text | insertquestions() | Returns an array of questions with a ==EOQ== at the end, returning a single string that can be parsed with |
| Text | keyval() | Returns the value(s) associated with the given key(s). |
| Text | left() | Returns a specified number of characters from the text, starting from the first character. |
| Text | leftb() | Returns a specified number of bytes from the text, starting from the first byte. |
| Text | len() | Returns the length in characters of the text. |
| Text | lenb() | Returns the length in bytes of the text. |
| Text | like() | Tests whether a string of text is like a given pattern. |
| Text | lower() | Converts all characters in the text into lowercase (Unicode case folding). |
| Text | mid() | Returns a substring from the middle of the specified text. |
| Text | midb() | Returns a substring from the middle of the specified text. |
| Text | padleft() | Pads text with spaces on the left so that it is a certain length. |
| Text | padright() | Pads text with spaces on the right so that it is a certain length. |
| Text | proper() | Converts each character in the text into proper case, meaning it will capitalize the first first letter of every word and convert the rest into lowercase. |
| Text | replace() | Replaces a piece of the specified text with new text. |
| Text | replaceb() | Replaces a piece of the specified text with new text. |
| Text | rept() | Concatenates the text to itself a specified number of times and returns the result. |
| Text | resource() | Retrieves a string of translated text appropriate for the current user, according to their language preference, by matching a given key with text. |
| Text | right() | Returns a specified number of characters from the text, starting from the last character. |
| Text | search() | Searches the text for a particular substring, returning the positional index of the first character of the first match. |
| Text | searchb() | Searches the text for a particular substring, returning the positional index of the first byte of the first match. |
| Text | soundex() | Returns the soundex code, used to render similar sounding names via phonetic similarities into identical four (4) character codes. |
| Text | split() | Splits text into a list of text elements, delimited by the text specified in the separator. |
| Text | strip() | Returns the provided text, minus any characters considered printable. Printable characters are the 95 printable ASCII characters plus three special characters: BACKSPACE (0x08), TAB (0x09), and NEWLINE (0x0a). |
| Text | stripHtml() | Changes the provided HTML string into a plain text string by converting |
| Text | stripwith() | The function returns the provided text, minus any characters on the list of invalid characters. |
| Text | substitute() | Substitutes a specific part of a string with another string. |
| Text | toHtml() | Converts a string in plain text to the HTML equivalent that displays appropriately in an HTML page, by replacing reserved characters with their escaped counterparts. |
| Text | trim() | Removes all unnecessary spaces from the text. |
| Text | upper() | Converts all letters in the text into uppercase. |
| Text | value() | Converts text representing a number into an actual number or datetime. |
| Trigonometry | acos() | Returns the arccosine(s) of the specified number(s) in radians. |
| Trigonometry | acosh() | Returns the hyperbolic arccosine(s) of the specified number(s) in radians. |
| Trigonometry | asin() | Returns the arcsine(s) of the specified number(s) in radians. |
| Trigonometry | asinh() | Returns the hyperbolic arcsine(s) of the specified number(s) in radians. |
| Trigonometry | atan() | Returns the arctangent(s) of the specified number(s) in radians. |
| Trigonometry | atanh() | Returns the hyperbolic arctangent(s) of the specified number(s) in radians. |
| Trigonometry | cos() | Returns the cosine(s) of the specified number(s). |
| Trigonometry | cosh() | Returns the hyperbolic cosine(s) of the specified number(s). |
| Trigonometry | degrees() | Converts the measure(s) of the specified angle(s) from radians to degrees. |
| Trigonometry | radians() | Converts the measure of the specified angle from degrees to radians. |
| Trigonometry | sin() | Returns the sine(s) of the specified number(s). |
| Trigonometry | sinh() | Returns the hyperbolic sine(s) of the specified number(s). |
| Trigonometry | tan() | Returns the tangent(s) of the specified number(s). |
| Trigonometry | tanh() | Returns the hyperbolic tangent(s) of the specified number(s). |
Goal: Create a new custom record field that concatenates existing record fields and displays them as one value.
In this example, we will use the concat() function to concatenate the record fields street, city, state, and zipCode from the Employee record type into a new custom record field called address:
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concat(rv!record[recordType!employee.fields.street], ", ",
rv!record[recordType!employee.fields.city], ", ",
rv!record[recordType!employee.fields.state], " ",
rv!record[recordType!employee.fields.zip])
Goal: Create a new custom record field that displays the null values in a record field as "N/A".
In this example, we'll create a new custom record field called cleanReference that displays any null values from the reference record field as "N/A". If the value is not null, then the record value will display.
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a!defaultValue(rv!record[recordType!applicant.fields.reference], "N/A")
Goal: Create a new custom record field with values based on the conditions of two existing fields.
In this example, we'll use the record fields urgency and supportLevel to determine a ticket's priority level. Based on the value of each field, the new custom record field will display values of "High", "Medium", or "Low".
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if (and(
rv!record[recordType!case.fields.urgency] = 1,
rv!record[recordType!case.fields.supportLevel] = 3
),
"High",
if(and(
rv!record[recordType!case.fields.urgency] = 2,
rv!record[recordType!case.fields.supportLevel] = 2
),
"Medium",
"Low"
)
)
Goal: Create a new custom record field that performs a calculation on existing values and displays the values as a percentage.
In this example, we'll calculate the return on investment (ROI) using the record fields revenue and totalExpenses. When you add this field in a report or grid, you can use rich text to add the percent sign. For example, rv!record[recordType!roi] & "%".
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(rv!record[recordType!sales.fields.revenue] - rv!record[recordType!sales.fields.totalExpenses])
/ rv!record[recordType!sales.fields.totalExpenses] * 100
Goal: Create a new custom record field that uses arithmetic to calculate its values.
In this example, we'll use the record fields price, cost, and unitsSold to calculate the values for the new custom record field called profit.
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(rv!record[recordType!Sales.fields.price] - rv!record[recordType!Sales.fields.cost])
* fv!record[recordType!Sales.fields.unitsSold]
