a!defaultValue Function

Function

a!defaultValue( value, default )

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. Null, "", and {} are all considered null or empty values.

See also: if(), isnull()

Parameters

Keyword	Type	Description
value	Any Type	Value to be returned if not null or empty.
default	Any Type	Default value to return when value is null or empty.

Returns

Any Type

Usage considerations

Using default values

• This function accepts multiple default parameters, and each parameter will be evaluated in order until the first non-null and non-empty default is returned. For example, a!defaultValue("", null, "N/A") returns "N/A".
• If you add a list of values as a default value, they will be treated as a single value. For example, a!defaultValue({1, null, 3}, 4) would return {1, null, 3}.
  • A list of nulls or empty text are not considered null or empty. For example, a!defaultValue({null, null, null}, 3) returns {null, null, null}, and a!defaultValue({"", "", ""}, 3) returns {"", "", ""}.
  • An empty list is considered null or empty. For example, a!defaultValue({}, 3) returns 3.

Examples

• a!defaultValue(null, 1) returns 1
• a!defaultValue(1, “default”) returns 1
• a!defaultValue({}, "default") returns "default"
• a!defaultValue("", "default") returns "default"
• a!defaultValue(null, "") returns ""
• a!defaultValue(null, "", {}) returns {}
• a!defaultValue({null, null, 1, null}, {2, 3, 4, 5}) returns {null, null, 1, null}

Feature compatibility

The table below lists this function's compatibility with various features in Appian.

Feature	Compatibility	Note
Portals	Compatible
Offline Mobile	Compatible
Sync-Time Custom Record Fields	Compatible	Can be used to create a custom record field that only evaluates at sync time.
Real-Time Custom Record Fields	Incompatible
Process Reports	Incompatible	You cannot use this function to configure a process report.
Process Events	Incompatible	You cannot use this function to configure a process event node, such as a start event or timer event.

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