text() Function

Function

text( value, format )

The text() function allows you to format Number, Date, Time, or Date and time values as you convert them into text strings.

Parameters

Keyword	Type	Description
`value`	Number/Date/Time/Datetime	The value to convert to a text string.
`format`	Text	The output format string, supporting "date/time" format, "positive" format, "positive;negative" format or "positive;negative;zero" format.

Returns

Text

Usage considerations

Using the format parameter

The format "date/time" can only be for the positive.

When you specify a numeric text format for a decimal number, such as "$000.00" or "$###.##", any values that go beyond the number of decimal places in your format pattern are dropped, without rounding.

When you specify a date, time, or datetime format, the returned value is determined by the current locale setting (either the user's locale or the system-wide locale overriding user settings). If users specify different locales, they may see different values when executing a rule, viewing an interface, or running a process model where the text function is used.

See Examples for a comprehensive list of the available formats.

Using the value parameter

Beans are not supported in the value parameter.

Examples

text(10.25, "$00.0000") returns the $10.2500

Possible text() function date/time formats

The text(value,"format") function allows you to format the text output in various ways. You can also combine values, formats, and characters to structure your text, such as mmmm/dd/yyyy.

The following table describes available date, time, and datetime formats you can specify. These formats and their outputs are derived from ICU4J, an industry-standard globalization library. The example results shown in the Returns column may not match the output in your application or the current Unicode CLDR data.

Format	Output	Example (12:15 PM on February 27, 2020 )	Returns
mmmmm	J F M A M J J A S O N D	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"mmmmm")`	`F`
mmmm	January February March April May June July August September October November December	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"mmmm")`	`February`
mmm	Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"mmm")`	`Feb`
mm	01 .. 12	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"mm")`	`02`
m	1 .. 12	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"m")`	`2`
yyyy	1972	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"yyyy")`	`2020`
yy	72	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"yy")`	`20`
ddd	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st	`text(date(2020, 5, 27),"ddd")`	`27th`
dd	01 .. 31	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"dd")`	`27`
d	1 .. 31	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"d")`	`27`
hh	01..12 (if AM/PM) or 00..23 (if no AM/PM)	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27,12,15,05),"hh")`	`12`
h	1..12 (if AM/PM) or 0..23 (if no AM/PM)	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27,12,15,05)),"h")`	`12`
kk	hour 01..24	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27,12,15,05),"kk")`	`12`
k	hour 1..24	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27,12,15,05),"k")`	`12`
mm	minute 00..59 (If hour already processed, i.e., h to left anywhere in format)	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15, 05),"h:mm")`	`12:15`
ss	second 00..59	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15, 05),"ss")`	`05`
AM/PM	AM/PM in uppercase	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15),"AM/PM")`	`PM`
am/am	am/pm in lowercase	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15),"am/pm")`	`pm`
A/P	A/P in uppercase	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15),"A/P")`	`P`
a/p	a/p in lowercase	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15),"a/p")`	`p`
a	AM or PM in uppercase	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15),"a")`	`PM`
aa	AM or PM in uppercase	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15),"aa")`	`PM`
[h]	the number of hours in the era	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15, 05),"[h]")`	`-130116`
@	26310.5426 (the serial date value)	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15, 05),"@")`	`-5421.49`
dddd	Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"dddd")`	`Thursday`
EEEE	Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"EEEE")`	`Thursday`
EEE	Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri.	`text(date(2020, 2, 27),"EEE")`	`Thu`
z	Timezone Name short form (EST)	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15, 05),"z")`	`GMT+00:00`
zzzz	Timezone Name long form (Eastern Standard Time)	`text(datetime(2020, 2, 27, 12, 15, 05),"zzzz")`	`GMT+00:00`

Note: The formats that return the name, number, or first letter of a month are not case sensitive. The formats that return AM or PM are case sensitive and will return AM, PM, A, or P in the case that you specify.

Possible number formats for text() function output

If the format you use contains the number sign (#) zero (0) or a question mark (?), then the output takes a number format. The output is then treated as a number rather than as a date/time.

You can split the number format into positive;negative;zero;text formats (where each optional format is separated by a semi-colon [;]).

Normally, positive numbers do not show a sign symbol. To use plus (+) or minus (-) symbols, specify the positive and negative number-formats separately (as in the following examples).

text(-3.434,"+0000.###;-0000.###")returns -0003.434
text(3.434,"+0000.###;-0000.###") returns +0003.434

The following table lists the characters that can be used to the left of any decimal for defining a number format.

Format	Meaning	Example	Returns
0	Numeric digit or leading 0	`text(1234.5, "00000.00")`	`01234.50`
#	Numeric digit or leading space	`text(1234.5, "#####.##")`	`1234.50`
,	Grouping seperator	`text(1234.5, "##,###.##")`	`1,234.50`
.	Decimal point. Switches to right of decimal formatting	`text(1234.5, "#####.##")`	`1234.50`
-	Always "-"	`text(1234.5, "-#####.##")`	`-1234.50`
+	"+" if positive, "-" if negative	`text(1234.5, "+#####.##")`	`+1234.50`
c	The character c	`text(15, "#c")`	`15c`
$	The currency character	`text(1234.5, "$####.##")`	`$1234.50`
%	Any % multiplies the number by 100	`text(0.50, "#%")`	`50%`
Any other character	Represented as itself	`text(1234, "## & ##")`	`12 & 34`

The following table lists the characters that can be used to the right of any decimal for defining a number format.

Format	Meaning
0	Numeric digit or leading 0
#	Numeric digit or leading space
,	Grouping seperator
c	The character c
$	The currency character
Any other character	Represented as itself

Criteria formatting for numbers

In these two examples, a positive and a negative number format (with red) are defined for the expression. The negative format and red color are only applied when the value is less than 0.

text("-100000", "###,###.##;[<0][red] - ###,###.##") returns <font color="#FF0000"> - 100,000.00</font>
text("100000", "###,###.##;[<0][red] - ###,###.##") returns 100,000.00

Note: These examples return colored text in an HTML format. These should only be used to format text in HTML, such as in the body or header of an email created by a send email smart service.

Different formats can be applied using the criteria listed in the following table.

Format	Description	Example	Returns
positive_format;negative_format;zero_format	All specified	`text(0, "$00.00;#00.00;*00.0")`	`*00.0`
positive_format;negative_format	Zero is same as positive	`text(-10.25, "$00.00;(00.00)")`	`(10.25)`
positive_format	Negative is "-positive", Zero is positive	`text(10.25, "$00.00")`	`$10.25`

Formats for less than, greater than, or equal to:

Format	Description
[>number]format;…	Use when value > number
[>=number]format;…	Use when value >= number
[<number]format;…	Use when value < number
[<=number]format;…	Use when value <= number
[=number]format;…	Use when value = number
[<>number]format;…	Use when value <> number

Other sample criteria

Format	Meaning
[<=9999999]000-0000;(000) 000-0000	US phone number
000-00-0000	US Social Security Number
[<=99999]00000;00000-0000	US Zip or Zip+4 Code

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	Incompatible
Real-Time Custom Record Fields	Incompatible	Custom record fields that evaluate in real time must be configured using one or more Custom Field functions.
Process Reports	Compatible
Process Events	Compatible
Process Autoscaling	Compatible

Feedback

Was this page helpful?