Inline functions

Inline functions overview

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Tray's inline functions feature allows you to perform data transformations directly on data that is being pulled into your workflow steps.

This can bring extra functionality, flexibility and efficiency to your workflows.

One of the main benefits is that it can simplify tasks which would normally require multiple core / helper steps in combination with booleans and branches, thus leading to overly-complex workflows.

Creating inline functions

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Inline functions can be used both as single function calls, and as combined function calls which mix multiple functions.

• A function call must use the format of functionName(parameter1, parameter2)

• The parameters of each function are contained within ( )

• Parameters can be hardcoded or can use jsonpaths to reference both data from previous steps via $.steps. and project config variables via $.config.

• Functions can contain 1 or more parameters

A single function call would look something like:

formatDate("04/09/2023", "yyyy-MM-dd")

This could be used to e.g. format a date directly in the relevant properties panel field when using the date filter option in an operation such as Salesforce's 'Find records':

Combining multiple Inline Functions

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For powerful functionality and flexibility, it is possible to chain combine function calls in a single expression.

A chained function call would look something like:

isBefore(addMonths($.steps.object-helpers-1.result.registered_date, 6), addDays(now("UTC", "yyyy-MM-dd"), 21))

This chained function combines multiple date functions and returns true or false, so could be used directly in a boolean step:

A chained date function call like this would negate the need for multiple use of the date / time helpers connector:

The inline functions editor

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To use inline functions for any string-based field in the connector properties panel, select the function input type from the drop-down:

Then when using the editor you can use = to search for functions by name and description

And you can use / to search for mapped data (via jsonpaths) from previous workflow steps ($.steps.) and project config ($.config.) to add as dynamic arguments:

Setting defaults via config (for date formatting etc.)

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To standardize how you work with dates (and avoid having to repeatedly enter formatting parameters), you can make use of project config to set your timezone and also to set the formats that are required to work with particular services.

For example you could set the following project config to work with Salesforce:

• date_format = yyyy-MM-dd

• date_time_format = yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssZ

• timezone = PST

This allows us to flexibly adapt to the Valid Date and DateTime Formats of Salesforce whereby some endpoints require date in Date format and some require it in DateTime format.

The project config can then be used in a function such as formatDate($.steps.object-helpers-1.result.launch_date, $.config.date_format) when making calls to the service:

You could also use project config to build your own standarized 'TODAY' function whereby using a timezone and date format (i.e. not date/time) as parameters for the 'now' function will return today's date:

now($.config.timezone, $.config.date_format)

Getting Merlin search to build functions

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Merlin search (the docs knowledge agent) can be used to build complex combined functions for you.

You can ask questions in the following manner:

Using tray's inline functions feature *only* (stringFunctions, numberFunctions and booleanFunctions) how could I create a URL slug from a title by replacing spaces and underscores with hyphens and converting it to lowercase?

Merlin should then return a function which you can directly copy and paste into the inline functions editor:

You may need to subsequently edit for correct jsonpath etc.

stringFunctions

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addBusinessDays

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Adds a specified number of business days to a date

addDays

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Adds a specified number of days to a date

addHours

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Adds a specified number of hours to a date

addMinutes

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Adds a specified number of minutes to a date

addMonths

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Adds a specified number of months to a date

addSeconds

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Adds a specified number of seconds to a date

addWeeks

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Adds a specified number of weeks to a date

addYears

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Adds a specified number of years to a date

camelCase

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Converts a string to camelCase

concat

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Concatenates two strings

formatDate

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Formats a date string according to the specified format. The input date must be valid according to the isValidDate function

Valid patterns can be constructed using the following symbols:

• YY - short year: 24

• YYYY - long year: 2024

• Q - quarter: 1

• M - month: 5

• MM - month: 05

• MMM - month: Feb

• MMMM - month: February

• W - week of the year: 6

• WW - week of the year: 06

• D - day of month: 6

• DD - day of month: 06

• DDD - day of year: 39

• DDDD - day of year: 039

• d - day of the week: 1

• dd - day of the week: Mon

• ddd - day of the week: Mon

• dddd - day of the week: Monday

• a - am/pm: am

• H - hour (0-23): 1

• HH - hour (0-23): 01

• h - hour (1-12): 1

• hh - hour (1-12): 01

• k - hour (1-24): 1

• kk - hour (1-24): 01

• m - minute: 2

• mm - minute: 02

• s - second: 3

• ss - second: 03

• S - millisecond: 4

• SS - millisecond: 40

• SSS - millisecond: 400

• Z - zone offset: +00:00

• ZZ - zone offset: +0000

• T - The character T

• 'string' - '' can be used to introduce any string in the formatted value

As an alternative to composing a format with the above some special formats can be specified:

• salesforce_date_time - this is the date time format used by Salesforce

• salesforce_date - this is the date format used by Salesforce

if

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Returns one of two values based on a condition

kebabCase

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Converts a string to kebab-case

lowerCase

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Converts a string to lowercase

now

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Returns the current date and time formatted according to the specified format and time zone

Valid patterns can be constructed using the following symbols:

• YY - short year: 24

• YYYY - long year: 2024

• Q - quarter: 1

• M - month: 5

• MM - month: 05

• MMM - month: Feb

• MMMM - month: February

• W - week of the year: 6

• WW - week of the year: 06

• D - day of month: 6

• DD - day of month: 06

• DDD - day of year: 39

• DDDD - day of year: 039

• d - day of the week: 1

• dd - day of the week: Mon

• ddd - day of the week: Mon

• dddd - day of the week: Monday

• a - am/pm: am

• H - hour (0-23): 1

• HH - hour (0-23): 01

• h - hour (1-12): 1

• hh - hour (1-12): 01

• k - hour (1-24): 1

• kk - hour (1-24): 01

• m - minute: 2

• mm - minute: 02

• s - second: 3

• ss - second: 03

• S - millisecond: 4

• SS - millisecond: 40

• SSS - millisecond: 400

• Z - zone offset: +00:00

• ZZ - zone offset: +0000

• T - The character T

• 'string' - '' can be used to introduce any string in the formatted value

As an alternative to composing a format with the above some special formats can be specified:

• salesforce_date_time - this is the date time format used by Salesforce

• salesforce_date - this is the date format used by Salesforce

parseDate

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Parses a date according to the specified format and returns it formatted using the default format YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.SSSZZ (Missing info will be filled with defaults)

Valid patterns can be constructed using the following symbols:

• YY - short year: 24

• YYYY - long year: 2024

• Q - quarter: 1

• M - month: 5

• MM - month: 05

• MMM - month: Feb

• MMMM - month: February

• W - week of the year: 6

• WW - week of the year: 06

• D - day of month: 6

• DD - day of month: 06

• DDD - day of year: 39

• DDDD - day of year: 039

• d - day of the week: 1

• dd - day of the week: Mon

• ddd - day of the week: Mon

• dddd - day of the week: Monday

• a - am/pm: am

• H - hour (0-23): 1

• HH - hour (0-23): 01

• h - hour (1-12): 1

• hh - hour (1-12): 01

• k - hour (1-24): 1

• kk - hour (1-24): 01

• m - minute: 2

• mm - minute: 02

• s - second: 3

• ss - second: 03

• S - millisecond: 4

• SS - millisecond: 40

• SSS - millisecond: 400

• Z - zone offset: +00:00

• ZZ - zone offset: +0000

• T - The character T

• 'string' - '' can be used to introduce any string in the formatted value

As an alternative to composing a format with the above some special formats can be specified:

• salesforce_date_time - this is the date time format used by Salesforce

• salesforce_date - this is the date format used by Salesforce

pascalCase

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Converts a string to PascalCase (upperCamelCase, studlyCase)

removeSpecialCharacters

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Removes special characters from a string, keeping only letters and digits

replace

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Replaces occurrences of a substring with another string

snakeCase

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Converts a string to snake_case

substring

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Extracts a substring from a string

subtractBusinessDays

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Subtracts a specified number of business days from a date

subtractDays

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Subtracts a specified number of days from a date

subtractHours

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Subtracts a specified number of hours from a date

subtractMinutes

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Subtracts a specified number of minutes from a date

subtractMonths

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Subtracts a specified number of months to a date

subtractSeconds

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Subtracts a specified number of seconds from a date

subtractWeeks

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Subtracts a specified number of weeks from a date

subtractYears

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Subtracts a specified number of years to a date

toString

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Converts a value into a string

trim

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Trims whitespace from both ends of a string

upperCase

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Converts a string to UPPERCASE

numberFunctions

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abs

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Returns the absolute value of a number

add

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Adds two numbers (sum)

ceil

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Returns the smallest integer greater than or equal to a number

divide

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Divides the first number by the second number

floor

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Returns the largest integer less than or equal to a number

if

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Returns one of two values based on a condition

length

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Calculates the length of a string (size)

log

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Returns the natural logarithm (base e) of a number

log10

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Returns the base 10 logarithm of a number

mod

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Calculates the remainder of the division of two numbers

multiply

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Multiplies two numbers (product, times)

pow

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Raises a number to the power of another number

round

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Rounds a number to the nearest integer

sqrt

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Returns the square root of a number

subtract

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Subtracts the second number from the first number (minus, difference)

timestampInMilliseconds

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Returns the current timestamp in milliseconds since the epoch

timestampInSeconds

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Returns the current timestamp in seconds since the epoch

toNumber

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Converts a string to a number

booleanFunctions

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and

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Performs logical AND operation on two boolean values

contains

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Checks if a string contains another string

endsWith

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Checks if a string ends with another string

eq

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Checks if two values are equal (equals)

greaterThan

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Checks if the first number is greater than the second number

if

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Returns one of two values based on a condition

isAfter

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Checks if the first date is after the second date

isBefore

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Checks if the first date is before the second date

isBlank

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Checks if a string is blank (empty or contains only whitespace)

isEmpty

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Checks if a string is empty

isValidDate

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Checks if a string is a valid date according to the accepted formats. A valid date can be used on all the functions accepting a date as parameter.

The following is a list of examples of valid dates; other formats can be supported via the parseDate function:

• "2024-01-22T23:04:05.000+0000"

• "2024-01-22T23:04:05.000Z"

• "2024-01-22T23:04:05.000+00:00"

• "2024-01-22T23:04:05.000"

• "2024-01-22T23:04:05+0000"

• "2024-01-22T23:04:05Z"

• "2024-01-22T23:04:05+00:00"

• "2024-01-22T23:04:05"

• "2024-01-22 23:04:05.000 +0000"

• "2024-01-22 23:04:05.000 Z"

• "2024-01-22 23:04:05.000 +00:00"

• "2024-01-22 23:04:05.000"

• "2024-01-22 23:04:05 +0000"

• "2024-01-22 23:04:05 Z"

• "2024-01-22 23:04:05 +00:00"

• "2024-01-22 23:04:05"

• "2024-01-22 23:04"

• "2024-01-22"

• "22-01-2024"

• "22/01/2024"

• "22/01/24"

• "01-22-2024"

• "01/22/2024"

• "01/22/06"

not

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Performs logical NOT operation on a boolean value

or

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Performs logical OR operation on two boolean values

propertyExists

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Checks if a property exists

smallerThan

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Checks if the first number is smaller than the second number

startsWith

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Checks if a string starts with another string

toBoolean

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Converts a string to a boolean value