Transform variables and outputs

To ease their use as command inputs within a chain, you can apply transformations to a variable or command output. You can apply multiple transformations to a command input, such as to further transform its data or the output of its transformation.

Transformations

Transformation	Data Type	Description
Parse text as JSON	Text string title	Converts a string to JSON
Parse number	Text string title	Converts a numerical string to a number
Lowercase	Text string title	Converts a string to lowercase
Uppercase	Text string title	Converts a string to UPPERCASE
Capitalize	Text string title	Capitalizes an entire string
Titleize	Text string title	Capitalizes the first letter of each word in a string
Trim	Text string title	Removes leading and trailing spaces from a string
Trim prefix	Text string title	Removes leading spaces from the start of a string
Trim suffix	Text string title	Removes trailing spaces from the end of a string
Pad left	Text string title	Add spaces to the left of a string to extend it to a specific length
Pad right	Text string title	Add spaces to the right of a string to extend it to a specific length
Replace	Text string title	Replaces values in a string based on an exact match or regular expression
Split	Text string title	Splits a string based on a delimiter value
Add	Number #	Adds a value to a number
Subtract	Number #	Subtracts a value from a number
Multiply	Number #	Multiplies a number by a value
Divide	Number #	Divides a number by a value
Round	Number #	Rounds a number to the specified number of decimal places
Parse date/time	Text string title or Date or Timestamp  date_range	Converts a date or timestamp to a specific format and time zone
DateMath	Date or Timestamp  date_range	Adds or subtracts days, months, years, hours, or minutes to or from a timestamp
Date & time format	Date or Timestamp  date_range	Formats a date or timestamp
Sort	List  list	Sorts the items in a list in ascending or descending order
Pick from list	List  list	Gets an individual element from a list
Get value from JSON	JSON  code	Converts an individual element from a proper JSON string to a string, list, or JSON

Note: When you use a JSON output as the property of another command, you can select a specific element from the output instead of its full JSON string. If you select an element instead of the full string, apply the Get Value from JSON transformation to convert its data type.

Parse text as JSON

To convert a text variable or output to JSON, apply the Parse Text as JSON transformation:

1. In the chain, select the node of the command with the input to transform, and click Edit  create.
2. Under Command Properties, click the variable or output to transform.
3. Select Parse text as JSON, and click Add  add.

   Note: To also retrieve an element from the JSON, select Get Value from JSON and click Add  add to apply an additional transformation.

4. Click Accept.

Update the capitalization of a string

To convert a text string variable or output to all uppercase or lowercase, apply the Uppercase or Lowercase transformation:

1. In the chain, select the command with the input to transform and, under Command Properties, click the variable or output to transform.
2. Select the transformation to apply:
   • To capitalize the first letter in each word of the string, select Titleize.
   • To convert the string's characters to all uppercase, select Uppercase or Capitalize.
   • To convert the string's characters to all lowercase, select Lowercase.

   Note: To transform the string, select the additional transformation to apply and click Add  add.

3. Click Accept.

Add or remove trailing or leading spaces on a string

To add or remove spaces from the start or end of a text string variable or output, apply a Pad or Trim transformation:

1. In the chain, select the command with the input to transform and, under Command Properties, click the variable or output to transform.
2. Select the transformation to apply, and click Add  add:
   • To add leading spaces to the start of the string, select Pad Left, and enter the total length of the string.
   • To add trailing spaces to the end of the string, select Pad Right, and enter the total length of the string.
   • To remove leading spaces from the start of the string, select Trim Prefix.
   • To remove trailing spaces from the end of the string, select Trim Suffix.
   • To remove spaces from both the start and end of the string, select Trim.

   Note: To transform the string output, select the additional transformation to apply and click Add  add.

3. Select Accept.

Split a string

To split a text string variable or output based on a delimiter value, apply the Split transformation:

1. In the chain, select the command with the input to transform and, under Command Properties, click the variable or output to transform.
2. Select Split, and click Add  add.
3. For Delimiter, enter the text value at which to split the string.

   Note: To transform the string output, select the additional transformation to apply and click Add  add.

4. Select Accept.

Replace a value in a string

To replace a value within a text variable or output with another value, apply the Replace transformation:

1. In the chain, select the command with the input to transform and, under Command Properties, click the variable or output to transform.
2. Select Replace, and click Add  add.
3. In Find, enter the criteria of the value to replace in the string as the exact text to match or a regular expression.
4. In Replacement, enter the value to replace text that matches the Find criteria.
5. In Match Type, select whether to search for the Find criteria by an Exact match or regular expression (RegEx).

   Note: To transform the string output, select the additional transformation to apply and click Add  add.

6. Click Accept.

Add, subtract, multiply, divide, or round numbers

To perform a mathematical operation on a number value, apply an Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide, or Round transformation.

Tip: To perform a mathematical operation on a numerical string value, first apply a Parse number transformation.

• For an Add or Subtract transformation, enter how much to increase or decrease the number by.
• For a Multiply or Divide transformation, enter how much to multiply or divide the number by.
• For a Round transformation, enter how many decimal spaces to round the number to.

Parse a date or timestamp as a string

To convert a date or timestamp variable or output to a specific format and timezone, apply the Parse Date/Time transformation:

1. In the chain, select the command with the input to transform and, under Command Properties, click the variable or output to transform.
2. Select Parse Date/Time, and click Add  add.
3. Select whether to use the standard International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or a custom format with the date or timestamp.
4. Enter how to format date or time values using strftime formats and separators such as ., ,, :, or /. For example, %m-%d-%Y for 01-30-2020, or %H:%M for 21:08.
5. To change the time zone of the date or timestamp, select the time zones for the input and output values.

   Note: To transform the string output, select the additional transformation to apply and click Add  add.

6. Click Accept.

Add or subtract a date or timestamp

To add or subtract an interval value to or from a date or timestamp variable or output, apply the Add/Subtract Date and Time transformation:

1. In the chain, select the command with the input to transform and, under Command Properties, click the variable or output to transform.
2. Select Add/Subtract Date and Time, and click Add  add.
3. Select whether to use the standard International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or a custom format.
4. For Operation, select whether to Add or Subtract the timestamp.
5. Enter the increment to add to or subtract from the timestamp, such as 1 Day.

   Note: To change the format of the timestamp, select Parse Date/Time and click Add  add to apply an additional transformation.

6. Click Accept.

Sort items in a list

To sort the items in a list variable or output in ascending or descending order, apply the Sort List transformation:

1. In the chain, select the command with the input to transform and, under Command Properties, click the variable or output to transform.
2. Select Sort List, and click Add  add.
3. Select whether to sort the list in Ascending or Descending order.

   Note: To pick a string element from the list, select Pick from List and click Add  add to apply an additional transformation.

4. Click Accept.

Pick elements from a list

To extract an individual element from a list variable or output, apply the Pick from List transformation:

1. In the chain, select the command with the input to transform and, under Command Properties, click the variable or output to transform.
2. Select Pick from List, and click Add  add.
3. For Value, enter the index number of the element to pick; 0 for the first element, -1 for the last.

   Note: To transform the string element, select the additional transformation to apply and click Add  add.

4. Click Accept.

Get values from JSON

To convert an individual element from a JSON variable or output to a string, list, or JSON, apply the Get Value from JSON transformation. When using the transformation. elements in a list within the JSON use a zero-based index, where the first value has an index of 0.

Note: To determine the index and name of the element to parse with the transformation, click Monitor  flight_takeoff, and view the command's JSON output.

1. In the chain, select the command with the input to transform and, under Command Properties, click the variable or output to transform.
2. Select Get Value from JSON, and click Add  add. 
   
3. Select whether to output the element as a text string title, list list, or JSON code.
4. For Value, enter:
   • If the JSON includes multiple objects, the index of the object to extract from, starting with 0. For example, for the second object, enter 1.

     Note: Enter the index only if the JSON includes multiple objects.

   • The name of the element to pick, such as id.

   Note: To transform the output from the transformation, such as to format a date string or sort a list, select the additional transformation to apply and click Add  add.

5. Click Accept.