Functions
Updated: May 13, 2016
Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1 - Orchestrator, System Center 2012 - Orchestrator, System Center 2012 R2 Orchestrator
By using System Center 2012 - Orchestrator, you can manipulate string data from text files, Published Data, or other sources, and convert it into a usable form. You can also perform simple arithmetic operations, such as calculating sums and differences, and performing division and multiplication operations. For example, you can extract text from a text file by using a Text File Management activity, trim leading and trailing spaces from the text, and then retrieve specific parts of the text that you can pass to other activities as returned data items.
For a complete list of the functions that you can perform, see the following Functions table.
Data Manipulation Functions
You can insert a data manipulation function into any box that lets you type text. Data manipulation functions must be enclosed in square brackets ('[' and ']'). For example:
[Upper('this will be inserted in upper case')]
When the activity runs, the text 'this will be inserted in uppercase' in the example is replaced with 'THIS WILL BE INSERTED IN UPPERCASE'.
Nested Functions
If you want to use a data manipulation function within another function, you do not have to enclose the nested function in square brackets. For example, to nest the Field function, type:
[Field(Field('username=jsmith@abcompany.com','=',2),'@',1)]
Functions
Functions are case-sensitive. For example, Upper('Text') will be processed, but upper('Text') will not.
| Function and Definition | Usage | Parameters | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper - converts text to uppercase. | Upper('Text') | Text - the text that is being converted to uppercase. | Upper('this will be converted to uppercase') returns 'THIS WILL BE CONVERTED TO UPPERCASE' |
| Lower - converts text to lowercase. | Lower('Text') | Text - the text that is being converted to lowercase. | Lower('This Will Be Converted To Lowercase') returns 'this will be converted to lowercase' |
| Field - returns text in a specific position. | Field('Text', 'Delimiter', Field Number) | Text - the text that is being searched. Delimiter - the character that separates each field. Field Number - the position of the field that is being returned (starting at 1). |
Field('John;Smith;9055552211', ';', 2) returns 'Smith' |
| Sum - returns the sum of a set of numbers. | Sum(firstNumber, secondNumber, thirdNumber, ...) | Number - the number that is being added. You can put any set of numbers, each separated by a comma (,). | Sum(2,3,4,5) returns '14' |
| Diff - returns the difference of two numbers. | Diff(Number1, Number2, <Precision>) | Number1 - the number that will be subtracted from. Number2 - the number that will be subtracted from Number1. Precision <Optional> - the number of decimal places that the result will be rounded to. |
Diff(9, 7) returns '2' Diff(9.3, 2.1, 2) returns '7.20' |
| Mult - returns the product of a set of numbers. | Mult(firstNumber, secondNumber, thirdNumber, ...) | Number - the number being multiplied. You can put any set of numbers, each separated by a comma (,). | Mult(2, 3, 4) returns '24' |
| Div - returns the quotient of two numbers. | Div(Number1, Number2, <Precision>) | Number1 - the number that will be divided. Number2 - the number that will divide Number1. Precision <Optional> - the number of decimal places that the result will be rounded to. |
Div(8, 4) returns '2' Div(9, 2, 2) returns '4.50' |
| Instr - returns the position of first occurrence of text within another text. | Instr ('SearchText', 'TextToFind') | SearchText - the text that is being searched. TextToFind - the text that you are searching for. |
Instr('This is a string that is searched', 'string') returns 11 |
| Right - returns a subset of the text from the right side of the full text. | Right('Text', Length) | Text - the full text. Length - the number of characters from the right side that will be returned. |
Right('Take from the right', 9) returns 'the right' |
| Left - returns a subset of the text from the left side of the full text. | Left('Text', Length) | Text - the full text. Length - the number of characters from the left side that will be returned. |
Left('Take from the left', 4) returns 'Take' |
| Mid - returns a subset of the text from the middle of the full text. | Mid('Text', Start, Length) | Text - the full text. Start - the starting position in the text where you want to begin returning characters. Length - the number of characters starting from the Start position that will be returned. |
Mid('Take from the middle', 5, 4) returns 'from' |
| LTrim - trims leading spaces from text. | LTrim('Text') | Text - the text that is being trimmed of leading spaces. | LTrim(' Remove the leading spaces only. ') returns 'Remove the leading spaces only. ' |
| RTrim - trims the trailing spaces from text. | RTrim('Text') | Text - the text that is being trimmed of trailing spaces. | RTrim(' Remove the trailing spaces only. ') returns ' Remove the trailing spaces only.' |
| Trim - trims leading and trailing spaces from text. | Trim('Text') | Text - the text that is being trimmed. | Trim(' Remove leading and trailing spaces. ') returns 'Remove leading and trailing spaces.' |
| Len - returns the length of text. | Len('Text') | Text - the text that is being measured. | Len('Measure this text') returns 17 |
See Also