Data types in templates

When a template is rendered, any functions that you have included are replaced with values from your application. If a template contains HTML, CSS, XML or plain text (with or without template functions), then the value returned by the template is always a string. However, if a template only contains template functions, then it might return another type of data, such as a case ID, a date, a number (integer, double, or long), or a JSON string.

When you create a template, you can specify the type of data that the template returns or use the Auto data type to let Grexx Platform identify the data type automatically. Specifying the data type is useful if you are creating an inline template or if you're creating a saved template to reuse in an inline template (using the template function).

To specify the type of data returned by a template, expand the Auto picklist and select the appropriate data type. If the template returns multiple values in the selected data type, click Multivalue to toggle the option on. For more information about the available data types, see Attributes.

Auto data type

When the Auto data type is selected, Grexx Platform determines the data type (including the multivalue options) automatically based on the contents of the template.

If a template contains only one template function (i.e. one blue block without plain text or new lines), then the function determines the data type. For example, if the template uses the case. function to retrieve a value from a case attribute, the attribute data type determines the template data type.

For templates with multiple functions, Grexx Platform attempts to identify the correct data type. More details about some of the rules that are used are listed below. If no better options are determined, the default single value string is used.

Tip:

If the data type is ambiguous, we recommend specifying it explicitly to avoid the risk of unexpected behavior.

Plain text booleans

If a template with the Auto data type returns boolean values in plain text, the data type is determined as follows:

• Boolean: true and false without capital letters are the only converted values.
• String: Values such as t, f, TRUE, True, FALSE, and False.
• Integer: Values 0 and 1.

Plain text numbers

If a template with the Auto data type returns numbers in plain text, the data type is determined as follows:

• Integers: Numbers with an optional negative sign, no leading zeros or spaces, and a maximum of 9 digits. For example, 0, 42, -123, 111222333.
• Longs: Numbers with an optional negative sign, no leading zeros or spaces, a minimum 10 digits, and a maximum 18 digits. For example, -1222333444, 111222333444555666.
• Doubles: Numbers with a period or comma (. or ,) and no leading zeros. Trailing zeros are allowed. For example:
  • 3.14, 3,14, 1., .1, 0.1, 0.10
  • 111222333444555666777.777666555444333222111
• Strings:
  • Any number starting with a zero. For example, 0612345678, 06-12345678, 06 12345678, 00.1.
  • Any number containing spaces or dashes. For example, 123 456, 123_456, 123-456, - 123.
  • Any number that is too large to be an integer or long. For example, 111222333444555666777.
  • Any number containing both periods . and commas ,. For example, 123,456.789.
  • Exponents. For example, 3.14e7.

Plain text JSONs

A valid JSON string, such as {"a":"b"} is given data type JSON. A number of other data types also have a JSON representation: file, money, point2D, polygon2D, inlineTemplate. If that structure is recognized, the associated data type is used.

Plain text JSON arrays

Plain text JSON arrays (such as ["a","b"]) are treated as single value strings. They are not converted to multivalues. This is because a JSON array string that is converted to multivalue and then back to a single value string will not be the same as the input, as the conversion from multivalue to single value relies on string concatenation. For example: ["a","b"] → multivalue (a, b) → single value string ab ≠ ["a","b"]

If a multivalue is required, we recommend explicitly selecting the data type and multivalue setting.

Return multiple values

If a template returns multiple values of the same data type, select the appropriate data type and then click Multivalue.

To create a multivalue, use the multivalue separator special.multivalue_separator template function. For example, case.attribute1 MULTIVALUE_SEPARATOR case.attribute2 MULTIVALUE_SEPARATOR case.multivalue_attribute

To create a JSON array with multiple values (for example ["a","b"] or [1,2]), use the util.EscapeJSON template function. For example, ["case.attribute_nonempty_without_quotes_newlines_slashes_etc", "util.escapeJSON(case.attribute_single_value)"]