Standard template functions

You can add the following functions to templates. Type the function name followed by . (for example, case.) and then select the appropriate option. Once you have added a function, click the blue text to configure it as required.

Tip

To add multiple functions in a row, include a space between each one. Once you have configured the function, you can remove the space if necessary.

Activity meta

activitymeta. Get a the value from the metadata of the current activity.

This function should only be used in the context of activities and tasks, such as when iterating over a list of tasks. If the context is a case, using activitymeta. will return an error.

• Name - The activity name.
• Alternative name - The custom label for the activity.
• Hide in task list - Returns either true or false.
• Activity caseid - The ID of the activity in your Studio. You can use this value to open the relevant activity in order to make changes or investigate issues.
• Activity origin - For activities that have been imported from another Grexx Studio, this is the ID of the activity in the original Studio. If you created the activity in your own Studio, this value is the same as Activity caseid.
• Tags - A list of the tags that have been applied to the activity.

Attribute meta

attributemeta. Get the configured name of an attribute.

Casedata

case. Get the value of an attribute for the current case.

If the data type of the selected attribute is Case ID, you can retrieve the value of an attribute (or metadata) on the related case. If the attribute on the related case also contains a case ID, you can link to another related case, creating a chain of links. If you do not create a link, the case ID is returned.

Case meta

casemeta. Get the value from the metadata of the current case.

• Case-ID - The full case ID of the current case or of a related case identified via a link.
• Source-ID - For casetypes that have been imported from Grexx Marketplace, the ID of the casetype on the source platform. If the casetype was created on the current platform, this is the same as Case-ID.
• Origin-ID - For casetypes that have been imported from Grexx Marketplace, the ID of the casetype on the original platform. This is useful for casetypes that have been added to Grexx Marketplace and subsequently modified and re-added to the Marketplace. Origin-ID identifies the original casetype, whereas Source-ID identifies the immediate parent. If the casetype was created on the current platform, this is the same as Case-ID.
• ID - The ID of the current case, excluding the network and environment prefixes. For example, if the full case ID were 1:2345:67890, the ID would return 67890.
• Requestor - The case ID of the user that performed the activity that created the case.
• Is casetype - Whether the current case matches one of the specified casetypes. Returns either true or false. Optimized for searches.
• Is not casetype - Whether the current case does not match one of the specified casetypes. Returns either true or false. Optimized for searches.
• Casetype name - The name of the casetype. (Do not use in conditions. Use Is casetype for conditions.)
• Casetype case-ID - The ID of the casetype in the Studio. (Without an extra :1. Do not use in conditions. Use Is casetype for conditions.)
• Casetype origin - For casetypes that have been imported from Grexx Marketplace, the ID of the casetype in the origin Studio. (Without an extra :1. Do not use in conditions. Use Is casetype for conditions.)
• Parent case - The ID of the case that created either the current case or a related case identified via a link.
• Origin task - The ID of the task that created either this case or a related case identified via a link. This can be used in conjunction with the conventional task metadata, including Triggered by case to find the trigger.
• Date created - The date the current case was created.
• Date closed - The date that the (most recent) close case activity was performed. If the case has not been closed or has been reopened, no value is returned.
• Reference - A cached calculated attribute of type string. Can include plain text, case metadata and attribute values. If a reference has not been configured for the casetype, the Case ID is used. The reference is recalculated each time an activity is performed on the case. For more information, see Create casetypes.
• Related cases - A multivalue set of case IDs that are referenced in attributes on either the current case or a related case identified via a link.
• Last modified - The date and time that a task was last performed on this case, or that the case was otherwise modified.
• Last imported - The last modified date and time of the source case at the time the case was imported. A value is only returned for imported cases.

Comment

comment. The content of this is not calculated for the template.

Use comment. in preference to HTML comments<!-- -->, as these are calculated and can cause delays and unexpected behavior in conditions and sorting.

To comment or uncomment text in the template designer, select it and press CTRL + / (MacOS: CMD + /).

Context

context. Get the context of where the template is calculated.

• Root caseid - The case ID of the current view.
• Widget caseid - The ID of the case for which the widget is displaying data.
• Url Parameter - The value of a specified URL parameter. For example, when visiting my.grexx.today/home?product=1234, the value 1234 will be returned for the parameter product. The parameter name and value can only contain characters 0-9a-zA-Z. If unsupported characters are used, the parameter is excluded and given the value NULL.

Note:

URL parameters are generated client-side and therefore cannot be fully trusted. Ensure URL parameters are only used on places that are safe against injection.

Dataset

dataset. Get the results of calculations on a dataset.

Click the function to specify the dataset. If the dataset uses a Current case filter, the current case is used by default. To filter by a different case, use the Case pointer option to select the attribute containing the case ID you want to use. For more information, see Configure datasets.

• Average - The (arithmetic) average of the values in the specified column in the dataset.
• Count - The number of items in the dataset.
• Min - The lowest value out of the values in the specified column in the dataset.
• Max - The highest value out of the values in the specified column in the dataset.
• Sum - The total of the values in the specified column in the dataset.

Date

date. Get a date relative to either a date identified via case., casemeta., activitymeta., or taskmeta. or the current date.

• Add years - Add years to the date with time. If no start date is specified, the current date is used. Note:
  • February 29 + 1 year = February 28 (one year later)
  • February 29 + 4 years = February 29 (four years later)
• Add months - Add months to the date with time. If no start date is specified, the current date is used. Note:
  • January 30 + 1 month = February 28 (or 29).
  • January 30 + 2 months = March 30
  • However, January 30 + 1 month + 1 month = March 28 (or 29);
• Add weeks - Add weeks to the date with time. If no start date is specified, the current date is used.
• Add days - Add days to the date with time. If no start date is specified, the current date is used.
• Add hour - Add hours to the date with time. If no start date is specified, the current date is used.
• Add minutes - Add minutes to the date and time. If no start date is specified, the current date is used.
• Current date - The current date and time.
• Add business days - Add working days to the date with time. If no start date is specified, the current date is used.
  • Limitation: Maximum addition of ±150 business days.
  • Or use the normal add*days and afterwards add one more business day for larger numbers: addBusinessDays(addDays(date, 9999),1)
• Add business hours - Add working hours to the date with time. By default, business hours are defined as 0900-1700 (in your environment's time zone). For example, adding 16 hours will increment the date time by two business days. If no start date and time are specified, the current date and time are used. You can change the definition of business hours from your Studio under Settings > Platform settings.
• Add business minutes - Add working minutes to the date with time. By default, business hours are defined as 0900-1700 (in your environment's time zone). For example, adding 240 minutes to 1600 will return 1200 on the following (business) day. If no start date and time are specified, the current date and time are used. You can change the definition of business hours from your Studio under Settings > Platform settings.
• Date difference - Determine the difference between two dates. The unit can be selected. If no start or end date is specified, the current date is used.
• Format - Display the selected date in the specified format. For details of accepted formats, refer to Java's simple date format documentation.

Tip:

To get a date earlier than the specified date, use any of the Add functions with a negative number. For example, to return the date two days before the due date of a task, select Add days, set the start date to taskmeta.Date due, and enter -2.

Definition

definition. Used to export objects from the Studio. For advanced users.

Please contact your Grexx coach for assistance with this function.

Error messages

error. Get information about an error that has been caught in a try-catch block on an activity.

• Error to text - Get the error message (for example, to include in an email). You can also specify the text to return if no error has occurred.
• Has error - Whether an error has occurred. Returns either true or false.

Note:

Error functions must not be used to build control flows. Errors may become more specific in future and forward compatibility is not guaranteed.

File

file. Get properties of a file from a file attribute or a static file.

To retrieve values for a file stored in an attribute, identify the file attribute on the current case, or create a link to a related case and then identify the relevant file attribute. To retrieve values for a static file, identify the file using file.static file object and link to the file.

• Filename - The name of the file (including the extension) that is stored in a case attribute.
• URL - The URL of the file. You can use this to allow users to download a file stored in a case attribute. If the file is not public, specify how long you want the URL to be valid for in seconds. To make a file public or private, use the File operations system service.
• Extension - The extension of the file stored in a case attribute.
• Content-type - The content type of the file (such as image or text) stored in a case attribute.
• Size - The size of the file (in bytes) stored in a case attribute.
• Static file html - The default HTML of a static file that you have uploaded to the Studio. You can use this to display an image or provide a link to download the static file. To view and edit the default HTML, navigate to Platform > Static files and edit the static file.
• Static file url - The URL for a static file that you have uploaded to the Studio.
• Static file object - The file name of a static file that you have uploaded to the Studio.

Foreach

foreach. Get the current value of a for each or an item iterator.

• Current item - The current value in the iteration. For selecting from an item iterator or a multivalue.
• Current case - The current case in the iteration. Case data can be selected from the case.
• Current row - The current row when iterating over a dataset. A column value can be selected from the row.

You can select an activity and the relevant for each when you configure the template function. If you do not specify anything, the nearest for each or item iterator is used.

Function

function. Apply functions to values.

• Iterator - Apply a template to each case in the specified dataset or multivalue attribute.
• Item iterator - Applies the nested template on the same case as the parent template. The item iterator is executed for each item in the dataset or multivalue attribute. When casemeta.caseid is used, the case ID that is also used in the parent template is shown. To get the current case from the dataset, foreach.currentcase can be used. When a multivalue attribute is not of type case, foreach.currentitem can be used. When a dataset is used where the rows are not identified by a case, the foreach.currentrow can be used and linked to the correct column.
• If - Allows you to create an if then else construct.
• Is null - Allows you to specify an alternative value if the value is NULL (or empty string or empty multivalue).

Historical data

historic. Calculate a template on historical data.

Either select an existing saved template or define a template, and then specify the date on which you want to calculate the values.

HTML

html. Add Grexx-specific HTML elements to template widgets and tile widgets.

The following elements are currently implemented:

• Activity button - Add a button to perform an activity (and optionally embed the activity form). Either select an optional activity, identify an optional activity via a tag, or specify a mandatory task using the task ID. By default the activity is performed on the current case. To perform the activity on a different case, use case. to identify the related case.
  • You can configure a keyboard shortcut as an alternative to clicking the button or link. For more information about supported keyboard shortcuts, refer to the Mousetrap documentation.
  • You can populate one or more of the activity form fields with values from custom input fields included in the same template. This is useful when you have set the Execution to Quick activity (instead of Show form) but you need to populate the form fields. Use HTML to create the input field with the form-control grexxclickhandler-field class. Use the data-grexxclickhandleractivityfield attribute to specify the case ID of the activity form field and specify a unique tag using the data-grexxclickhandleractivityfieldtag attribute. Then, add the same tag to the Unique tag field in the activity button definition.
    To find the case ID of a form field, open the Form designer, click the settings icon on the toolbar, and enable Case-ID visibility.
• Sub widget - Load a widget with data for a related case. Use case. to identify the related case. You can choose to load the widget when the page loads (directly) or after the element has been clicked (after click). The user must have permission to view the specified widget, otherwise nothing is displayed.
• Copy button - Copy some text to the clipboard. For example, to copy case or task details, use case. or taskmeta. to specify the text. You can also customize the button label or tooltip text that is displayed once the text has been copied.
• Print button - Print the page using the browser print option.
• Back button - Navigate back to the previous page.
• Refresh button - Refresh the page.

For information about implementing these HTML elements directly in custom HTML, see Client-side HTML template functions.

Icon

icon. Include a Font Awesome icon.

JSON

json. Retrieve values from a JSON object.

• Path - Extract a value from a JSON object contained in a JSON attribute by specifying a JSON path. Use the Param field to identify the JSON attribute (for example, by using case.). Use the Path field to find the correct value in the JSON.
• JSONata - See https://jsonata.org/, a powerful tool for extracting complex calculations from JSON.
• Keys - Retrieve all keys from the JSON (at root level).

Multi-language

lang. Indicate that a piece of text should be translated.

The input is plain text, where you can specify placeholders that are in turn a template.

Selected text can be made multi-language with the keyboard shortcut CTRL + L (MacOS: CMD + L), although it is recommended that you check this yourself. This keyboard shortcut also works for most template parts. You can identify existing multi-language template parts in the template editor by the flag ⛿ in the blue block.

For more information about adding support for multiple languages to your application, see Multi-language.

Math

math. Return the results of mathematical operations.

Use a template (such as case.) to identify the values on which you want to perform calculations or enter static values as required.

Name	Mathematical formula	Explanation
Formula		Enter a plain text formula. For more information, see Formula.
Min	min(x, y)	Return the lowest value. The values can be either single or multivalue.
Max	max(x, y)	Return the highest value. The values can be either single or multivalue.
Add	x + y	Add two values together. The values can be either single or multivalue. If all values are empty (null), the result is also empty. If one value is empty, the empty value is treated as the number '0'. For strings, string concatenation is used.
Subtract	x - y	Subtract one value from another. The left field must be a single value. The right field can be a single value or a multivalue. If all values are empty (null), the result is also empty. If one value is empty, the empty value is treated as the number 0. For strings, string concatenation is used.
Multiply	x * y	Multiply two values together. The values can be either single or multivalue. If one of the values is empty (null), the result is empty.
Divide	x/y	Divide one value by another. The left field must be a single value. The right field can be a single value or a multivalue. If one of the values is empty (null), the result is also empty. Dividing by the number '0' gives an error.
Power	x^y	Raise one value to the power of another. Both the base and the exponent must be single values. If the base or exponent is empty (null), the result is also empty.
N/A	√x = x^0.5	To take the square root of a number, you can raise it to the power 0.5.
Random		Returns a pseudo-random decimal number between 0.0 (inclusive) and 1.0 (exclusive).
Round	round(x)	Round a number. The number of decimal places can be specified. When the value is empty (null), the rounded value is also empty.
Floor	floor(x)	The largest integer below the specified value. The number of decimal places can be specified. When the value is empty (null), the rounded value is also empty.
Ceil	ceil(x)	The smallest integer above the specified value. The number of decimal places can be specified. When the value is empty (null), the rounded value is also empty.
Euclidean Distance		The length of a line segment between the two points. Points must be in the Point2d format. For more information, see Attributes.
Geographical Distance		As the crow flies distances across the Earth's surface between points determined by geographic coordinates in terms of latitude and longitude. Points must be in the Point2d format. For more information, see Attributes.
Polygon contains point		Points must be in the Point2d and Polygon2d format. For more information, see Attributes.

Multivalue

multivalue. Perform operations on data in multivalue attributes.

Use case. to identify the multivalue attribute(s), linking to other cases as required.

• Count - The number of items in the multivalue attribute.
• Contains - Whether the multivalue attribute contains the specified value. Returns either true or false.
• Pick any - Return a specified number of values from the multivalue attribute.
• Pick Nth element - Return the Nth item in a list. Use 1 to select the first item in a list, 2 to select the second and so on. Use -1 to select the last item in a list, and -2 to select the penultimate item. Using this function on a set returns an error.
• Join - Return all the values in the multivalue attribute, separated by the Join string.
• Union - Combine the values from two multivalue attributes.
• Intersection - Return the items that are the same from two multivalue attributes.
• Difference - Return the items that are unique across two multivalue attributes. (Removes any items that are common to both multivalue attributes.)
• Minus - Return only the values in the first multivalue attribute that do not match the values in the second attribute.

Page

page. List of casetypes of type page. You can use this function to return values from the page metadata or attributes.

For example, you can use this to retrieve the case ID of the application homepage. You can also link from the page attributes to other cases.

Parameter

parameter. List of parameters in the current template (if applicable).

For more information, see "Reuse templates" in the Templates reference.

Platform attributes

platform. Get the value of a platform attribute for the current case.

As with the case. function, if the data type of the selected platform attribute is Case ID, you can retrieve the value of an attribute (or metadata) on the related case and create a chain of links. If you do not create a link, the case ID is returned.

Special

special. Special variables.

• Invite-URL - For the invitation email. Can only be used in combination with the Invite user system service.
• Multi-value separator - Allows you to create your own multivalue. Include this function to divide the items in the multivalue field.

System config

systemconfig. Get details of the application configuration.

• Key - Get configuration details. Supported keys include:
  • core.dtap
  • core.releaseversion
  • core.releasedate
  • core.mailOut
• Release ring - Get the release ring that the current DTAP environment is using.

Taskmeta

taskmeta. Get the value from the metadata of selected tasks.

You can use this function when iterating over a list of tasks.

• Task ID - The ID of the task.
• Case-ID - The ID of the case that the task relates to.
• Activity - The ID of the activity in your Studio. You can use this value to open the relevant activity in order to make changes or investigate issues.
• Date created - The date and time that a mandatory task was triggered or an optional task was initiated.
• Date finished - The date and time that the task was submitted. If the task has not yet been submitted, no data is returned.
• Date cancelled - The date and time that a mandatory task was cancelled.
• Root actor - The case ID of the user that initiated the first task in a chain of activities. This can be useful when viewing details of a task that was triggered automatically by another activity.
• Actor - The case ID of the user that performed the activity.
• Triggered by case - The ID of the case that initiated the activity.
• Date due status - Returns ok if the activity is not yet overdue. Returns err if the deadline has passed and the activity has not been performed.
• Date due - The due date for activities with a deadline.
• New case - The ID of the case created by the task. This is only relevant for casetype activities.
• Is event - Whether the activity is a deadline, timed event, or queued task. Returns either true or false.
• Event time - The time of the event, if applicable.

Template

template. List of saved templates.

Allows you to reuse a saved template within another saved template or in an inline template. For more information, see "Reuse templates" in the Templates reference.

URL

url. Get the URL of a particular platform, page, or casetype view.

You can use this to provide a link to another application or to a specific page in your application.

• Page Url - The URL of a page casetype. Enter the page alias. To link to a page on another Grexx application, enter the platform ID.
• Platform Url - The URL of another Grexx application. Enter the relevant platform ID.
• Case Url - The URL of the default view of a standard case, such as a product or customer. Use a template to identify the relevant case.

Note:

You can only link to platforms that have indicated that you may see the URL of that platform. If you link to a case ID from a platform whose URL you are not allowed to know, but it is an imported product (known ID), the link to the corresponding case will be made on your own platform.

User

user. Get properties of the user.

Please note that during system tasks, such as events (timed, deadline, queued task), there is no user and user. cannot be used.

• Current user - Attribute or metadata values for the currently logged in user.
• User-session - Information about the current user session. The following top-level keys are available:
  • Claims - A JSON containing all provider claims from XXID (for example, Google, eHerkenning, Facebook).
  • https - User connection information, including hostname, IP address, and client certificate.
  • lang - The language and locale of the user (for example, NL-nl or DE-de).
  • custom - Access any custom keys you have added to the user session using either the platform context designer or a context block or mapping in an activity. For example, if you have created a key called visitor, you can use user.User-session.custom.visitor to return the stored value. For more information about using values stored in the user's session, see Create conditions based on user session data.
• Has Role- Whether the logged in user has the selected role. Returns either true or false.
• Last Active - Calculation to determine for a (user) case when the user was last active. Enter the case ID of the relevant user or use user.Current user to get the case ID of the logged in user. If this case is not a user, has never been active or has not been active after implementation, it will return empty. Not supported in historical mode.
• Last Login - Calculation to determine for a (user) case when the user was last logged in. Enter the case ID of the relevant user or use user.Current user to get the case ID of the logged in user. If this case is not a user, has never been active or was last active before February/March 2024, it will return empty. Not supported in historical mode.

Util

util. Miscellaneous operations.

Use a template to retrieve values from case data and other sources. You can also enter static text.

• Append - Add padding to the end of another piece of text. Use a template to specify the text and enter the desired string length in the Size field. The specified padding character is repeated until the string length is reached.
• Prepend - Add padding in front of another piece of text. Use a template to specify the text and enter the desired string length in the Size field. The specified padding character is repeated until the string length is reached.
• Regex-based replace - Replace all occurrences of a piece of text identified by a regular expression with another piece of text.
• Replace - Replace all occurrences of a piece of text with another piece of text.
• Regex-based find - Returns a list of all matches of a regular expression in a piece of text.
• Split - Divides the text based on the separator character and returns a list of substrings.
• Regex-based split - Divides the text based on the regular expression separator and returns a list of substrings.
• Substring - Extract a string from a piece of text by specifying the start and end positions. The first character in the parent string is at position 0.
• To lowercase - Convert all letters in a piece of text to lowercase.
• To uppercase - Convert all letters in a piece of text to uppercase.
• Trim - Remove whitespace characters (such as spaces and tabs) at the beginning and end of a piece of text.
• Escape HTML - Escape a piece of text to make it safe for HTML, including <>/"&
• Escape JSON - Escape a piece of JSON.
• Number Formatter - Change the formatting of a number. Configuring the Format-string overrides the locale settings. For more information, refer to Decimal Format in the Java documentation.
• Random string - Create a random string of a specified length.
• Url encode - Encode a piece of text for use in a URL. This is useful for generating URL parameters. Do not use this template function for your entire URL. Make sure that the ?, & and = from the query and the / from the path are not included in the function.
• Random UUID - Generate a random UUID.
• Base64 encode - Encode a piece of text with base64 encoding.
• Base64 decode - Decode a piece of text with base64 encoding.
• Hash - Return the hash using a choice of algorithms (SHA-256, SHA-512, HMAC-SHA-512). You can also specify salt and pepper.
• Byte length - Return the number of bytes in the value, using the specified character set.
• String length - Return the number of characters in the string.

XML

xml. Operations on XML content.

• path - Use an XPath to extract a value from an XML object. In the Param field, use a template to identify the XML attribute. In the Path field enter the XPath to find the correct value in the XML.
• XSLT - Transform XML using XSLT.