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How to write an expression or formula to change a variable

This article covers the syntax and rules for writing an expression or formula to change a variable.

Learn more about how variables work: Variables section overview.

Since the update of December 31, 2024, formulas in text are available. With them, you don't have to add separate variables or create an action: just write the formula in the text, for example: {{=100-45=}}. Formulas in text also support variables.

General rules

  1. The number of spaces outside the quotes “ ” doesn't matter.

  2. Any number or text in the examples below can be replaced with a variable.

  3. For two or more values to interact, an operator is required between them.

  4. Order of operations:

    • Calculations in all parentheses are performed first, starting with the most deeply nested ones (example: (2 + 2) * 2 = 8).

    • Everything else is performed from left to right once the calculations inside parentheses are done.

    • Multiplication and division take precedence over addition and subtraction (example: 2 + 2 * 2 = 6).

    • Inside the parentheses, calculations are performed from left to right.

Important! A variable is changed after the command is called. If a command has an action that changes the variable {{VARIABLE}}, and a text block of the same command sends the variable {{VARIABLE}}, the user receives the previous value.

Text operations (concatenation)

Simple operations

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To use text in an expression or formula, put it in quotes “ ”.

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Text operations use two or more phrases or variables that contain text. In these operations, you can use only the addition operator +.

  • Replacing with a single value — “Hello” = Hello

  • Concatenating a string with a number — "Hello" + 50 = Hello50

  • Concatenating two strings — "Hello" + ", World" = Hello, World

Complex operations

Concatenation can include operations with numbers. Examples:

  1. "Text" + 1 + 2 = Text12

  2. "Text" + (1 + 2) = Text3

  3. 1 + 2 + "Text" = 3Text

  4. (1 + 2) + "Text" = 3Text

Explanation: example 1 differs from example 3 in the order of operations. All math operations are performed from left to right. In example 1, the first operation adds Text and a Number, so the rest of the result is calculated as Text. In example 3, the first operation adds a Number and a Number, so it is calculated by the rules of math, and then the Text is appended.

A clearer example: 1 + 2 + “Text” + 1 + 2 = 3Text12. Here, a Number is first added to a Number by the rules of math, and after the addition of Text, the remaining operations are also calculated as Text.

Number operations

Simple operations

  • Addition — 1 + 2

  • Subtraction — 3 - 4

  • Multiplication — 5 * 6

  • Division — 7 / 8

  • Exponentiation — 9 ^ 10

Complex operations

  • Sine (parameter in radians) — sin(3.14159)

  • Cosine (parameter in radians) — cos(3.14159)

  • Tangent (parameter in radians) — tan(3.14159)

  • Cotangent (parameter in radians) — cot(3.14159)

  • Exponential — exp(2)

  • Logarithm to the base of the constant e — log(2) or ln(2)

  • Logarithm to base 10 — log10(100) or lg(100)

  • Absolute value — abs(-55)

  • Signum — sgn(50)

  • Square root — sqrt(144)

  • Rounding up — ceil(55.5)

  • Rounding to the nearest value with 2 decimal places — round(12.111, 2)

  • Rounding down — floor(55.5)

  • Random number from 5 to 10 — random(5, 10)

  • Maximum value in a set — max(0, 1, 2, 3, 2, -2, -3, 1)

  • Minimum value in a set — min(0, 1, 2, 3, 2, -7, -2, -3)

Number output format

number_format(123456) = 123,456

Accepted arguments:

  1. the number to format

  2. the number of decimal places

  3. the decimal separator

  4. the thousands separator

Examples:
number_format(123456) = 123,456
number_format(123456, 0, ".", " ") = 123 456
number_format(123456, 0, ".", ",") = 123,456
number_format(123456, 3, ".", ",") = 123,456.000

String operations

  • Parsing a string with a regular expression — match("prefix_DATA123", "/prefix_(.*)/") = DATA123

  • Parsing a string and returning a specific match group —
    match_all("ABC", "/([A-Z]{1})/", 0) = A
    match_all("ABC", "/([A-Z]{1})/", 1) = B
    match_all("ABC", "/([A-Z]{1})/", 2) = C

Important! Group numbering starts at 0, not 1!

  • Replacing a substring in text — replace("Hello, world", "world", "there") = Hello, there

  • Replacing a substring in text with a regular expression — reg_replace("HELLO, world", "/([a-z]+)/", "there") = HELLO, there

The syntax and behavior of regular expressions follow the standards of the PHP programming language.
In formulas with regular expressions, you can use the flags (pattern modifiers) available in PHP.

Example:
The variable {{var}} contains multiline text
"Line1
Line2
Line3"
match_all({{var}}, "/([a-zA-Z0-9]+)/m", 0) = Line1
match_all({{var}}, "/([a-zA-Z0-9]+)/m", 1) = Line2
match_all({{var}}, "/([a-zA-Z0-9]+)/m", 2) = Line3

  • Pluralization - choosing the correct word form depending on the number
    plur(number, singular, plural for 2-4, plural for 5 and more)

    plur(0, "bot","bota","botov") — 0 botov
    plur(101, "bot", "bota", "botov") — 101 bot
    plur(32, "bot", "bota", "botov") — 32 bota

For languages with fewer than three forms, such as English:
plur(0, "bot", "bots") — 0 bots
plur(1, "bot", "bots") — 1 bot
plur(2, "bot", "bots") — 2 bots
plur(10, "bot", "bots") — 10 bots
plur(11, "bot", "bots") — 11 bots
plur(101, "bot", "bots") — 101 bots

Date and time operations

  • Add N days to a date — ADD_DAYS("03.09.2023 15:34:12", 4)

  • Add N months to a date — ADD_MONTHS("03.09.2023 15:34:12", 4)

  • Add N years to a date — ADD_YEARS("03.09.2023 15:34:12", 4)

  • Add N hours to a date — ADD_HOURS("15:34:12", 4) or ADD_HOURS("03.09.2023 15:34:12", 2)

  • Add N minutes to a date — ADD_MINUTES("03.09.2023 15:34:12", 4)

  • Add N seconds to a date — ADD_SECONDS("03.09.2023 15:34:12", 4)

  • Difference in days between two dates — DAYS_BETWEEN("15.09.2023 15:34:12", "11.09.2023 15:34:12")

  • Difference in hours between two dates — HOURS_BETWEEN("30.08.2023 23:00", "29.08.2023 22:00")

  • Convert a date to the required format — DATE_FORMAT("15.09.2023 15:34:12", "d F Y")

To subtract, pass a negative number of days, months, years and so on. Example: ADD_HOURS("03.09.2023 15:34:12", -2) = 03.09.2023 13:34:12.

The date format can be any of the common ones (01.12.2023 | 01/12/2023 | 2023-12-01), but the year must always have 4 digits.

ADD_* functions return the date in the same format as the input

Comparison operators

  • for numbers — ==, !=, >=, <=
    Example: 1 == 1 --> 1; 1 != 1 --> 0

  • for strings — ==, !=
    Example: "aa" == "bb" --> 0; "aa" != "bb" --> 1

Comparison operators for numbers can be combined with calculations. For example:
1 + 2 == 3 --> 1;
1 + 2 == 4 --> 0;
5 + 2 == 8 - 1 --> 1

The IF function and the AND/OR logical operators

if(condition, true, false) — if the condition is met, the second operand (true) is returned as the value; otherwise, the third operand (false) is returned

  • if(0, "yes", "no") --> no
    if(1, "yes", "no") --> yes

The OR and AND logical operators combined with the IF function:

  • if(10 > 5 , "yes", "no") --> yes
    if(10 > 20 , "yes", "no") --> no
    if(10 > 20 && 2 < 3 , "yes", "no") --> no
    if(10 > 20 && 4 < 3 , "yes", "no") --> no
    if(20 > 10 && 4 < 3 , "yes", "no") --> no
    if(20 > 10 && 3 < 4 , "yes", "no") --> yes
    if(10 > 20 || 2 < 3 , "yes", "no") --> yes
    if(10 > 20 || 4 < 3 , "yes", "no") --> no
    if(20 > 10 || 4 < 3 , "yes", "no") --> yes
    if(20 > 10 || 3 < 4 , "yes", "no") --> yes

You can use variables in functions. For example: if({{VAR1}} > {{VAR2}} , {{VAR3}}, {{VAR4}}) — if the value of VAR1 is greater than the value of VAR2, the result is the value of VAR3; otherwise, the value of VAR4

Important! In operations, there must be spaces to the left and right of comparison and arithmetic operators.

If a comma could be read as part of a value, separate it with a space.

For example:
if(12<10,"yes","no") — incorrect, because the validator reads "10," instead of "10"
if(12<10 , "yes", "no") — correct.

Other

  • hmac_sha1 — signs a message with the sha1 algorithm (first argument = message, second argument = secret key)
    hmac_sha1("message","secret") = 0caf649feee4953d87bf903ac1176c45e028df16

  • hmac_sha256 — signs a message with the sha256 algorithm (first argument = message, second argument = secret key)
    hmac_sha256("message", "secret") = 8b5f48702995c1598c573db1e21866a9b825d4a794d169d7060a03605796360b

  • hmac_sha384 — signs a message with the sha384 algorithm (first argument = message, second argument = secret key)
    hmac_sha384("message", "secret") = ad0ef4e80da427b2a33d4457c972bf759f50766fbb665690d50b7cb38dd5217db559c93ea7cbee48e2ae1a5b4aafd34b

  • hmac_sha512 — signs a message with the sha512 algorithm (first argument = message, second argument = secret key)
    hmac_sha512("message", "secret") = 1bba587c730eedba31f53abb0b6ca589e09de4e894ee455e6140807399759adaafa069eec7c01647bb173dcb17f55d22af49a18071b748c5c2edd7f7a829c632

  • hmac_md5 — signs a message with the md5 algorithm (first argument = message, second argument = secret key)
    hmac_md5("message", "secret") = 7e0d0767775312154ba16fd3af9771a2

  • hmac_ripemd160 — signs a message with the ripemd160 algorithm (first argument = message, second argument = secret key)
    hmac_ripemd160("message", "secret") = c66cf705f6c9dd35a0dfe512c7a9bd0bbcf533a2

  • md5 — calculates an md5 hash
    md5("test") = 098f6bcd4621d373cade4e832627b4f6

  • sha256 — calculates a sha256 hash
    sha256("test") = 9f86d081884c7d659a2feaa0c55ad015a3bf4f1b2b0b822cd15d6c15b0f00a08

  • crc32 — calculates a crc32 hash
    crc32("test") = 3632233996

  • base64_encode — encodes a string to base64
    base64_encode("test") = dGVzdA==

  • base64_decode — decodes a base64 string
    base64_decode("dGVzdA==") = test

  • bin2hex — converts binary data to HEX
    bin2hex("aaa") = 616161

  • hex2bin — converts HEX data to binary
    hex2bin("616161") = aaa

  • strlen — string length
    strlen("test") = 4

  • json_extract — extracts data from JSON using JSON Path
    json_extract({{SHOP_ORDER_LAST_RECEIPT}}, "$.price_total") = the total price of the last order in the Store

Changing case

  • to_lower("HELLO WORLD") — hello world
    to_lower("Hello World") — hello world
    to_lower("123ABC") — 123abc
    to_lower("") —

  • to_upper("hello world") — HELLO WORLD
    to_upper("Hello World") — HELLO WORLD
    to_upper("123abc") — 123ABC
    to_upper("") —

  • capitalize("hello world") — Hello world
    capitalize("hello WORLD") — Hello WORLD
    capitalize("123abc") — 123abc
    capitalize("") —

  • capitalize_each("hello world test") — Hello World Test
    capitalize_each("hello WORLD test") — Hello WORLD Test
    capitalize_each("one two three") — One Two Three
    capitalize_each("") —

  • uncapitalize("Hello World") — hello World
    uncapitalize("HELLO WORLD") — hELLO WORLD
    uncapitalize("Test") — test
    uncapitalize("") —

Trimming and truncating

  • trim(" hello world ") — hello world
    trim(" hi there ") — hi there
    trim("\t\ntest\n\t") — test
    trim(" ") —
    trim("") —

  • trim_left(" hello world ") — hello world
    trim_left("\t\nleft") — left
    trim_left(" test") — test
    trim_left("") —

  • trim_right(" hello world ") — hello world
    trim_right("right\t\n") — right
    trim_right("test ") — test
    trim_right("") —

  • truncate("A long text for testing", 10) — A long tex
    truncate("Short", 10) — Short
    truncate("Exact", 5) — Exact
    truncate("", 5) —

  • truncate_start("A long text for testing", 10) — t for testing
    truncate_start("Short text", 10) —
    truncate_start("Test", 4) —
    truncate_start("", 5) —

  • truncate_end("A long text for testing", 10) — A long text f
    truncate_end("Short text", 10) —
    truncate_end("Test", 4) —
    truncate_end("", 5) —

Cleaning and filtering

  • squash_spaces(" hello world test ") — hello world test
    squash_spaces("one\t\ttwo\n\nthree") — one two three
    squash_spaces("normal text") — normal text
    squash_spaces("") —

  • strip_digits("hello123world456") — helloworld
    strip_digits("test 1 2 3 text") — test text
    strip_digits("123456") —
    strip_digits("no digits here") — no digits here

  • strip_letters("hello123world456") — 123456
    strip_letters("test 1 2 3 text") — 1 2 3
    strip_letters("abcdef") —
    strip_letters("123456") — 123456

  • strip_specials("hello!@#world$%^") — helloworld
    strip_specials("test()*+,-./:;<=>?") — test
    strip_specials("normal text 123") — normaltext123
    strip_specials("!@#$%^&*()") —

Checking content

  • starts_with("hello world", "hello") — 1
    starts_with("hello world", "world") — 0
    starts_with("testing", "te") — 1
    starts_with("", "test") — 0
    starts_with("test", "") — 0

  • ends_with("hello world", "world") — 1
    ends_with("hello world", "hello") — 0
    ends_with("testing", "ng") — 1
    ends_with("", "test") — 0
    ends_with("test", "") — 0

  • contains("hello world test", "world") — 1
    contains("hello world test", "xyz") — 0
    contains("good morning", "morning") — 1
    contains("", "test") — 0
    contains("test", "") — 0

  • word_count("hello world test") — 3
    word_count("one two three four") — 4
    word_count("single") — 1
    word_count("") — 0
    word_count(" multiple spaces here ") — 3

Removing emoji

  • strip_emojis("Hello 😀 World 🌍") — Hello World
    strip_emojis("Test 👍 🎉 emoji") — Test emoji
    strip_emojis("No emojis here") — No emojis here
    strip_emojis("🚀🎯⭐️") — ⭐️

Validation

  • is_email("test@example.com") — 1
    is_email("invalid.email") — 0
    is_email("user@domain.ru") — 1
    is_email("") — 0
    is_email("test@") — 0

  • is_url("https://example.com") — 1
    is_url("http://test.ru") — 1
    is_url("ftp://files.com") — 1
    is_url("not_a_url") — 0
    is_url("") — 0

  • is_ip("192.168.1.1") — 1
    is_ip("2001:db8::1") — 1
    is_ip("invalid.ip") — 0
    is_ip("256.256.256.256") — 0
    is_ip("") — 0

  • is_ipv4("192.168.1.1") — 1
    is_ipv4("10.0.0.1") — 1
    is_ipv4("2001:db8::1") — 0
    is_ipv4("invalid") — 0
    is_ipv4("") — 0

  • is_ipv6("2001:db8::1") — 1
    is_ipv6("::1") — 1
    is_ipv6("192.168.1.1") — 0
    is_ipv6("invalid") — 0
    is_ipv6("") — 0

  • is_mac("00:1B:44:11:3A:B7") — 1
    is_mac("00-1B-44-11-3A-B7") — 1
    is_mac("001B44113AB7") — 0
    is_mac("invalid_mac") — 0
    is_mac("") — 0

  • is_phone("+7 (999) 123-45-67") — 1
    is_phone("89991234567") — 1
    is_phone("+1-555-123-4567") — 1
    is_phone("invalid_phone") — 0
    is_phone("") — 0

  • is_number("123") — 1
    is_number("123.45") — 1
    is_number("-67.89") — 1
    is_number("not_a_number") — 0
    is_number("") — 0

  • is_string("hello world") — 1
    is_string("123") — 1
    is_string("") — 1
    is_string("true") — 1

Masking

  • mask_email("test@example.com") — t***@example.com
    mask_email("user@domain.ru") — u***@domain.ru
    mask_email("a@b.c") — *@b.c
    mask_email("invalid_email") — invalid_email

  • mask_credit_card("1234567890123456") — **** **** **** 3456
    mask_credit_card("4111-1111-1111-1111") — **** **** **** 1111
    mask_credit_card("4111 1111 1111 1111") — **** **** **** 1111
    mask_credit_card("invalid_card") — invalid_card

  • mask_name("Ivan Petrov") — I*** P*****
    mask_name("John Smith") — J*** S****
    mask_name("A") — A
    mask_name("") —

Extraction

  • extract_number("Price: 1234.56 rubles") — 1234.56
    extract_number("No numbers in the text") —
    extract_number("123 and 456 and 789") — 123
    extract_number("") —


  • extract_phone("My phone: +7 (999) 123-45-67") — +7 (999) 123-45-67
    extract_phone("Call me 89991234567") — 89991234567
    extract_phone("No phone in the text") —
    extract_phone("") —

  • extract_email("Write to test@example.com") — test@example.com
    extract_email("Email: user@domain.ru or admin@site.com") — user@domain.ru
    extract_email("No email in the text") —
    extract_email("") —

  • extract_username("Follow @username") — @username
    extract_username("Users: @user1") — @user1
    extract_username("No username in the text") —
    extract_username("") —

  • extract_hashtag("A post with a #tag") — #tag
    extract_hashtag("No hashtags") —
    extract_hashtag("") —

  • extract_url("Website: https://example.com") — https://example.com
    extract_url("No links in the text") —
    extract_url("") —

Substitution

  • switch("apple", "apple", "this is an apple", "banana", "this is a banana", "unknown fruit") — this is an apple
    switch("banana", "apple", "this is an apple", "banana", "this is a banana", "unknown fruit") — this is a banana
    switch("orange", "apple", "this is an apple", "banana", "this is a banana", "unknown fruit") — unknown fruit

To make it clearer, let's break the function down line by line:
switch("{{VARIABLE}}", — switch is the function name, and {{VARIABLE}} is a variable whose value is compared with the conditions listed below.
"apple", "this is an apple", — if the variable's value is apple, the formula inserts the text this is an apple.
"banana", "this is a banana", — if the variable's value is banana, the formula inserts the text this is a banana.
"unknown fruit") — if the variable's value doesn't match any of the conditions, the formula inserts the text unknown fruit.

Escaping

Use the \ character to escape characters that are part of the expression syntax. The \" construct lets you use double quotes in the result of an expression. Examples:

\"" + {{FIRST_NAME_TEXT}} + "\"" = “Name”

\\ + {{USERNAME_TEXT}} + \\ = \@username\

Other constructs:

  • Tab \t — adds 4 spaces on the left

  • Line break \n — adds a line break

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