Version

    Substring

    Substring step returns specific number of characters from provided text starting with specified character position. First character has position of 0.

    Parameters

    • Input column: required, a string column containing input text.

    • Start position: required, starting position of the substring. First character in the string has position of 0, last character has position of length($Input) - 1. Negative start positions are not allowed. Start position greater than or equal to the length of the input is allowed.

    • Number of characters: required, number of characters returned to copy from the input string. Value must be greater or equal to 0. Values longer than the remainder of the string from Start position are allowed.

    • Target column: required, configure the column which will receive the output. Output will always be of string type.

      • Write result to the current column: overwrite the input column with the result.

      • Create new column with name: create a new column with specified name. Name of the new column can contain spaces or special characters - technical column name will be created automatically. The new column will be placed right after the input column.

    Examples
    Input value Starting position Number of characters Output value Description

    "INV-20230328"

    4

    4

    "2023"

    Returns 4 characters starting from the fifth one (character with index 4 is the fifth character).

    "INV-20230328"

    4

    20

    "20230328"

    If Number of characters is longer than the rest of the input after Start position, only the available characters are returned.

    "London"

    10

    5

    "" (empty string)

    Start position is after the end of the input, empty string is returned.

    "INV-20230328"

    0

    3

    "INV"

    First three characters of the input. Same result as using Left substring step with Number of characters set to 3.

    "INV-20230328"

    4

    8

    "20230328"

    Simpler solution would be reached by using Right substring step

    No value

    any

    any

    No value

    No value input produces No value output.

    Error

    any

    any

    Error

    Error input value leads to Error on output.
    Remarks

    • If Starting position is greater than the length of the input text, empty string "" is returned.

    • If Starting position is less than the length of the input text and the Number of characters exceeds the length of the remainder of the input, only characters up to the end of the input are returned (no padding is done).

    See also