Built-in functions

Built-in functions

InterFormNG2 comes with multiple built-in XPath functions. The built-in functions can be used XPath expression in both the designer and in the workflow.

 

While editing an XPath expression you can click the icon looking like a magnifying glass:

 

NG2BuiltInFunctions0001

 

- and then you will see this:

 

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If you now click Built-in functions on the right, then you can see the list of the built-in XPath functions, that you can use freely in InterFormNG2:

(All are described in the sections below).

 

1.ng:base64 Converts a string into Base64 encoded string.

2.ng:base64EncodeFile. Returns the converted contents of a file into a Base64 encoded string.

3.ng:base64EncodeResource Returns the result of a conversion of the contents of a Library resource into a Base64 encoded string.

4.ng:databaseLookup. This makes it possible to run an SQL lookup anywhere in InterFormNG2 - including the designer.

5.ng:compare. This can be used for comparing two texts or numbers.This often is a better tool than a simple compare with <>!=, as a comparison with e.g. null can give another result than expected like described in the sections: Verify if a node exists, Test if a node is not blank and Test if a node is blank.

6.ng:dateFormat Converts almost any date format into anothe date format.

7.ng:dateTimeFormat Converts a timestamp (date and time) into the format of your choice.

8.ng:fileExist Verifies if a file exists. A related function is ng:resourceExist.

9.ng:hexToUtf8 Converts a sequence of hex characters into the equivalent UTF-8 characters.

10. ng:last-page-number Returns the total number of pages of the current output inside a template, when you edit it in the designer.
11. ng:measureFont. This function can calculate the width of a text when the font, font size and bold/italic options are known. This can be used to adapt the font size to the dynamic width of a text.
12. ng:minimum Return the smallest number of two numeric parameters.
13. ng:numberFormat Formats an input number into the format of your choice.
14. ng:page-number The current page number in a template. This can be used in the designer inside of a template.
15. ng:resourceExist Verifies if a resource exists. The function returns true or false. Related function is ng:fileExist.
16. ng:serializationData. Inserts a counter with a user defined increment in the ZPL output only.
17. ng:spellOutNumber Option to output a number spelled out in a selected language. This can e.g. be used in cheques to spell out the amount.
18. ng:spoolMap A function to extract spooled file date in both the designer, in the workflow and in for Spooled file enrichment via SQL.
19. ng:spoolMapCond. This function is for version 1 spooled files only thus it should not be used.
20. ng:spoolMapRel. This function is used for references to relative spooled file lines within a line-repeat.
21. ng:translation A function to do language dependent translations with a key.
22. ng:trim Trims the leading and trailing spaces of a string - normally a better alternative to the standard XPath function, normalize-space().
23. ng:trimLeft Trims leading spaces of a string.
24. ng:trimRight Trims trailing spaces of a string.
25. ng:varToString The function converts a variable (which is expected to be an integer) into a string. The function has been added especially for use with a web service.
26.ng:uuid() This function generates a 128-bit universally unique identifier that complies with the Internet Engineering Task Force RFC 4122 standard.

 


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