Introduction
As part of our Value Transforms functionality, we offer the ability to perform Regex Find and Replace.
Regex is short for Regular Expression, and we use it to search for formats, rather than actual values. This means you can search for a certain format, and replace it with something else. This is useful, for example, if you want to reformat date or telephone number values.
The Convertr platform supports PCRE Regex values. As this can be a tricky language to master, this document will also cover some commonly used examples.
Setup Process
1. Within a Campaign, navigate to Admin > Value Transforms.
If this is not present, you can enable it by going to Admin > Setup, and checking the box to enable Value Transforms at the bottom of the page, then try the above step again.
2. On this page, select Add Fieldname.
3. Here, you'll need to fill out each field:
- Original Fieldname: the field you are looking to reformat
- New Fieldname: the field we will store your reformatted value in
- Label: A name for the Value Transform
- Order: This will dictate when this Value Transform should run, in relation to any other transformations set up in the campaign. By default this is 0, meaning that it will run first. Increasing the order changes when it will run.
4. You will need to select Manipulate. This will give you a type dropdown, where you can select Regex Find and Replace.
5. Enter your find and replace Regex.
Your setup is complete from here! You'll be able to use the Preview at the bottom to check that it reformats as intended:
Common Regex Examples
| Example | Find Regex | Replace Regex | Notes |
| Change 2021-09-29 to 09/29/2021 | /(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})/ | $2/$3/$1 | The Replace Regex can be amended, depending on your divider between the dates (e.g. $2.$3.$1 would give you 09.29.2021). |
| Change 2021-09-29 to 29/09/2021 | /(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})/ | $3/$2/$1 | The Replace Regex can be amended, depending on your divider between the dates (e.g. $3.$2.$1 would give you 29.09.2021). |
| Change 2021-09-29 to 09/29/21 | /(\d{2})(\d{2})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})/ | $3/$4/$2 | The Replace Regex can be amended, depending on your divider between the dates (e.g. $3.$4.$2 would give you 09.29.21). |
| Change 2021-09-29 to 29/09/21 | /(\d{2})(\d{2})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})/ | $4/$3/$2 | The Replace Regex can be amended, depending on your divider between the dates (e.g. $4.$3.$2 would give you 29.09.21). |
| Change XXXXXXXXXX to XXX XXX XXXX | /(\d{3})(\d{3})(\d{4})/ | $1 $2 $3 | Useful for US telephone number formats |
| Change XXXXXXXXXX to (XXX) XXX-XXXX | /(\d{3})(\d{3})(\d{4})/ | ($1) $2-$3 | Useful for US telephone number formats |
| If field contains the word 'Manager', create a new field with value 'Management' | /(.*)(Manager)+(.*)/ | Management | Useful for standardisation |