Explore functions reference

When you start to create your own custom metrics and attributes, you'll use functions a lot to help you perform comparisons, calculations, and manipulations to your business information.

Explore offers many functions to help you work with, for example, dates, text strings, calculations and more. Use this article as a reference to help you discover the available functions and how to use them.

This article contains the following topics:

• Getting started
• Attribute functions
• Date functions
• Logical functions
• Numeric functions
• Text functions
• Array functions
• Trigonometric functions
• Administration functions
• URL functions
• JSON functions
• REGEXP functions
• Cryptography functions
• Basic mathematical operators

Getting started

You can browse for, and select functions when you create a standard calculated metric or attribute. In the formula editing window, you can either begin to type the name of a function or click Add under Functions and choose your function from the list.

When the function is added to a formula, it will appear with standard values. You must replace these with the values you want to use in your formula. In this example, you want to return only your tickets with subject lines beginning with "[Flagged]".

1. In the calculations menu (), click Standard calculated attribute.
2. Name your calculated attribute. This example uses Subject begins with [Flagged].
3. Under Functions, click Add.
4. In the formula window, type IF .
5. Under Functions, click Add.
6. Search for LEFTPART. Either use the search box, click Filter to scope the values down to the Text category, or scroll through the list until you find the function you want.
7. Next to LEFTPART, click +.
8. You'll now see the formula IF LEFTPART(_text,_number). Change the _text parameter to the Ticket Subject attribute. Either highlight _text and then choose Ticket subject from the Fields menu, or amend the formula manually to add the attribute.

   The formula will now read IF LEFTPART([Ticket subject],_number)

9. Change the text _number to the number of characters you want to compare. [Flagged] has nine characters, so enter 9.

   The formula will now read IF LEFTPART([Ticket subject],9)

10. Finally, add the condition we are searching for; in this case, the text "Flagged". The final formula will read:

    IF LEFTPART([Ticket subject],9)="Flagged" THEN [TicketID] ENDIF

    

Now, when you use this attribute in your report, it will only return tickets with a subject line beginning "[Flagged]"

For more help and examples, see Writing Explore formulas.

Attribute functions

These functions let you perform basic operations to quantify the number of attributes returned by your query.

Function	Description
COUNT_VALUES(_attribute)	Counts the number of values of the attribute you supply. Repeat values are included. Example: COUNT_VALUES([Assignees]) returns the total number of names assigned to tickets.
DCOUNT_VALUES(_attribute)	Counts the distinct number of different values of the attribute you supply. Example: DCOUNT_VALUES([Assignees]) returns the total number of different names assigned to tickets.

Date functions

Explore lets you create, compare, and perform calculations on dates and times. These functions are particularly useful because you'll likely spend a lot of time examining your company information over a chosen date range.

Function	Description
DATE(_text)	Returns a new date for the text you entered. Example: DATE("7/24/1980")
DATE(_year,_month,_day,_hour,_minute,_second)	Returns a new date for the text you entered. You must enter at least the year, month and day. Example: DATE("1995","06","09","13","15","00")
DATE_EQUAL(_date,_date)	Returns TRUE if the two entered dates are equal. Example: IF DATE_EQUAL([Ticket Created - Month],[Ticket Solved - Month]) THEN [Ticket ID] ENDIF Returns all tickets that were solved in the same month they were created.
DATE_NOT_EQUAL(_date,_date)	Returns TRUE if the two entered dates are not equal. Example: IF DATE_EQUAL([Ticket Created - Month],[Ticket Solved - Month]) THEN [Ticket ID] ENDIF Returns all tickets that were not solved in the same month they were created.
DATE_LESS(_date,_date)	Returns TRUE if the first date is earlier than the second date. Example: IF DATE_LESS([Ticket Assigned - Date],[Ticket Due - Date - Date]) THEN [Ticket ID] ENDIF Returns all tickets that were assigned before their due date.
DATE_LESS_OR_EQUAL(_date,_date)	Returns TRUE if the first date is earlier or the same as the second date. Example: IF DATE_LESS_OR_EQUAL([Ticket Assigned - Date],[Ticket Due - Date - Date]) THEN [Ticket ID] ENDIF Returns all tickets that were assigned before or on their due date.
DATE_GREATER(_date,_date)	Returns TRUE if the first date is later than the second date. Example: IF DATE_GREATER([Ticket Assigned - Date],[Ticket Due - Date - Date]) THEN [Ticket ID] ENDIF Returns all tickets that were assigned after their due date.
DATE_GREATER_OR_EQUAL(_date,_date)	Returns TRUE if the first date is later or the same as the second date. Example: IF DATE_GREATER_OR_EQUAL([Ticket Assigned - Date],[Ticket Due - Date - Date]) THEN [Ticket ID] ENDIF Returns all tickets that were assigned on or after their due date.
DATE_ADD(_date,_date_part,_increment)	Returns the given date, updated by the entered increment. The _date_part parameter could be for example, 'year', 'quarter', 'month', 'day', 'hour', etc. The entered increment must be an integer value, but it can be negative.
DATE_DIFF(_date,_date,_date_part)	Returns the relative or absolute difference between two dates in the format you choose. _date_part can be one of the following: For relative differences (whole numbers): "year" "half_year" "quarter" "month" "day" "hour" "minute" "second" For absolute (exact) values: "nb_of_years" "nb_of_half_years" "nb_of_quarters" "nb_of_months" "nb_of_days" "nb_of_hours" "nb_of_minutes" "nb_of_seconds" Examples: DATE_DIFF("2011/10/22","2008/01/06","year") returns 3 (2011-2008) DATE_DIFF("2011/10/22","2008/01/06","nb_of_years") returns 4 (actual count of years) DATE_DIFF("2019/03/06","2017/03/05","nb_of_days") returns 731 DATE_DIFF("2019/03/06","2017/03/05","day") returns 1
DATE_FORMAT(_date,_format)	Returns the entered date in the supplied format. For a list of the formats you can use, see Formatting dates.
TODAY()	Returns the current date (GMT)
NOW()	Returns the current (GMT) date and time (in hours, minutes, and seconds)
CURRENT_YEAR()	Returns the current year (GMT).
CURRENT_HALFYEAR()	Returns the current semester (GMT) as "H1" or "H2"
CURRENT_QUARTER()	Returns the current quarter (GMT) as "Q1", "Q2", "Q3", or "Q4"
CURRENT_MONTH()	Returns the current month (GMT), for example "January", "February".
CURRENT_MONTH_NUMERIC()	Returns the current month (GMT) as a number, for example "1" for January, "2" for February.
CURRENT_DAY()	Returns the current day (GMT) as a number.
CURRENT_WEEKDAY()	Returns the current day of the week (GMT) as text, for example "Monday", "Tuesday".
CURRENT_WEEKDAY_NUMERIC()	Returns the current day of the week (GMT) as a number, for example "0" for Sunday, "1" for Monday.
CURRENT_HOUR()	Returns the current hour (GMT) as a number.
CURRENT_MINUTE()	Returns the current minute (GMT) as a number.
CURRENT_SECOND()	Returns the current second (GMT) as a number.
YEAR(_date)	Returns the year of the supplied date.
MONTH(_date)	Returns the month of the supplied date as text, for example "January", "February"
MONTH_NUMERIC(_date)	Returns the month of the supplied date as a number, for example "1" for January, "2" for February.
DAY(_date)	Returns the day of the supplied date.
WEEKDAY(_date)	Returns the day of the supplied date as a string, for example "Monday", "Tuesday".
WEEKDAY_NUMERIC(_date)	Returns the day of the supplied date as a number, for example "1" for Sunday, "2" for Monday.
HOURS(_date)	Returns the hour of the supplied date.
MINUTES(_date)	Returns the minute of the supplied date.
SECONDS(_date)	Returns the second of the supplied date.
WEEK_NUMBER_ISO(_date)	Returns the week number associated with the supplied date.
WEEK_NUMBER_MONDAY(_date)	Returns the week number associated with the supplied date starting on Monday.
WEEK_NUMBER_FRIDAY(_date)	Returns the week number associated with the supplied date starting on Friday.
WEEK_NUMBER_SATURDAY(_date)	Returns the week number associated with the supplied date starting on Saturday.
WEEK_NUMBER_SUNDAY(_date)	Returns the week number associated with the supplied date starting on Sunday.
START_OF_QUARTER(_date)	Returns the start of the quarter for the supplied date.
END_OF_QUARTER(_date)	Returns the end of the quarter for the supplied date.
START_OF_MONTH(_date)	Returns the start of the month (GMT) for the supplied date.
END_OF_MONTH(_date)	Returns the end of the month (GMT) for the supplied date.
START_OF_WEEK_ISO(_date)	Returns the start of the week for the supplied date.
END_OF_WEEK_ISO(_date)	Returns the end of the week for the supplied date.
START_OF_WEEK_MONDAY(_date)	Returns the start of the week that matches the supplied date with the week starting on Monday.
END_OF_WEEK_MONDAY(_date)	Returns the end of the week that matches the supplied date with the week starting on Monday.
START_OF_WEEK_FRIDAY(_date)	Returns the start of the week that matches the supplied date with the week starting on Friday.
END_OF_WEEK_FRIDAY(_date)	Returns the end of the week that matches the supplied date with the week starting on Friday.
START_OF_WEEK_SATURDAY(_date)	Returns the start of the week that matches the supplied date with the week starting on Saturday.
END_OF_WEEK_SATURDAY(_date)	Returns the end of the week that matches the supplied date with the week starting on Saturday.
START_OF_WEEK_SUNDAY(_date)	Returns the start of the week that matches the supplied date with the week starting on Sunday.
END_OF_WEEK_SUNDAY(_date)	Returns the end of the week that matches the supplied date with the week starting on Sunday.
TO_MONTH_NUMERIC(_text)	Returns the numeric value of the supplied month, for example "01" for January, "02" for February.
TO_MONTH_TEXT(_text)	Returns the text value of the supplied month, for example "January" for 01, "February" for 02.
DATE_FROM_TIMESTAMP(_timestamp)	Returns a date from a supplied timestamp in seconds.
DATE_FROM_MILLI_TIMESTAMP(_timestamp)	Returns a date from a supplied timestamp in milliseconds.
DATE_TO_TIMESTAMP(_date)	Returns a timestamp from a supplied date.
DATE_TO_MILLI_TIMESTAMP(_date)	Returns a timestamp in milliseconds from a supplied date.
SECONDS_TO_TIME(_time)	Converts seconds to HH:MM:SS format.
FISCAL_YEAR(_date,_start_month)	Returns the fiscal year based on the supplied date and start month.
FISCAL_QUARTER(_date,_start_month)	Returns the fiscal quarter based on the supplied date and start month.
FISCAL_WEEK_NUMBER(_date,_start_month)	Returns the fiscal week number based on the supplied date and start month.
WEEKYEAR(_date)	Returns the week of the year based on the supplied date.

Formatting dates

The DATE_FORMAT function render full timestamps as different types of dates. Each format is represented by a different letter. You enter the associated letter in the format part of the DATE_FORMAT function. Letters must be entered in double quotes.

Note: You can combine the date or time components to display more information about a date. For example if you want to view the month and year of a date you could use "MM-yyyy", or if you want to view the minutes and seconds of a date you could use "mm-ss". If you choose to use multiple date components at once, you must include a dash between the different formats.

The table shows formats you can use. The examples use the timestamp, 2017-11-03T03:18:25.

Date or time component	Letter	Example using 2017-11-03T03:18:25
Era	G	AD
Year	y	2017
Month number	M	11
Week number	w	44
Day number of year	D	307
Day number of month	d	3
Day name of week	E	Fri
AM or PM	a	AM
Hour in day (0-23)	H	3
Hour in day (1-24)	k	3
Hour in AM/PM (0-11)	K	3
Hour in AM/PM (1-12)	h	3
Minutes	m	18
Seconds	s	25
Millisecond	S	0
Timezone (UTC)	z	PST
Time zone (RFC)	Z	-800

Logical functions

These functions give you great flexibility in analyzing and presenting your information just how you want.

Function	Description
IF THEN ELSE Conditional expression	Enables you to evaluate logical values. Format: IF (condition) THEN (value if true) ELSE (value if false) ENDIF For in-depth information about this function, see Using the IF THEN ELSE function.
SWITCH Conditional expression	SWITCH provides a more easy to understand alternative to IF THEN ELSE statements that have multiple branches. SWITCH (_tested_element) { CASE _value1: _return_value CASE _value2: _return_value DEFAULT: _default_return_value } For in-depth information about this function, see Adding multiple conditional expressions with SWITCH.
AND	Returns TRUE if the two supplied expressions are TRUE. Example: IF ([Ticket channel]="Email") AND ([Submitter email]="[e-mail]") THEN [Ticket ID] ENDIF Returns all tickets that were received via. email from [e-mail].
OR	Returns TRUE if at least one of the supplied expressions is TRUE. Example: IF ([Ticket channel]="Email") OR ([Ticket channel]="Twitter") THEN [Ticket ID] ENDIF Returns all tickets that were received through either the email or Twitter channels.
NOT	Reverses the logical value of the supplied expression. Example: IF NOT([Ticket channel]="Email") THEN [Ticket ID] ENDIF Returns all tickets that were not received through the email channel.
TRUE	Returns the logical value "TRUE".
FALSE	Returns the logical value "FALSE"

Numeric functions

These functions enable you to perform a wide range of mathematical calculations on the information in your reports.

Function	Description
ABS(_number)	Returns the absolute value of the supplied number. Examples: The absolute value of 1 is 1 The absolute value of -7.3 is 7.3
BETWEEN(_number,_number,_number)	Returns TRUE if the first supplied number is between the two other numbers. Example: BETWEEN(SUM(Profit),500,1500) returns TRUE if SUM(Profit) is equal to, or between 500 and 1500.
CEIL(_number)	Returns the ceiling of the supplied number. The ceiling of a number is its highest closest or equal integer. Examples: The ceiling of 125.4 is 126 The ceiling of -63.2 is -63 CEILING(SUM(First resolution time (min))) returns the highest closest integer to each first resolution time stored in the attribute.
EXP(_number)	Returns the value of the base of the natural logarithm (e) to the power of the supplied exponent. Example: EXP(SUM(Unit price)) returns the natural logarithm of each value of the SUM (Unit price) metric.
FLOOR(_number)	Returns the floor of the supplied number. The floor of a number is its lowest closest or equal integer. Examples: The floor of 125.4 is 125 The floor of -63.2 is -64 FLOOR(SUM(First resolution time (min))) returns the lowest closest integer to each first resolution time stored in the attribute.
GROWTH_RATE(_number,_number)	Returns the growth rate corresponding to the two supplied parameters. Example: If the two supplied parameters are X and Y, the growth rate is Y-X/ABS(X).
INTEGER(_param)	Returns the integer of the supplied non-integer number. Example: INTEGER(1.56) returns 1
IS_NAN(_value)	Returns TRUE if the value is not a number (NAN). Examples: IS_NAN("Copenhagen") returns TRUE IS_NAN(235.78) returns FALSE
MAXIMUM(_number,_number)	Returns the largest of the two supplied parameters. MAXIMUM(SUM(Revenues),SUM(Expenses)) returns the larger of Revenues and Expenses.
MINIMUM(_number,_number)	Returns the smallest of the two supplied parameters. MINIMUM(SUM(Revenues),SUM(Expenses)) returns the smaller of Revenues and Expenses.
NUMBER(_param)	Returns the number representation of the given parameter, or returns NaN when it cannot be displayed as a number. Examples: NUMBER("3.14116") returns 3.14116 NUMBER ([Box category]) returns the number of the current value of the Box category attribute.
PI()	Returns the mathematical constant for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, expressed as PI. The value is 3.141592653589793.
POWER(_number,_number)	Computes and returns the first supplied number to the power of the second supplied number. Example: IF SUM(Unit Price)=2 then POWER(SUM(Unit Price),3) returns 8
RANDOM()	Returns a pseudo-random number 'n' where 0<=n<1. If you need a random integer, use the formula Round(Random()*100).
ROUND(_number)	Rounds the value of supplied number up or down to the nearest integer. If equidistant, the value is rounded up.
SIGN(_number)	Returns -1 if the number is negative, 0 if zero, and 1 if positive.
SQRT(_number)	Computes and returns the square root of the supplied number.
SQUARE(_number)	Computes and returns the square of the supplied number.
LN(_number)	Returns the natural logarithm of the supplied number.
LOG10(_number)	Returns the Base-10 logarithm of the supplied number.
LOG2(_number)	Returns the Base-2 logarithm of the supplied number.
LOG(_base,_number)	Returns the logarithm of the supplied number to the supplied base.

Text functions

These functions enable you to perform operations that search and evaluate text. You can also modify text using formulas and patterns you create.

Function	Description
CONTAINS(_text,_text_to_search)	Returns TRUE if the first entered parameter contains the second one as a substring. Example: CONTAINS([Submitter name],"Sally") Returns TRUE if the submitter name is "Sally Jones" Returns FALSE if the submitter name is "Rachel Jones"
ENDSWITH(_text,_text_to_search)	Returns TRUE if the first supplied text ends with the second supplied text. Example: ENDSWITH([US State],"ippi") returns TRUE for Mississippi, but FALSE for Delaware.
FIND(_text,_text_to_find,_number_start_index)	Returns the index, in the first entered text, of the first instance of the second entered text, from the entered start index. Returns -1 if the second entered text is not found. The index of the first character of a string is 0. Examples: If [Ship Mode]="Urgent" then FIND([ShipMode","Norm",0) returns -1 If [Ship Mode]="Normal" then FIND([ShipMode","ma",0) returns 3 If [Ship Mode]="Urgent" then FIND([ShipMode","ge",2) returns 0
LEFTPART(_text,_number)	Returns the leftmost _number of characters in the supplied text. Example: If [Department]="Technical documentation" then LEFTPART([Department],9) returns "Technical"
LENGTH(_text)	Returns the length (number of characters) of the supplied text. Example: LENGTH([Product category]) returns the length of each value of the Product category attribute.
LOWERCASE(_text)	Converts and returns the supplied text in lower case.
LTRIM(_text)	Returns the supplied attribute value with any whitespace to the left removed. Example: TRIM([Name]) would return "Peter " if [Name] is " Peter "
REPLACE(_text,_text_to_replace,_text_to_replace_with)	Returns a copy of _text in which all instances of _text_to_replace have been replaced with _text_to_replace_with. Example: IF [US State]="new York" then REPLACE([US State],"n","N") returns "New York"
RIGHTPART(_text,_number)	Returns the rightmost _number of characters in the supplied text. Example: If [Department]="Technical documentation" then RIGHTPART([Department],13) returns "documentation"
RTRIM(_text)	Returns the supplied attribute value with any whitespace to the right removed. Example: TRIM([Name]) would return " Peter" if [Name] is " Peter "
STARTSWITH(_text,_text_to_search)	Returns TRUE if the first supplied text starts with the second supplied text. Example: STARTSWITH([US State],"Miss") returns TRUE for Mississippi, but FALSE for Delaware.
IS_POSITIVE(_text)	Returns TRUE for positive and FALSE for negative based on analysis of the text.
SUBSTR(_text,_number_start_index,_number_end_index)	Returns part of _text consisting of the character specified by start index (the first entered integer) and all characters up to end index-1 (the second entered integer). Example: SUBSTR("Web marketing",0,3) returns "Web"
TRIM(_text)	Returns the supplied attribute value with any whitespace to the left or right removed. Example: TRIM([Name]) would return "Peter" if [Name] is " Peter ":
UPPERCASE(_text)	Converts and returns the supplied text in upper case.
STRING(_number)	Converts the supplied number into a string.
LPAD(_text,_length,_pad)	Pads text to the left of _text with _pad until the string is at _length. Example: LPAD("1",7,"?") returns "??????1"
RPAD(_text,_length,_pad)	Pads text to the right of _text with _pad until the string is at _length. Example: RPAD("1",7,"?") returns "1??????"
LINK(_url,_label)	Returns a HTML link pointing to the supplied URL. For an example, see Explore recipe: Configuring clickable links to tickets.

Array functions

This function helps you to search arrays for the information you need.

Function	Description
IN(_param,_array)	Returns TRUE if the first entered parameter is in the array specified in the second parameter. Examples: IN(200,ARRAY(100,200,300,400)) returns TRUE IN(250,ARRAY(20,40,60,80)) returns FALSE

Trigonometric functions

These functions help you to create advanced formulas for measuring angles and distances.

Function	Description
ACOS(_number)	Computes the arc cosine of the entered number, in radians.
ASIN(_number)	Computes the arc sine of the entered number, in radians.
ATAN(_number)	Returns the value in radians of the angle with the tangent entered in the parameter. The value returned is between negative PI/2 and positive PI/2.
ATAN2(_number,_number)	Returns the angle of the point Y/X in radians when measured counterclockwise from a circle's X axis (0,0 represents the center of the circle). The return value is between positive PI and negative PI. Enter the Y coordinate as the first parameter.
COS(_number)	Computes the cosine of the entered number, in radians.
DEGREES(_number)	Converts the given number from radians to degrees.
RADIANS(_number)	Converts the given number from degrees to radians.
SIN(_number)	Computes the sine of the entered number, in radians.
TAN(_number)	Returns the tangent of the entered angle.

Administration functions

These functions help you create administrative formulas including information about the current user and their groups.

Function	Description
BELONGS_TO_USERGROUP(_text)	Returns TRUE if the current user belongs to the supplied group. Example: BELONGS_TO_USERGROUP("Managers") returns TRUE if the current user is in the "Managers" group.
USER_NAME()	Returns the name of the current user who is logged into Explore. Example: Create a standard calculated attribute with the formula USER_NAME().
TEAM()	Returns the names of the Explore development team.

URL functions

The following URL functions appear in the Explore function list, but are not currently used.

• HOST
• DOMAIN
• TLD

JSON functions

The following JSON functions appear in the Explore function list, but are not currently used.

• JSON_EXTRACT
• JSON_ARRAY_LENGTH
• JSON_EXTRACT_ARRAY_ELEMENT

REGEXP functions

A regular expression (sometimes known as a regex, or regexp is a sequence of characters that define a search pattern. Explore contains support for using regular expressions to accomplish the following calculations in your formulas:

Function	Description
REGEXP_MATCH(_text,_regexp)	Returns true if the text matches the regular expression.
REGEXP_EXTRACT(_text,_regexp)	Returns the portion of text that matches the capturing group in the regular expression.
REGEXP_REPLACE(_text,_regexp,_replace_text)	Returns a string where any substring of text that matches the regular expression is replaced by replace_text. Example: REGEXP_REPLACE("Hello","lo","p") returns "Help"

For more information about regular expressions, see this Wikipedia page.

Cryptography functions

Explore supports the following cryptography functions:

Function	Description
HMAC(_algorithm,_output_format,_key,_message)	Returns a keyed hash value using the hash-based message authentication (HMAC) method.

Basic mathematical operators

In addition to the above functions, you can also use the following basic mathematical operators to perform calculations and connect text:

Operator	Description
+	Add two numeric values, or join two text strings.
-	Subtract one value from another.
*	Multiply two values
/	Divide one value by another
=	Test if one value is equal to another value
!=	Test if one value is not equal to another value
%	Computes the modulo (or remainder) after dividing one value by another. Example: 5%2 returns 1, 20%3 returns 2