How to Use Modifiers for Variables

With SendPulse, you can use modifiers for chatbot variables to transform their value according to the rules you set. For example, you can format text, dates, phone numbers, and URLs.

Let's talk about variable modifiers and how to use them in your chatbots.

Modifier Syntax

You can modify data using {{ var_name | function(parameter="value") }}, where:

• var_name is a variable name;
• function() is a modifier function;
• parameter is a function parameter;
• value is a parameter value.

You can use the modifier syntax in dates, letter cases, string length, phone numbers, and URLs.

String Modifiers

Number and Date

Other Modifiers

Features of Use

Let's talk about possible errors that can occur when using variable modifiers and ways to combine modifiers.

You can apply modifiers to the "Message" element in a flow or campaign and all other elements where you can insert and use variables. You can get variables using the "User Variable Input" function or a response to an "API Request" element.

When you are calling a modifier function, and it takes no parameters, the "()" brackets can be omitted.

Possible Errors

If a modifier cannot process a variable, then it returns it in the same form as it was before the modifier was applied. For example, if we apply the {{ name|phone(format="INTERNATIONAL") }} modifier to the name variable = “John,” we get "John" as an answer because the variable is not a phone number.

If a modifier cannot be applied to a variable, then the user will not see an error.

Errors are displayed only if there are problems with the modifier syntax, not with the data received from the user.

Combining Modifiers

You can combine several modifiers, for example:

{{variable_name|modifier_name1(parameter_name1="value",parameter_name2="value",parameter_name3="value",)|modifier_name2()|modifier_name_N()}}

If you want to truncate your variable string length up to 10 characters and then convert all of the string characters to uppercase, this expression will look like this:

{{ String | str_limit(limit="10") | str_to_upper }}

Using Modifiers in the Chatbot Builder

We will show you a few examples of how to use modifiers in SendPulse’s chatbot builder.

Subscriber Name Formatting Example

Think about your flow scenario. In our example, we will be collecting visitor feedback, so we want to get our guest’s name first and then give them an opportunity to share their impression.

Go to your flow or create it, add the "Message" element, and type in your text where you ask the subscriber to share their personal data. Enable the "Wait for subscriber's response" option. In the "Validate as" field, select "String" and choose a variable.

Click Apply and add the next “Message” element.

The subscriber can enter their name with a lowercase letter by mistake, but we want to address them correctly, so we use the str_title() variable modifier.

Here's what it looks like for a subscriber.

Date Formatting Example

Think about a scenario where a visitor wants to book a table for a specific date. At the same time, the client should receive a reservation confirmation after they select a date.

Add the "Message" element and type in your text where you ask the subscriber to share their personal data. Enable the "Wait for subscriber's response" option. In the "Validate as" field, select "Date" and choose a variable.

Click Apply and add the next “Message” element.

We want the reservation date to always be displayed in the same format, so we add the {{ order_date | date(format="d.m.Y") }} variable modifier.

This is the response the user will receive when they select a date.

Creating a Link to Google Calendar Example

If you want to offer users to schedule an event on the calendar, you can add available time slots using buttons or quick replies, or you can prompt for their own date and time in the "Message" element.

Store the resulting value in a variable of the "Date and time" type.

Now to get the link to create a meeting in Google Calendar, add the string to your message:

https://www.google.com/calendar/render?action=TEMPLATE&text={{title|urlencode()}}&dates={{booked_datetime|date_time(format="YmdTHi00", modify="-2 hours")}}Z%2F{{booked_datetime|date_time(format="YmdTHi00", modify="-1 hours")}}Z&ctz=Europe%2FKyiv

Where title is a variable from the chatbot audience for the name of the meeting.

booked_datetime is a variable for the selected date and time of the meeting start.

Ymd are a year, month, and day without spaces.

T is a static date and time separator.

Hi are hours and minutes without spaces.

00 are seconds set statically.

The first date and time is the start time of the meeting adjusted for the time zone (-2 hours for Kyiv time). The second date is its finish time, in an hour.

Z is the date indicator in the UTC timezone.

ctz=Europe%2FKyiv is a pointer of the time zone in which the Calendar generates the event time.

Suppose the user specifies the date and time: "28.02.2023 11:00".

And the chatbot generates a link like this:

https://www.google.com/calendar/render?action=TEMPLATE&text=%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F+%C2%ABUnidragon%C2%BB&dates=20230228T090000WITH%2F20230228T100000Z&ctz=Europe%2FKyiv

The link appears in the dialog as a part of the message.

After clicking on the link, the user receives a ready-made meeting template in their calendar.

Last Updated: 20.04.2023