Question

How do I parse Jotform fields into smaller subfields?

  • 21 September 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 199 views

Hello, is it possible to specify certain parts of the Jotform Field to go into a corresponding filed in a Zap?

For example, I have a Full Name field in JotForm that gets the First Middle Last of a submitter. When I map that field to say create a contact in Xero to First Name, the entire name will populate there. Is it possible to specify that I only want the first name part of the Full Name field in Jotform to be inserted into the Xero first name field. 

The same happens with the address field, where Xero asks for Address Line 1, 2, city, state and it comes from Jotform as one long piece of info. 

I know if I made each field item its own Short Text field in Jotform this would work, but it then ruins the user experience and other setups I have in Jotform. 


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1 reply

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @Steveski 

Unless JotForm provides those data points individually you’ll have to parse apart the data points.

 

For example, split Full Name into First Name and Last Name.

Try using the Formatter > Text > Split action: https://zapier.com/help/doc/how-use-formatter-functions#using-split-text

BUT, there are challenges to be aware of with parsing Full Name and Full Address.

For Full Name, there may be prefixes, suffixes, middle names, multiple first names, multiple last names, which could cause the parsing to not parse as intended.

 

For Full Address, there may be a street 2, which could cause the parsing to not parse as intended, and if there is no delimiter (e.g. comma) between each part of an address, then it’s going to be difficult to properly parse a full address.

 

A Code step (advanced) can also be used: https://zapier.com/apps/code/help

 

NOTE: Best practice is to collect data points at their most granular level, since First Name and Last Name can be combined easily into Full Name, but not vice versa.