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Question

Formatter Outputs digits instead of strings

  • 5 October 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 48 views
S

I can’t seem to figure out why when I do a split.text in the formatter, it spits out the number of items instead of the strings, I’ve tried using utilities instead of the text (line-text to items) and that doesn’t seem to work either. My project involves taking days of the week and creating dates for the following week so I’m trying to take the inputted text and split it to individual days so that I can make multiple dates for the following week. Example:

Input: Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Possible Output 1:

10/13/2022, 10/14/2022, 10/15/2022

Possible Output 2a:

10/13/2022

Possible Output 2b:

10/13/2022

Possible Output 2c:

10/15/2022

The problem is that in the zapier studio, It seems to work like I want it to, but when I try it with the actual integration, it doesn’t seem to work like I want it to. Pictures for problem described:

 

4 replies

MohSwellam
Userlevel 7
Badge +8

Hi @strengthcompass , 

 

First thing that comes to mind is that you are not specifying the separator , you should input the separator as “, “ (without the quotation marks)

 

Another reason might be the inputted text is not line items but its a comma separated string, so the formatter Line Item to Text won't work as you would expect. 

 

Instead, try Formatter > Text > Split Text > Separator = “, “ > Segment Index = All (wether you want them as line items or as fields) 

 

If this doesn't work, please share the result from the Trigger that shows those as line items. 

Founder of GeekyAir.com
S

That did not work, it still outputs at a digit (the number of items). I also changed index to field and the same thing occurred. I think something is not working with formatter or at least its not the right type of data (ie. an array or something else). I think the data that I’m gettting from manychat is not the right type, however, I’ve checked the user field type (which is where I’m getting the data from) and it’s set to text. Still stuck, next steps?

 

Danvers
Userlevel 7
Badge +12

Hi @strengthcompass!

Thanks for sharing those screenshots, that really helps!

The data that you’re getting from ManyChat is in a line item format. While it looks like it’s just words separated by commas, it’s actually a list of items - you can tell because in the output of the Formatter step, each day is on a separate line:

 

For this, you need both a Line-item to text Formatter step and a Split text step. 

 

First, use the Line-item to text step. That will take the line items from ManyChat and convert them into one text string. In the Zap editor this will look the same - all three days separated with commas - but if you look at the output of the Line-item to text step, you’ll see that it’s all on one line, not different ones. 

 

For the Split Text Formatter step, use the output of the line-item to text step as the input for this step, then set up the step as @MohSwellam described. The output of this step should now be different fields for each day. 

 

Formatter steps can be a bit fiddly, so don’t hesitate to come back if you have any questions!

MohSwellam
Userlevel 7
Badge +8

Hi @strengthcompass , 

 

In addition to what @Danvers said, you are actually looking at the Data In of the Zap Run, check instead the Data Out 

 

Founder of GeekyAir.com

Reply


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