Functions

To manipulate values in grouping expressions, you can use the following functions:

Function	Return Data Type	Description	Example
DateAdd	Date	Returns a date value to which a time interval has been added, or from which a time interval has been subtracted. The function accepts the following arguments: Date and time to which a time interval must be added, in the YYYY-MM-DD format. Time interval that must be added to the initial date and time. The interval can be a positive or negative number. Measurement unit of the time interval ("h" - hour, "d" - day, "m" - month, "y" - year).	Expression DateAdd("2016-10-20", 7, "d")adds 7 days to the specified date, and returns 2016-10-27. Nested expression SnapshotCreateTime < DateAdd (DateAdd(Today, -2, "d")) returns True if the latest VM snapshot was created earlier than 2 days and 12 hour ago.
IndexOf	Numeric (integer)	Returns the position of the first occurrence of a specified value (substring) in a string. Index of the first character in a string is 0. Returns -1 if the value is not found within the string. The function accepts the following arguments: String value. Substring value whose index position must be found within the string value.	Expression IndexOf("vdi001_mrk", "_") returns 6. Expression IndexOf("vdi001", "_") returns -1.
Left	Text (string)	Returns a substring that contains a specified number of characters from the left side of a string. The function accepts the following arguments: String value. Number of characters from the left side of a string to return.	Expression Left("vdi001_mrk", 6) returns vdi001. Nested expression Left("vdi001_replica", IndexOf("vdi002_replica", "_")) returns vdi002.
Length	Numeric (integer)	Returns the number of characters in a string. The function accepts a string value as an argument.	Expression Length("123456789") returns 9. For a VM, expression Length("Name") returns the number of characters in the VM name.
Replace	Text (string)	Returns a string in which a specified substring has been replaced with another substring. The function accepts the following arguments: String value. Substring value that must be replaced. Substring value that must replace the sought substring. Note: If the there are two or more equal substrings in a string, all substrings will be replaced.	Expression Replace("vdi002 mrk", " ", "_") changes the vdi002 mrk value to vdi002_mrk. For a VM, expression Replace(Name, "_replica", "") removes the _replica suffix from the VM name.
Right	Text (string)	Returns a substring that contains a specified number of characters from the right side of a string. The function accepts the following arguments: String value. Number of characters from the right side of a string to return.	Expression Right("vdi003_mrk", 3) returns mrk. Nested expression Right("vdi003_replica", (IndexOf("vdi003_replica", "_")) + 1) returns replica.
Space	Text (string)	Returns a string that consists of the specified number of spaces. The function accepts a positive integer as an argument.	Nested expression Replace("vdi004_mrk", "_", Space(1)) changes the vdi004_mrk value to vdi004 mrk.
Substring	Text (string)	Retrieves a substring from a specified string. The substring starts at the specified character position (index) and has the specified length. Index of the first character in a string is 0. The function accepts the following arguments: String value. Start index position of a substring that must be retrieved. Number of characters to retrieve starting with the specified index position.	Expression Substring("vdi005_mrk", 7, 3) returns mrk.
Trim	Text (string)	Returns a string with no leading or trailing spaces. The function accepts a string value as an argument.	Expression Trim(" vdi006 ") returns vdi006.
TrimLeft	Text (string)	Returns a string with no leading spaces. The function accepts a string value as an argument.	Expression Trim(" vdi007") returns vdi007.
TrimRight	Text (string)	Returns a string with no trailing spaces. The function accepts a string value as an argument.	Expression Trim("vdi008 ") returns vdi008.
ToDate	Date	Converts a string containing a valid date representation to the DateTime format. Note: The function is based on the DateTime.TryParse function and accepts the same input values.	Expression ToDate("2009/03/12") returns 2009-03-12. Expression ToDate("ToDate(" 2009/03/01") returns 2009-03-01.
ToLowerCase	Text (string)	Converts a string to lower case letters. The function accepts a string value as an argument.	Expression ToLowerCase("LoWeRCaSe") returns lowercase.
ToUpperCase	Text (string)	Converts a string to upper case letters. The function accepts a string value as an argument.	Expression ToUpperCase("uppercase") returns UPPERCASE.