integrator.io allows you to filter data as it progresses through a flow. You can apply a filter to refine the data coming out of your source application, or you can create a filter that selectively accepts incoming data for a lookup or destination application. You can create filters when you first build your flow or after you’ve already started to stream data. Use the filter editor to define the criteria for what and how integrator.io moves data between apps. 

Example: You can use filters to exclude any ID values in customer ID fields generated before a specific date.

Contents

• Export filters vs import filters
  • Export filters
  • Import filters
• Create filters
• Navigating the filter editor
• Operand Settings window
• Using JavaScript instead of rules
• Operand settings
• Field operands
• Value operands
• Expression operands
• Supported expressions
• Modifying operators

Export filters vs. import filters

Export filters

The flow exports and processes records that meet the criteria you define in the filter editor. Records that do not meet the defined criteria are discarded. The flow does not continue to process records discarded by the export filter criteria.

Import filters

The import processes records that meet the criteria that you define in the filter editor. If there are other page processors downstream, the flow continues to process all records regardless of whether or not they met the import filter criteria.

Create filters

Use the following steps to create a filter:

1. Go to integrator.io.
2. Click the integration tile that has the flow with the records you want to filter.
3. Click the the flow to apply a filter.
4. On an export, import, or lookup flow step, click the filter icon.
   

   The filter editor displays.

Navigating the filter editor

1. Boolean selector: NOT is unchecked by default, meaning that the filter includes any data that meets the criteria you define with the rule(s). If you select NOT, the filter excludes any data that meets your defined rule criteria.

   Example: If you want to exclude all records that have customer IDs generated before a certain date, select NOT. You can also select AND or OR to create filters that combine multiple rules for your filtration criteria. AND filters records that fit all listed rules in the group. OR filters records that fit any listed rules in the group.

2. Field name: Flow Builder allows you to select any field from your data record from this menu. Choose the the relevant field for your filter. By default this is a drop-down menu of all available record fields. You can optionally use a value or an expression instead.

   Note: A gear icon appears when you hover over the space to the right of the field name drop-down menu. Click the icon to change the input format to an expression or a specific value.

3. Operator drop-down menu: This menu allows you to apply conditional operators to the filter. This menu has the following operators:
   • equals: equal to specific date or numeric value.
   • not equals: not equal to a specific date or numeric value.
   • is greater-than: greater than a specific date or numeric value.
   • is greater-than or equals: greater than or equal to a specific date or numeric value.
   • is less-than: less than a specific date or numeric value.
   • is less-than or equals: less than or equal to a specific date or numeric value.
   • starts with: begins with a specific string of characters.
   • ends with: ends with a specific string of characters.
   • contains: has a specific string of characters at any point in the field value.
   • does not contain: does not have a specific string of characters at any point in the field value.
   • is empty: has no value in the field.
   • is not empty: has any value in the field.
   • matches: has a specific value in the field.
4. Value: Enter the appropriate value according to the selected operator.

   Note: A gear icon appears when you hover over the space to the right of the field name drop-down menu. Click the icon to change the input format to an expression or a specific value.

5. Add rule: You can add as many rules to a filter as you need. After you’ve defined one or more rules for your filter and are ready to add another for another field, click Add rule.
6. Add group: Click Add group to create filters with a set of rules that use multiple boolean conditions. Groups allow you to segment your filtration logic for complex circumstances. For example, you could use one rule group that uses the NOT boolean operator to exclude records that were created before a certain date, then create another rule group to include records that use the AND or OR operator.

Legacy functionality

Add missing field: If a field you want to create a filter for is not available from the field name drop-down menu, click Add missing field to open a window that allows you to add the name of the field. After you add the missing field, click Save, and the field you added will be available from the field name drop-down menu.

Note: The Add missing field button only appears in the current version of integrator.io. If you use the beta version of the software, any field added to the input section of the filter editor is immediately available from the drop-down menu. 

Operand Settings window

You can reveal the gear icon that opens the Operand Settings window in the filter editor by hovering to the right of the field name or value drop-down menu. The Operand Settings window allows you to change the operand type from a field to an expression or a value.

Note: The Operand Settings window is a dynamic form, so the available fields vary based on the operand and data types that you choose.

1. Field: This is the default content of the drop-down menu as detected by integrator.io in your sample record.
2. Value: You can use this to define a value instead of select a field name. If you choose Value, you can define the data type as a boolean, date/time, string, or number. Apply the function, click Save, and enter the value.
3. Expression: Use an expression in your filter. After you select Expression, click Save. Then, manually enter the expression in the filter editor. For more information on expression operands, see Expression operands. For a list of available expressions, see Supported expressions.
4. Data type: This field is only available for field or value operand types. Use this to define the data type format as a string, number, date time, or boolean.
5. Apply functions: This field is only available for string or number data types. Number functions allow ceil or floor functions. Strings allow uppercase or lowercase functions.

Using JavaScript instead of rules (beta UI)

Note: This functionality is only available in the beta version of integrator.io.

You can toggle between rules and JavaScript to implement filter logic with the button at the top of the filter editor. Rules are the preferred option for simple filter logic, but you can use JavaScript for complex filter logic. You can't define both rules and JavaScript in a filter. If you apply rules, then toggle the filter editor to JavaScript to enter filter criteria, JavaScript takes precedence, and any previously defined rules are ignored. 

Use cases for JavaScript filters:

• Concatenate multiple string fields, and then filter records based on the results of the concatenated value.
• Parse a complex string field that contains multiple different values, and then filter based on the parsed value.
• Add multiple numeric fields together, calculate an average, and then filter records based on the average.
• Filter records where a date field in the record is older than a specific number of days ago.

Operand settings

The operand settings gear icon appears when you hover over the right margin of a field name. Operand settings allow you to add additional validations on the data being filtered. For example, you can select the operand type and its data type.

The following window opens when you click the gear icon.

Field operands

A Field operand type appears as a drop-down list box. Select the fields to create a rule and then click Save.

To configure the operand as a field operand, select the Operand Type as Field and select the desired Data Type, then click Save.

For field operand type, if you select the String operand data type, you have an additional option to convert the incoming string to uppercase or lowercase using Apply Functions.

Value operands

A Value operand appears as a text box and allows you to hard-code a specific value to create a rule.

To configure the operand as a value operand type, select the Value operand type, the data type, and then click Save.

Expression operands

An expression operand appears as a text area and is helpful when you want to use an expression while creating a rule.

For more information on supported expression, see Supported expressions.

Note: In future releases these expressions will be modified to reflect handlebar expressions.

["add",19,["number",["extract","number__c"]]]

OR

["add",["number",["extract","number__a"]],["number",["extract","number__c"]]]

Where:

• Add is the arithmetic operation to be performed using the expression.
• number__c is the field name.
• number__a is the field name.
• number is the data type of number__c and number__a.
• 19 is the hard-coded value that will be added to the value extracted from number_c.
• extract is the keyword that extracts value from number_c.

To use expressions, select the Expression operand type, and click Save.

Supported expressions

The following table contains a list of supported expressions for operand settings configuration.

["add",20,["number",["extract","number__c"]]]

["add",["number",["extract","number__a"]],["number",["extract","number__c"]]]

["divide",2,["number",["extract","number__c"]]]

["divide",["number",["extract","number__a"]],["number",["extract","number__c"]]]

["multiply",4,["number",["extract","number__c"]]]

["multiply",["number",["extract","number__a"]],["number",["extract","number__c"]]]

["subtract",2,["number",["extract","number__c"]]]

["subtract",["number",["extract","number__a"]],["number",["extract","number__c"]]]

["replace",["string",["extract","number__c"]],"string/letter to be replaced","string/letter to replace with"]

AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD 

["replace",["string",["extract","number__c"]],"AAAA","CCCC"]

CCCC BBBB CCCC DDDD

Modifying operators

The following image illustrates that the AND operator is enabled between two rules. Click OR to change the operator.

The following image illustrates that the NOT operator is enabled. Click the NOT operator to enable or disable it.

The following image illustrates the supported operators for creating a filter condition.

You can ask question and get tips on filters in our community forum.