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Operator . (dot)

Accesses one or many values from a data table row using the column’s identifier

Usage

data_table_row.column_name OR data_table_row.( **code** )

Parameters

data_table_row

(Required) The data table row to extract a value from
column_name

(Required) The identifier of the column you want to extract the value. Do not put quotes around this.
**code**

(Required) This code is executed with a quick access to every column of the row by using its identifier prefixed with a dot (.). See “More information” below.

Examples

Example Result

DT_LOOKUP(“employees”, “first_name”, “Anna”).email

“[email protected]”

DT_LOOKUP(“employees”, “first_name”, “Anna”).(CONCAT(.first_name, “ “, .last_name, “ (“, .email, “)”))

“Anna Logwatch ([email protected])”

DT_LOOKUP(“employees”, “first_name”, “Anna”).(.first_name & “ “ & .last_name & “ (“ & .email & “)”)

“Anna Logwatch ([email protected])”

More information

To obtain a data table row:

  • Use DT_CHOICES with @PICK_ONE_QUESTION or @PICK_MANY_QUESTION
  • Use DT_LOOKUP

DT_CHOICES

Here is an example of a DT_CHOICES and @PICK_ONE_QUESTION:

<# @PICK_ONE_QUESTION(assignee,
label: "Assignee",
choices: DT_CHOICES("employees", CONCAT(.first_name, " ", .last_name))) #>

If you have questions, contact: <# UPPER(assignee.first_name) #> at <# assignee.email #>.

This will provide choices based on the data table employees. The choices displayed in the form will be the “first_name last_name”, such as “Anna Logwatch”. This requires the data table to have columns with the identifiers first_name and last_name.

When generating, the value of the variable assignee (set by the @PICK_ONE_QUESTION above) will be the whole row of the data table. The dot (.) is then used to access the right columns.

For the choice “Anna Logwatch”, here is the result:

If you have questions, contact: Anna at [email protected] #>.

Use many values

Using a parenthesis right after the dot (.) provides a quick way to access to multiple values from the row. This is especially useful with DT_LOOKUP, since otherwise, the DT_LOOKUP usage would have to be repeated for each required value, but also works when a row is set in a variable using DT_CHOICES. Here is a comparison for DT_LOOKUP:

Contact Anna at <# DT_LOOKUP("employees", "first_name", "Anna").email #> or at <# DT_LOOKUP("employees", "first_name", "Anna").phone_number #>.

Can be replaced with (remember to close the parenthesis):

Contact Anna at <# DT_LOOKUP("employees", "first_name", "Anna").(CONCAT(.email, " or at ", .phone_number)) #>.

As you can see, values from the row’s columns are accessed using the column’s identifier prefixed with a dot (.).

Both examples would result in:

Contact Anna at [email protected] or at 1-800-555-5542.

You can also use regular variables as in any function, without the dot:

<# DT_LOOKUP("employees", "first_name", "Anna").(CONCAT(.email, IF(show_phone_number, CONCAT(" or at ", .phone_number))) #>.

See also