String Builder data references

The String Builder data reference enables you to apply string manipulation functions, such as concatenation, to an attribute's values, and output a reformatted string. This is useful when you need to obtain a string or numeric value type from other element attributes. String Builder data references do not perform Unit of Measure conversions or calculations. When you use the String Builder data reference in a template, value substitution takes place at run time.

Expression syntax

Observe the following rules as you build an expression:

• You can construct an expression on a single line, using semicolons to separate its terms.

• You can also place each term on its own line, which eliminates the semicolons and makes the expression structure more apparent.

• Enclose substitution parameters in double quotes so that their result is treated as a literal string.

• You can include any keyboard character in a double-quoted string, for example, dashes, backslashes, colons, semicolons, and so on. To include the double-quote character in a string, type two consecutive double-quote characters within the string, for example, """t""e""s""t""" produces "t"e"s"t".

• You can include single-quoted attribute paths to display the value of the referenced attribute in the result.

• You should avoid the use of unquoted strings because you may get haphazard results.