Collection Tools Component

Common collection operations

Component key: collection-tools

Description

The collection tools component contains actions that let you perform common tasks on collections of data (objects and arrays). You can do things like concatenate objects, filter items of lists (arrays), map functions on items, and more.

We use the terms list and array interchangably on this page. Both describe a set of objects. Similarly, the terms items and elements of a list are used interchangably.

The functions that you provide these actions for filtering, mapping, etc., should be NodeJS functions. Examples are below.

Actions

Add Key/Value to Object

Add a value to an object with the given key | key: addKey

If you would like to insert a key/value pair into a nested portion of the object, use the Insert Path input to specify where it should be added. For example, if your object reads:

{
  "employee": {
    "id": "123",
    "hired": "2022-03-05T00:08:00",
    "contact": {
      "phone": "6024441234"
    }
  }
}

You can add an email address to contact by specifying "email" for Key, "example@company.com" for Value, and employee.contact for Insert Path. The result will be:

{
  "employee": {
    "id": "123",
    "hired": "2022-03-05T00:08:00",
    "contact": {
      "phone": "6024441234",
      "email": "example@company.com"
    }
  }
}

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": {
    "FirstName": "Foo",
    "LastName": "Bar"
  }
}

Aggregate

Apply aggregate function to list | key: aggregate

This action applys the filter function (if given) first, and then applies the aggregate function to the filtered list. See the Filter action for examples of how to use the filter function.

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": 117
}

Append

Append element to the end of the list | key: append

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": {
    "list": [
      1,
      2,
      3,
      4
    ]
  }
}

Chunks

Chunk the list into lists of the specified number of elements | key: chunks

Output Example Payload

Combine Collection

[Deprecated - use 'Create Object'] | key: combineCollections

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": {
    "CustomerQueryResult": {
      "Customer": {
        "Name": "Acme Contracting"
      }
    },
    "AccountQueryResult": {
      "Account": {
        "AccountId": "123123123"
      }
    }
  }
}

Concatenate

Concatenate two lists together into a single list | key: concatenate

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": [
    1,
    2,
    3,
    4,
    5,
    6
  ]
}

Count

Count the number of occurrences of element in list | key: count

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": 3
}

Create List

Create a new list with the given inputs | key: create

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": [
    1,
    2,
    3,
    4
  ]
}

Create Object

Creates a new object from provided key/value pairs | key: createObject

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": {
    "first": "value",
    "second": 17
  }
}

De-duplicate

De-duplicate the elements of the list | key: deduplicate

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": [
    1,
    2,
    3
  ]
}

Field Value Mapping

Maps the values from two different collections and returns a key/value list where the 'key' is the value of the Key Mappings input and the 'value' is the value of the Value Mappings input | key: fieldValueMapping

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": [
    {
      "key": "Deploy_Time_Specified_Account_Name__c",
      "value": "bar"
    },
    {
      "key": "Deploy_Time_Specified_Account_Value__c",
      "value": "baz"
    }
  ]
}

Filter

Filter elements of a list | key: filter

This action applies a NodeJS filter function to an array of data. The filter function should use arrow notation, and include an input (an element) and a function that evaluates to true or false. Its return value is an array of elements that evaluated to true.

Simple Filter

For example, if you have an array, ["exuberant", "spray", "limit", "elite", "destruction", "present"], and you would like words with a length greater than 6, your filter function could read:

(word) => word.length > 6;

The result would be ["exuberant", "destruction", "present"] - all words whose length is greater than 6.

Filters on Objects

If your array is comprised of objects, you can apply a filter using each object's properties.

For example, suppose you have an array of objects like this:

[
  {
    "name": "Widget",
    "cost": 80,
    "available": true
  },
  {
    "name": "Whatsits",
    "cost": 90,
    "available": false
  },
  {
    "name": "Whoseits",
    "cost": 120,
    "available": true
  },
  {
    "name": "Whysits",
    "cost": 75,
    "available": true
  }
]

If you want to find items whose cost is less than 100 that have true for availability, you can write a filter function like this:

(item) => item.cost < 100 && item.available;

The return value of this example would be an array of two objects that passed the filter:

[
  {
    name: "Widget",
    cost: 80,
    available: true,
  },
  {
    name: "Whysits",
    cost: 75,
    available: true,
  },
];

First

Get first element from a list | key: first

Flatten

Flatten an array of arrays into a single array | key: flatten

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": [
    1,
    2,
    [
      3,
      [
        4
      ]
    ],
    5
  ]
}

Key Value Pair List to Object

Convert a Key Value list to an Object | key: toObject

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": {
    "FirstName": "Foo",
    "LastName": "Bar"
  }
}

Last

Get last element from a list | key: last

Length

Count the number of elements in list | key: length

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": 7
}

Map

Transform a list and its elements | key: map

This action applies a NodeJS map function to an array of data.

It also has an optional filter function - see the Filter action for examples. The action applies the filter function (if present), and then the map function to your array.

Simple Map Function

If you have an array of integers that represent pennies, like [1234, 567, 890], and you would like to turn all values in dollar amounts, you could divide all values using a map function like this:

(value) => value / 100;

The result of the step would be an array that reads [12.34, 5.67, 8.9]

Mapping on Objects

If you have an array of objects, you can reference the object's fields in your map function. Suppose you have an array of "people" objects, and you'd like to concatenate their names and order in the list.

Your data might look like this:

[
  { "first": "Bob", "last": "Smith", "middle": "Billy" },
  { "first": "John", "last": "Doe" },
  { "first": "Lisa", "last": "Nguyen", "middle": "Sue" }
]

Your map function could look like this:

(person, index) => {
  if (person.middle) {
    return `${index} - ${person.last}, ${person.first} ${person.middle[0]}.`;
  } else {
    return `${index} - ${person.last}, ${person.first}`;
  }
};

The result of the step would be an array of strings:

["0 - Smith, Bob B.", "1 - Doe, John", "2 - Nguyen, Lisa S."]

Object to Key Value Pair List

Convert an Object to a Key Value List | key: fromObject

Process In Order

Ensures that payloads are processed in order across executions according to an ordering specified by a payload attribute. Returns the largest possible set of ordered payloads on the Process branch, and otherwise follows the Skip branch and returns the current item. | key: processInOrder

The Process In Order action allows you to send several requests to an instance out of order, and helps to ensure that data runs through your integration in order. Requests with data payloads are collected, and when an ordered set of requests have been received this action processes the requests in the order you specify.

In order to use this action, you will need to know how many total items you are sending ahead of time.

Example: suppose we are updating an inventory system with three updates, and order is important. We want to process widgets first, then gadgets, and finally whatsits. We know that we have three items to import, and due to limitations of our third-party system we can't send them all at once. We're not confident that they'll arrive to Prismatic in any particular order, so we'll use this action to help.

We'll come up with a unique "Collection ID", and begin sending our data in any order:

$ curl 'https://hooks.prismatic.io/trigger/EXAMPLE==' \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '{"item": "whatsits", "index": 2}' \
    --header 'collectionid: abc-123' \
    --header 'collectionlength: 3'

$ curl 'https://hooks.prismatic.io/trigger/EXAMPLE==' \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '{"item": "widgets", "index": 0}' \
    --header 'collectionid: abc-123' \
    --header 'collectionlength: 3'

$ curl 'https://hooks.prismatic.io/trigger/EXAMPLE==' \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '{"item": "gadgets", "index": 1}' \
    --header 'collectionid: abc-123' \
    --header 'collectionlength: 3'

The first time that our integration is invoked, the {"item": "whatsits", "index": 2} payload will be stored for future processing, since items with index 0 and 1 have not yet been processed.

The second time that our integration is invoked, the {"item": "widgets", "index": 0} payload will be processed immediately, since it has index 0, but then our loop will stop since an item with index 1 has not yet been received.

The third time our integration is invoked, the {"item": "gadgets", "index": 1} will be processed right away, since it has index 1 and an item with index 0 has already been processed. The {"item": "whatsits", "index": 2} payload will also be pulled from storage and processed since it is next in line to be processed.

At this point all items will have been processed.

Note: Items must be zero-indexed.

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": [
    {
      "Index": 0,
      "Name": "Acme Contracting"
    },
    {
      "Index": 1,
      "Name": "FooBar Consulting"
    }
  ],
  "instanceState": {
    "7d577253-3ef0-4a0a-bb7f-8335c2596e70": {
      "da41e39f-ea4d-435a-b922-c6aae3915ebe": {
        "lastIndex": 1,
        "items": []
      }
    }
  },
  "branch": "Process"
}

Remove

Remove all occurrences of an element from a list | key: remove

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": [
    1,
    3
  ]
}

Sort

Sort elements using a JavaScript comparison function | key: sort

Take First

Take first number of elements from a list | key: takeFirst

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": [
    1,
    2,
    3
  ]
}

Take Last

Take last number of elements from a list | key: takeLast

Output Example Payload

{
  "data": [
    7,
    8,
    9
  ]
}

Common collection operations

Description​

Actions​

Add Key/Value to Object​

Output Example Payload​

Aggregate​

Output Example Payload​

Append​

Output Example Payload​

Chunks​

Output Example Payload​

Combine Collection​

Output Example Payload​

Concatenate​

Output Example Payload​

Count​

Output Example Payload​

Create List​

Output Example Payload​

Create Object​

Output Example Payload​

De-duplicate​

Output Example Payload​

Field Value Mapping​

Output Example Payload​

Filter​

Simple Filter​

Filters on Objects​

First​

Flatten​

Output Example Payload​

Key Value Pair List to Object​

Output Example Payload​

Last​

Length​

Output Example Payload​

Map​

Simple Map Function​

Mapping on Objects​

Object to Key Value Pair List​

Process In Order​

Output Example Payload​

Remove​

Output Example Payload​

Sort​

Take First​

Output Example Payload​

Take Last​

Output Example Payload​

Description

Actions

Add Key/Value to Object

Output Example Payload

Aggregate

Output Example Payload

Append

Output Example Payload

Chunks

Output Example Payload

Combine Collection

Output Example Payload

Concatenate

Output Example Payload

Count

Output Example Payload

Create List

Output Example Payload

Create Object

Output Example Payload

De-duplicate

Output Example Payload

Field Value Mapping

Output Example Payload

Filter

Simple Filter

Filters on Objects

First

Flatten

Output Example Payload

Key Value Pair List to Object

Output Example Payload

Last

Length

Output Example Payload

Map

Simple Map Function

Mapping on Objects

Object to Key Value Pair List

Process In Order

Output Example Payload

Remove

Output Example Payload

Sort

Take First

Output Example Payload

Take Last

Output Example Payload