String functions
Profile Query Language (PQL) offers functions to make interaction with strings simpler. More information about other PQL functions can be found in the Profile Query Language overview.
Like
The like function is used to determine if a string matches a specified pattern as a boolean.
Format
{STRING_1} like {STRING_2}
{STRING_1}{STRING_2}The expression to match against the first string. There are two supported special characters for creating an expression: % and _.
%is used to represent zero or more characters._is used to represent exactly one character.
Example
The following PQL query retrieves all the cities containing the pattern “es”.
city like "%es%"
Starts with
The startsWith function is used to determine if a string starts with a specified substring as a boolean.
Format
{STRING_1}.startsWith({STRING_2}, {BOOLEAN})
{STRING_1}{STRING_2}{BOOLEAN}Example
The following PQL query determines, with case sensitivity, if the person’s name starts with “Joe”.
person.name.startsWith("Joe")
Does not start with
The doesNotStartWith function is used to determine if a string does not start with a specified substring as a boolean.
Format
{STRING_1}.doesNotStartWith({STRING_2}, {BOOLEAN})
{STRING_1}{STRING_2}{BOOLEAN}Example
The following PQL query determines, with case sensitivity, if the person’s name does not start with “Joe”.
person.name.doesNotStartWith("Joe")
Ends with
The endsWith function is used to determine if a string ends with a specified substring as a boolean.
Format
{STRING_1}.endsWith({STRING_2}, {BOOLEAN})
{STRING_1}{STRING_2}{BOOLEAN}Example
The following PQL query determines, with case sensitivity, if the person’s email address ends with “.com”.
person.emailAddress.endsWith(".com")
Does not end with
The doesNotEndWith function is used to determine if a string does not end with a specified substring as a boolean.
Format
{STRING_1}.doesNotEndWith({STRING_2}, {BOOLEAN})
{STRING_1}{STRING_2}{BOOLEAN}Example
The following PQL query determines, with case sensitivity, if the person’s email address does not end with “.com”.
person.emailAddress.doesNotEndWith(".com")
Contains
The contains function is used to determine if a string contains a specified substring as a boolean.
Format
{STRING_1}.contains({STRING_2}, {BOOLEAN})
{STRING_1}{STRING_2}{BOOLEAN}Example
The following PQL query determines, with case sensitivity, if the person’s email address contains the string “2010@gm”.
person.emailAddress.contains("2010@gm")
Does not contain
The doesNotContain function is used to determine if a string does not contain a specified substring as a boolean.
Format
{STRING_1}.doesNotContain({STRING_2}, {BOOLEAN})
{STRING_1}{STRING_2}{BOOLEAN}Example
The following PQL query determines, with case sensitivity, if the person’s email address does not contain the string “2010@gm”.
person.emailAddress.doesNotContain("2010@gm")
Equals
The equals function is used to determine if a string is equal to the specified string as a boolean.
Format
{STRING_1}.equals({STRING_2})
{STRING_1}{STRING_2}Example
The following PQL query determines, with case sensitivity, if the person’s name is “John”.
person.name.equals("John")
Not equal to
The notEqualTo function is used to determine if a string is not equal to the specified string as a boolean.
Format
{STRING_1}.notEqualTo({STRING_2})
{STRING_1}{STRING_2}Example
The following PQL query determines, with case sensitivity, if the person’s name is not “John”.
person.name.notEqualTo("John")
Matches
The matches function is used to determine if a string matches a specific regular expression. Please refer to this document for more information on matching patterns in regular expressions as a boolean.
Format
{STRING_1}.matches(STRING_2})
Example
The following PQL query determines, without being case sensitive, if the person’s name starts with “John”.
person.name.matches("(?i)^John")
\w, you must escape the backslash character. So, instead of writing just \w, you must include an extra backslash and write \\w.Regular expression group
The regexGroup function is used to extract specific information, based on the regular expression provided as a string.
Format
{STRING}.regexGroup({EXPRESSION})
Example
The following PQL query is used to extract the domain name from an email address.
emailAddress.regexGroup("@(\\w+)", 1)
\w, you must escape the backslash character. So, instead of writing just \w, you must include an extra backslash and write \\w.Next steps
Now that you have learned about string functions, you can use them within your PQL queries. For more information about other PQL functions, please read the Profile Query Language overview.