Learn about the built-in Find & Replace Tool available in Flows.
This article contains the following sections:
- What is the Flows Find & Replace Tool and what does it do?
- What challenges does the Find & Replace Tool address?
- How to Access & Apply the Find & Replace Tool to Your Flows
What is the Flows Find & Replace Tool and what does it do?
The Find & Replace tool in Knack Flows enables you to locate and replace specific data values from earlier steps in a Flow. Much like the "Find and Replace" feature in Excel, this tool lets you standardize data by automatically updating mismatched formats or incorrect entries.
For example, if you're recording phone numbers from multiple forms and one set uses a prefix of "7" instead of "8," you can use this tool to find and replace all instances of "7" with "8" for consistent data. This simplifies data corrections within a Flow without manual updates.
What challenges does the Find & Replace Tool address?
Imagine you’re managing a Knack app that tracks product sales, and product categories are sometimes entered with slight variations (e.g., "Electronics" vs. "electronics"). This inconsistency can complicate reporting and analysis when trying to group products by category.
Example using the Find & Replace Tool:
1. Trigger: The Flow is triggered whenever a new sale record is added in Knack.
2. Retrieve Sale Data: Flows pull the sale details, including the product category field, where the same category may be recorded with variations.
Find & Replace Tool: Here’s where the tool comes in. You would use Find & Replace to unify these category names by finding any lowercase "electronics" entries and replacing them with "Electronics." For example:
- Locate instances of "electronics" (in lowercase)
- Replace them with "Electronics" (in proper case) for consistent categorization
Further Action (Optional): You could also use the Find & Replace tool to correct other data variations, like updating legacy category names or product codes, before triggering additional reporting or notifications in the workflow.
How to Access & Apply the Find & Replace Tool to Your Flows
After selecting the Flow where you want to utilize the Find & Replace Tool, identify the specific steps within the Flow that require the application of your desired conditions.
You can then add a Tool by clicking on the "+" button underneath each necessary step. Clicking the "Tool" option will allow you to select from a range of different tools Flows offers, including the Find & Replace Tool.
