indexOf | Itential

The string indexOf task finds the position (index) of a specific character or group of characters within a given string. By default, characters in a string are indexed from left to right. The indexOf task is also case-sensitive. In conjunction with other workflow tasks, this task is useful when you need to find the first instance (or all instances) of a specific character.

Potential use case

Suppose you are attempting to extract email domains from user email addresses, and you need to isolate the exact position of the @ symbol in the email address. Using indexOf will allow you to obtain the information you need.

Properties

Incoming	Type	Description
`str`	String	Required. The string that contains the character value to search.
`searchValue`	String	Required. The character to search for within the `str` property.
`fromIndex`	Number	Optional. The position (index) in the string to start the search. Numbering starts (and defaults) at position `0` (the beginning of the `str` value).

Outgoing	Type	Description
`index`	Number	The index position in `str` where the `searchValue` first occurs. If the `searchValue` cannot be found in the string, the function returns `-1`.

Example 1

In this example:

The str variable has been statically set as abcabcdabcde.
The searchValue variable is abcd.
The fromIndex is set to 0, indicating the search should start at the beginning of the line. Numbering starts at zero.
The output index will be 3, which represents the first instance of where “abcd” can be found in the str variable (at character position 3).

indexOf task with str abcabcdabcde and searchValue abcd

Example 2

In this example:

The str variable has been statically set as sales@itential.com.
The searchValue variable has been statically set as @.
The fromIndex is set to 0, indicating the search should start at the beginning of the line. Numbering starts at zero.
The output index will be 5, because the first instance of the value @ occurs at character position 5 in the str variable.