Data Formula Task

Suite
Customer Experience Employee Experience Strategy & Research
Product
Qualtrics
What's on this page

About Data Formula Tasks

Data formula tasks in workflows help you transform your data so it can be more easily used later in your workflow. One common example is calculating how long a customer spent on your website based on when they first loaded the page and when exited the site. You can then use the calculated time spent in your workflow conditions or subsequent workflow tasks.

With the data formula task, you can:

  • Change the case of string fields (e.g., transform text from lowercase to uppercase).
  • Change the format of date fields.
  • Calculate the difference between 2 dates.

Setting Up a Data Formula Task

Go to the global Workflows page, or the Workflows tab in a survey.
In the workflows tab, clicking "create a workflows" and then "started when an event is received"
In the workflows tab, clicking "create a workflows" and then "started when an event is received"
Make sure you’re in the Your workflows section.
Click Create a workflow.
Decide if the workflow should be Started when an event is received or Started at a specific time. See Scheduled Workflows vs. Event-Based Workflows for more information.
Rename your workflow.
renaming the workflow, setting the event, then adding a task
renaming the workflow, setting the event, then adding a task
Choose the event that starts your workflow (if event-based), or set the schedule (if scheduled).
Click the plus sign ( + ) and select Add a task.
Choose the Data formula task.
choosing the data formula task
choosing the data formula task
To change the formatting of a string or date field, click Add a format. See Modifying String Field Formatting and Modifying Date Field Formatting for more information.
adding a format change or date calculation in the task
adding a format change or date calculation in the task
To calculate the difference between 2 dates, click Add a calculation. See Calculating Differences Between Dates for more information.
When finished, click Save.
Continue building your workflow with more conditions and tasks. When building your workflow, your transformed data fields will be available in the piped text menu.
the transformed data fields available in the piped text menu
the transformed data fields available in the piped text menu

Modifying String Field Formatting

With the data formula task, you can transform a text string into another case. For example, some employee data systems store information in all uppercase letters. However, when ingesting that data into Qualtrics, you want to transform it to title case (only the first letter of every word is capitalized) so it looks better on your Qualtrics dashboards.

Click Add a format.
clicking add a format and then string
clicking add a format and then string
Choose String.
Select your desired format. Your options include:
choosing the format and adding a field
choosing the format and adding a field
  • Title case: The first letter in each word is capitalized (e.g., “Hello World”).
  • Upper case: All letters are capitalized (e.g., “HELLO WORLD”).
  • Lower case: All letters are in lower case (e.g., “hello world”).
Click Add a field.
Use the piped text menu, {a}, to choose the field you want to transform.
selecting the field to transform from the piped text menu
selecting the field to transform from the piped text menu
Enter a name for your new transformed field. Note that spaces are not allowed and will be automatically turned into an underscore.
giving the field a name
giving the field a name
You can transform multiple fields using the same task. Click Add a format to add additional fields.

Modifying Date Field Formatting

With the data formula task, you can change the format on date fields. For transforming date fields, the original date format must be ISO-8601 format.

Click Add a format.
clicking add a format and then date
clicking add a format and then date
Choose Date.
Select your desired date format.
choosing the desired date format and then clicking add a field
choosing the desired date format and then clicking add a field
Click Add a field.
Use the piped text menu, {a}, to choose the field you want to transform.
choosing the field to transform from the piped text menu
choosing the field to transform from the piped text menu
Enter a name for your new transformed field. Note that spaces are not allowed and will be automatically turned into an underscore.
naming the new date field
naming the new date field
You can transform multiple fields using the same task. Click Add a format to add additional fields.

Calculating Differences Between Dates

With the data formula task, you can calculate the difference between 2 dates. The task will return the difference in a variety of units, allowing you to choose the one that is most useful for you. Dates must be in ISO-8601 format to calculate the difference between them.

Click Add a calculation.
clicking add a calculation
clicking add a calculation
Give your calculated date a name. Note that spaces are not allowed and will be automatically turned into an underscore.
giving the field a name and choosing the first date type
giving the field a name and choosing the first date type
Choose the date type for the first date you’d like to use. Your options include:
  • Fixed value from workflow: Choose a field from your workflow to use as the date.
  • Relative date: Choose a date relative to the current date (e.g., “tomorrow”).
    Qtip: Relative dates are calculated when the data formula task processes. For example, if the task begins running at 2022-01-26T20:14:02.000Z and you select “tomorrow,” the date used in the calculation will be 2022-01-27T20:14:02.000Z.
Select the date you’d like to use for the first date. How you choose a date depends on your date type:
  • Fixed value from workflow: Use the piped text menu, {a}, to choose a field from your workflow to use as the date.
    the piped text menu for choosing a fixed date
    the piped text menu for choosing a fixed date
  • Relative date: Use the dropdown menu to choose a relative date.
    choosing a relative date
    choosing a relative date
Choose the date type and date for the second date in your calculation.
adding a second date for the date calculation
adding a second date for the date calculation
You can calculate multiple dates using the same task. Click Add a calculation to add another calculation.
Qtip: The output of this calculation is an integer rounded down. For example, if calculating the difference between yesterday and today, the workflow would return the value 1.

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