Flexie Scripting: Filters & Working with Lists

What a filter is

A filter transforms a value using the pipe symbol |. The value on the left is fed into the filter on the right:

{{ "hello world" | upper }}        → HELLO WORLD
{{ 1234.5 | number_format(2) }}    → 1,234.50

Filters chain left to right, each one receives the result of the one before:

{{ first_name | trim | capitalize }}

Everyday formatting filters

These are the standard filters available in Flexie Scripting:

Filter	What it does	Example → result
`upper` / `lower`	Change case.	`{{ "abc" \| upper }}` → `ABC`
`capitalize`	Capitalise the first letter.	`{{ "john" \| capitalize }}` → `John`
`title`	Capitalise Each Word.	`{{ "acme ltd" \| title }}` → `Acme Ltd`
`trim`	Remove surrounding spaces.	`{{ " x " \| trim }}` → `x`
`default(x)`	Use a fallback when empty.	`{{ phone \| default("N/A") }}`
`number_format(d, dec, sep)`	Format a number.	`{{ 1234.5 \| number_format(2) }}` → `1,234.50`
`round(p)`	Round a number.	`{{ 3.146 \| round(2) }}` → `3.15`
`abs`	Absolute value.	`{{ -5 \| abs }}` → `5`
`length`	Count items or characters.	`{{ invoices \| length }}`
`join(sep)`	Join a list into text.	`{{ ["a","b"] \| join(", ") }}` → `a, b`
`split(sep)`	Split text into a list.	`{{ "a,b,c" \| split(",") }}`
`replace({from: to})`	Replace substrings.	`{{ s \| replace({"-": " "}) }}`
`slice(start, len)`	Take part of a list or string.	`{{ items \| slice(0, 5) }}`
`first` / `last`	First or last item.	`{{ invoices \| first }}`
`reverse`	Reverse a list or string.	`{{ items \| reverse }}`
`sort`	Sort a list.	`{{ names \| sort }}`
`keys`	The keys of a map.	`{{ row \| keys }}`
`merge(other)`	Combine two lists or maps.	`{{ a \| merge(b) }}`
`nl2br`	Turn line breaks into HTML `<br>`.	`{{ note \| nl2br }}`
`striptags`	Remove HTML tags.	`{{ html \| striptags }}`
`escape`	Make text safe for HTML.	`{{ userText \| escape }}`
`raw`	Output without escaping (use with care).	`{{ trustedHtml \| raw }}`
`json_encode`	Turn data into a JSON string.	`{{ row \| json_encode }}`
`url_encode`	Make text URL-safe.	`{{ q \| url_encode }}`
`map`, `filter`, `reduce`, `batch`	Transform, narrow, fold, or chunk a list.	`{{ items \| filter(i => i.active) }}`

Flexie's own filters

On top of the standard set, Flexie adds these:

Filter	What it does	Example
`cast_int`	Force a value to a whole number (strips commas).	`{{ "1,234" \| cast_int }}` → `1234`
`cast_float(precision=0)`	Force a value to a decimal number.	`{{ "12.5" \| cast_float(2) }}`
`cast_string`	Force a value to text.	`{{ 123 \| cast_string }}`
`cast_bool`	Force a value to true or false.	`{{ "1" \| cast_bool }}`
`slugify(sep="-")`	Make a URL-safe slug.	`{{ "Hello World!" \| slugify }}` → `hello-world`
`json_decode`	Parse a JSON string into data.	`{{ body \| json_decode }}`
`json_path(expr)`	Extract a nested value by path.	`{{ data \| json_path("$.total") }}`
`regex_replace(pattern, replacement, limit=-1)`	Pattern-based find and replace.	`{{ s \| regex_replace("/\\s+/", " ") }}`
`group_by(key)`	Group a list of records by a field.	`{{ deals \| group_by("stage") }}`
`unique_by(key)`	Drop duplicates by a field.	`{{ contacts \| unique_by("email") }}`
`sum_by(key, scale=4)`	Total a numeric field across records.	`{{ items \| sum_by("amount") }}`
`sort_by(key, dir="ASC")`	Sort records by a field.	`{{ invoices \| sort_by("due_date", "DESC") }}`

Working across a list of records

You will often fetch many records (with findMany, getSmartListRecords, findDeals, etc.) and then summarise or reshape them. These helpers do that.

Totals and statistics

Function	What it does
`sumField(list, field)`	Add up one field across a list.
`avgField(list, field)`	Average one field across a list.
`minField(list, key)`	Smallest value of a field.
`maxField(list, key)`	Largest value of a field.
`countDistinct(list, field)`	How many different values a field has.

{% set invoices = findMany("invoice", "contact_id", id) %}
Total billed: {{ sumField(invoices, "total_incl_tax") | number_format(2) }}
Largest: {{ maxField(invoices, "total_incl_tax") | number_format(2) }}

Reshaping a list

Function	What it does
`collectionColumn(list, column, indexBy=null)`	Pull a single column out as a flat list, or, with `indexBy`, build a lookup map keyed by another column.

{# A flat list of every email on the account #}
{{ collectionColumn(getAccountContacts(id), "email") | join(", ") }}

Looping with grouping, a worked example

Show invoices grouped by status, with a subtotal per group:

{% set invoices = findMany("invoice", "contact_id", id) %}
{% set grouped = invoices | group_by("status") %}

{% for status, rows in grouped %}
  {{ status | upper }} ({{ rows | length }})
  {% for inv in rows | sort_by("due_date") %}
    - {{ inv.number }}: {{ inv.total_incl_tax | number_format(2) }}
  {% endfor %}
  Subtotal: {{ rows | sum_by("total_incl_tax") | number_format(2) }}

{% endfor %}

Reusable blocks, snippets

If you keep retyping the same chunk of content (a header, a signature, a styled footer), an administrator can save it as a snippet and you include it by name:

{% snippet "email_header" %}
... your content ...
{% snippet "email_footer" %}

A snippet is itself Flexie Scripting, so it can contain its own logic and tokens and will see the same record data as the template that includes it.

Next steps

Recipes: these pieces assembled into complete solutions.
Where it runs & its limits: what data is available in each context, and the safety boundaries.