Customize output
The customize output setting allows you to modify the event data that an action produces.
Customize output is available to all action types and can be found via the action configuration → + Option button:
Before getting started, we recommend familiarizing yourself with the surrounding functionality this article covers:
Tines: Actions
What can customized output be used for?
Enhance story readability
Use the customize output setting to format your payload data in one action, reducing the amount of actions in your story. In this example, we want to MAP out the "email" key from an array of objects.
{
"users": [
{
"name": "Angie",
"email": "angie@tines.com"
},
{
"name": "Shelby",
"email": "shelby@tines.com"
},
{
"name": "Lasse",
"email": "lasse@tines.com"
}
]
}
Normally, we would have two actions, one for the data and one for formatting it. Using customize output, we can transform this data in one action instead of two:
Optimize downstream processing
Use the customize output setting of your HTTP request action to strip the information you don't need. In this example, the Poke API usually returns a lot of information. Using customize output, we can filter the response to only return the data we want:
Set secret encryption
Use the customize output setting of your action to encrypt and store a token as a Tines credential, hiding the value from event details:
Limitations
The following limitations for the customize output setting are:
Input or event data from a different action cannot be included within another action's customize output configuration.
Key path auto-completion is not available.
Output preview is not available.
Working with value options
This video explains how to use the different value options available in Tines.
When working with an event transform action, you can change the different types of values to format or enrich data. You can start by pulling an event transform action into your story.
Using key-value pairs and adding fields
By default, an event transform action will contain “message : This is an automatically generated message from Tines”, which is a key-value pairing. You can replace this and add your own fields by hitting the plus button to add more objects or key-value pairs.
Switching value types
If you do not need all fields for a single action, you can delete them. If you intend to use the action for a single value (such as a number or text), you can click on the value type to see different options. You can switch the value to an array, null, true, false, number, formula, or text.
For example, if you only wanted the message to say "this is an automatically generated message from Tines," you would switch the value type to text. When using single value items, the action will only contain that one item.
Add an object
You can also combine different value types. For instance, you could add an object called "data set."
Instead of it being a plain text value, you can click on it to switch it to another object containing your nested key-value pairs.
Add an array
In addition to data sets, you can add an array to create a quick list, such as an "application list".
When adding items to the array by hitting the plus button.
Leverage local values
Using local values within Tines allows you to store the results of calculations to reference within your action payload.
Defining local values
Local values are available in all action types within Tines. To define a local variable within an action:
Within your Tines tenant, click on the relevant action tile to open up the action's configuration panel.
If the Local values section is not visible, add it to the configuration via the + Option button:
Within the Local values section, configure the value.
Reference the local value in your Payload -> Builder as
LOCAL.[value], as needed.
You can reference LOCAL from within the Local values object but it will only be able to refer to keys that were defined earlier, otherwise they will resolve to null.
For examples and more information on local values, visit our Tines University page.