Common features
% format characters
You can use characters that start with a % sign as dynamic values in the properties of some BLOCKS. For example, %Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S. BLOCKS will convert these % format characters into Datetimes when they are processed.
There is a slight difference in the converted Datetimes depending on whether the Flow was executed manually or using an auto-execution schedule.
- Auto-execution: The value designated in the Auto-execution schedule property of the Start of Flow BLOCK.
- Manual execution: The Datetime at the moment BLOCKS received your manual execution request.
For example, assume the following has been entered into the Slack notice BLOCK’s Success notices property:
Time of processing: %Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S
Assume that the Flow containing this BLOCK contains 0 * * * * as Auto-execution schedule property and will execute at the start of each hour.
In this case, if the Flow executes at exactly 2016/4/13 11:01:23, the % format character string will be converted into the following when the Slack notice BLOCK processes:
Time of processing: 2016/04/13 11:00:00
As you can see, the converted Datetime is not the actual moment that the Flow executed. Please be aware of this when using an auto-execution schedule.
The 11:01:23 execution time is when the Flow scheduled to run at 11:00:00 actually executed.
% format character list
You can use the following % format characters:
| Format | Explanation |
|---|---|
| %% | Displays a “%”. For example, “%%c” displays as “%c” and does not convert to Datetime. |
| %a | Displays an abbreviation for the day of the week (e.g., Wed). |
| %A | Displays the complete name of the day of the week (e.g., Wednesday). |
| %b | Displays an abbreviation for the month (e.g., Apr). |
| %B | Displays the complete name of the month (e.g., April). |
| %c | Displays the date and time (e.g., Wed Apr 13 11:03:47). |
| %C | Displays the century (first two digits on the Western calendar) (e.g., 20). |
| %d | Displays the total number of days passed in the month (01-31) with a “0” in the tens place for single-digit numbers (e.g., 09). |
| %D | Displays the date in month/day/year format (same as entering %m/%d/%y) (e.g., 04/13/16). |
| %e | Displays the total number of days passed in the month (1-31). Unlike %d, a 0 does not display in the tens place for single digit numbers (e.g., 13). |
| %F | Displays the date in year-month-day format (same as entering %Y-%m-%d) (e.g., 2016-04-13). |
| %g | Displays the last two digits (00-99) of the ISO 8601 week unit/year display format. These two digits represent the year. In theory, the information displayed is that same as that for %y, however if the ISO week number falls in the prior or following calendar year, that year will be used (e.g., 16). |
| %G | This is the same as %g but a 4-digit Western calendar time is displayed. Furthermore, it is the same as %Y, however if the ISO week number falls in the prior or following calendar year, that year will be used (e.g., 2016). |
| %h | Displays the same content as %b (e.g., Apr). |
| %H | Displays hours in military time (0-23) with a “0” in the tens place of single digit numbers (e.g.,09). |
| %I | Displays hours using AM/PM (0-12) with a “0” in the tens place for single digit numbers (e.g., 09). |
| %j | Displays the number of days passed in the current year (001-366) (e.g., 104). |
| %k | Displays hours in military time (0-23) (e.g., 9). |
| %l | Displays hours using AM/PM (0-12) (e.g., 9). |
| %m | Displays the month (1-12) with a “0” in the tens place of single digit numbers (e.g., 04). |
| %M | Displays minutes (0-59) with a “0” in the tens place of single digit numbers (e.g., 03). |
| %n | Signifies a carriage return |
| %p | Displays morning and afternoon as “AM” and “PM”. Noon is recognized as PM, and midnight as AM (e.g., AM). |
| %r | Displays time of day in AM/PM format (e.g., 11:03:47 AM). |
| %R | Displays time of day in military time format. Note, seconds are not displayed (e.g., 11:03). |
| %s | Displays the time (Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)) in seconds from 1970, January, 1, 0 AM, 0 min., 0 sec (e.g., 1460513027). |
| %S | Displays seconds (0-60) with a “0” in the tens place of single digit numbers (e.g., 47). |
| %t | Signifies the tab mark. |
| %T | Displays military time (e.g., 11:03:47). |
| %u | Displays the day of the week as a number (1-7). Monday = 1, Tuesday = 2, Wednesday = 3, Thursday = 4, Friday = 5, Saturday = 6, and Sunday = 7. |
| %U | Displays the week of the year as a number (1-53) with the first week starting from the first Sunday of the year (e.g., 15). |
| %V | Displays weeks (01-53) in ISO 8601 format. The first week with 4 or more days in it is recognized as the first week of the year (e.g., 15). |
| %w | Displays the day of the week as a number (0-6). Sunday = 0, Monday = 1, Tuesday = 2, Wednesday = 3, Thursday = 4, Friday = 5, and Saturday = 6. |
| %W | Displays the week of the year as a number (00-53) with the first week starting from the first Monday of the year (e.g., 15). |
| %x | Displays the date (e.g., 04/13/16). |
| %X | Displays the time (e.g., 11:03:47). |
| %y | Displays the last two digits of the year on the Western calendar (e.g., 16). |
| %Y | Displays the year on the Western calendar (e.g., 2016). |
| %z | Displays the time zone in +hhmm/-hhmm format (e.g., +0900). |
| %Z | Displays the abbreviated time zone name (e.g., JST). |
Properties that support % format characters
Properties supporting input of % format characters are listed in the table below.
| Category | BLOCK | Property |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Slack notice | Channel |
| Slack display name | ||
| Icon | ||
| Notification message | ||
| API | HTTP GET | The value field of Query parameters |
| HTTP POST | The value field of Query parameters | |
| HTTP PUT | The value field of Query parameters | |
| HTTP DELETE | The value field of Query parameters | |
| BigQuery | Load to single table from GCS | Destination dataset |
| Destination table | ||
| Load to table from variable | Destination dataset | |
| Destination table | ||
| Load to multiple tables from GCS | Source data file group URL in GCS | |
| Destination dataset | ||
| Destination table | ||
| File count check URL | ||
| Export single table to GCS | Export destination file URL in GCS | |
| Source dataset to export | ||
| Source table to export | ||
|
Export multiple tables to GCS |
Exported file group URL in GCS | |
| Export destination file extension | ||
| Source dataset to export | ||
| Source table to export | ||
| Execute query | Query | |
| Result storage dataset | ||
| Result storage table | ||
|
Execute parallel queries |
Query | |
| Result storage dataset | ||
| Result storage table | ||
| Split table by column values | Source dataset for split | |
| Source table for split | ||
| Split table dataset | ||
| Table produced from table split | ||
| Create view | Result storage dataset | |
| Result storage table | ||
| Stream insert | Destination dataset | |
| Destination table | ||
| Delete table | Target dataset | |
| Target table | ||
| Machine Learning | Image analysis | GCS image URL |
| Speech recognition | Audio file URL | |
| GCP | Launch VM instance from GCE | Zone |
| VM instance | ||
| Suspend VM instance from GCE | Zone | |
| VM instance |