Macro substitution lets you insert variables into an app during runtime execution, where ${variable} will be replaced with the actual value of the variable.
Let’s first look at some common cases that illustrate the use of macros.
Example: Set a custom channel name
channelName: "_bug-report_${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}-${title}"
If somebody reports “Database error” on November 15, the channel name of the bug report will be “_bug-report_2020-11-15-database_error”. Conclude automatically translates space and other illegal channel name letters to underscore.
Example: Invite the initiator
members: "#requests ${initiator}"
This will invite the initiator (the person who submitted a request for approval) to become a member of the activity channel. This technique is used by the ‘approval’ template.
Example: Set a default attribute value
- name: conclusion
type: text
label: Resolution
defaultValue: "${bug_status.label}"
placeholder: What was the resolution?
The ‘bug’ template sets the resolution (conclusion) text to the value of the bug_status select dropdown.
Macro substitution is context sensitive
Macro expansion knows the context, and the substituted value depends on the context in which the macro is used.
For example, ${initiator} will expand to different values depending on the context:
- As a Slack alert or message: converted to a Slack user reference.
- In the To/Cc: of an email: The email address of the initiator.
- In the body text of an email: The full name of the initiator.
Role-based macros
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| ${initiator} | The user who created the activity. |
| ${owner} | The owner of the activity. |
| ${members} | The members of the activity. |
| ${admins} | The admins of the app. |
| ${superusers} | The superusers of the app. |
For initiator and owner you can choose how to represent the user by adding a suffix:
- .firstname or .lastname to display the first or last name.
- .mention to display the name like Slack shows it.
- .email to display the email address of the user instead of the name.
- name: title
type: string
label: Expense report
defaultValue: "Submitted by ${initiator.firstname}"
Attribute macros
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| ${attribute} | Expands to the attribute value. Examples:e ${title} or ${conclusion} |
| ${attribute.label} | Expands to the label of a select attribute. Example ${severity.label} |
Date and time macros
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| ${YYYY} | The current year (4 digits). |
| ${YY} | The current year (2 digits). |
| ${MM} | The current month (01..12). |
| ${MMM} | The current month (Jan..Dec). |
| ${MMMM} | The current month (January..December). |
| ${DD} | The current date (00..31). |
| ${DDD} | The current weekday (Sun..Sat) |
| ${DDDD} | The current weekday (Sunday..Saturday) |
| ${hh} | The current hour (00..23). |
| ${mm} | The current minute (00..59). |
| ${ss} | The current second (00..59). |
| ${date[.format]} | The current date with an optional format. |
Date formatting uses the Go date formatting, where you can use a format specification based on the reference date Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006.
- name: body
type: text
label: Incident details
defaultValue: "Received on ${date.Jan 02 2006 at 15:04 pm}"
Activity ID, URL etc.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| ${ID} | The activity ID, for example i3Ht7b89. |
| ${SHORT_URL} | The short URL of the activity, for example https://conclude.io/id/i3Ht7b89 |
| ${URL} | The URL of the activity, e.g. https://conclude.io/id/A-52aoz-521oz-4gtoz |
| ${channel} | The activity channel, for example #_incident-38 |