User expressions

User fields point back to a particular user in your system. Data about that user is pulled from the user management table.

Fields

Any user field that you created on your form can be a part of an expression.

You can also take advantage of these system user fields:

System field	Description
_created_by	The user who started the item
_modified_by	The last user who modified the form

This expression also results in a user field:

lastcompletedstep().approvers()

Displaying user information in forms

User fields cannot display on their own. You must use the dot operator and then add the specific field you want to display. Fields must match with the user management table. For example:

_created_by.FirstName

Here is a list of default fields you can call up from the user management table:

Field name	Data type	Sample syntax	Output	Example
FirstName	Text	_created_by.FirstName	Creator’s first name	Pepper
LastName	Text	_created_by.LastName	Creator’s last name	Potts
Name	Text	_created_by.Name	Creator’s full name	Pepper Potts
Email	Text	_created_by.Email	Creator’s email address	pepper.potts@stark-industries.co
UserType	Text	_created_by.UserType	Creator’s user type	Super Admin
Added on	Datetime	_created_by._created_at	Date and time the creator was added to the account	2019-05-23 11:49 AM
Last signed in	Datetime	_created_by.LastLoggedInAt	Date and time the creator last logged into Kissflow	2019-10-31 11:52 AM
Manager	User1	_created_by.Manager	Creator's manager

1. If you want to display information about the Manager in a text field, you must use the dot operator to add an additional field. For example:

_created_by.Manager.Name

Assigning steps with user expressions

In the workflow, you can use a formula to assign a step to a user. In this expression, the data type must be a User.

You can use:

• the Field ID of any user field in your form
• a system field
• a user field called up from the user management table (such as Manager)
  (or)

You can also use the following user functions as per your requirements:

User function

Note:

Input: Email address
Syntax: user(<email_address>)

This function returns the user information based on the given email address.

If the email address is elizamendis@starkcorp.com, this function will return the user information mapped with this email address. You can also fetch the other attributes of the user by using a dot operator accordingly.

Userandgroup function

Note:

Input: Email address or Group name
Syntax: userandgroup(<email_address> | "<group_name>")

This returns the user information based on the email address or the group name passed in the function.

If the email address is elizamendis@starkcorp.com, this function will return the user information mapped with this email address. If the group name passed is “Finance team”, this function will return the relevant group with the mentioned name.

Userandgrouplist function

Note:

Input: List of email addresses or group names
Syntax: userandgrouplist([<email_address01>,<email_address02>,<email_address03>] | ["<group_name01>","<group_name02>","<group_name03>"])

This function returns a list of user objects or groups based on the input given.

For example:

userandgrouplist(“tonystark@starkcorp.com”, “jacobs@starkcorp.com”, and “elizamendis@starkcorp.com”) will set ‘Tony Stark’, ‘Jacob’, and ‘Eliza Mendis’ as the assignees for the step accordingly.

userandgrouplist(“Finance”, “HR”, “New recruits”) will assign the step to the Finance team, HR team, and the New Recruits batch in one go.

Tip:

You can also use the IF function to assign a step, but both results must be user fields.

Using comparison operators with user fields

The equal to (=) and not equal to (<>) operators can work with user fields.

Here's a common use case. You have a step in a workflow called Manager approval and it is assigned to the creator's manager. But what if the manager is the creator?

Create a condition for that step with this expression:

_created_by<>_created_by.Manager

Employee function

You can use a default field or a custom field of a specific employee from the Employee management table in your form using the Employee function. The primary purpose of this function is to fetch the custom fields created as part of the Employee management flow alongside the default fields in your Kissflow account.

The fields you create using the () in the Employee management table are the custom fields. Let us assume the field "Blood Group" is one such custom field created to store the blood group information of your employees in your organization. The following is the formula to derive the Blood Group of a specific employee:

Note:

Syntax: _employee(<system_field>).<Field ID of the custom field>
Example: _employee(_created_by).Blood_Group

"Blood_Group" is the field ID of the custom field "Blood Group". You can either type the above formula directly in the Formula bar of the field settings or choose the Employee function and Blood Group field directly from the formula dropdown. Please refer to the screen recording below for your understanding:

Likewise, you can also get the default attributes of a system field using this function.

Note:

Syntax: _employee(<system_field>).<default_field_name>
Example: _employee(_created_by).Name

In the above example, _employee() is the name of the function and (_created_by).Name is the syntax to fetch the name of the employee who started the item.

"_created_by" is a system field that contains the information of the user who initiated the item. You have to use a dot operator to derive the default attributes of this user like First name, Email, Department, etc. Learn how to use the dot operator on a system field here.

Refer to the following table to learn about the list of fields that you can fetch from the Employee management table using this function:

Field name	Data type	Sample syntax	Output	Example
First name	Text	_employee(_created_by).FirstName	Creator’s first name	Virginia
Last name	Text	_employee(_created_by).LastName	Creator’s last name	Potts
Name	Text	_employee(_created_by).Name	Creator’s full name	Virginia Potts
Nickname	Text	_employee(_created_by).NickName	Creator’s nickname	Pepper
Department	Text	_employee(_created_by)._department	Creator’s department	Admin
Email Address	Text	_employee(_created_by)._Email	Creator’s Email address	pepper.potts@stark-industries.co
Phone number	Text	_employee(_created_by)._Phone	Creator’s phone number	555-123-4567
User type	Text	_employee(_created_by).UserType	Creator’s user type	Super Admin
Status	Text	_employee(_created_by).Status	Creator’s account status	Active
Job title	Text	_employee(_created_by).Designation	Creator’s designation	Personal Assistant
Added by	User1	_employee(_created_by)._created_by	User who added the creator to the account	Tony Stark
Added on	Datetime	_employee(_created_by)._created_at	Date and time the creator was added to the account	2019-05-23 11:49 AM
About me	Text	_employee(_created_by).AboutMe	Creator’s "About me" section information	I manage everything about Stark Industries

Tip:

Please note that the Employee function does not list the fields that have been restricted as part of the Employee management flow's security settings. i.e. If a field is marked 'Protected' in the Employee management table, it cannot be called or used in the process form using this function.