Find and replace tool

In this article

Albato has the Find and Replace tool that allows you to find values from previous steps of the automation scenario and replace, delete or modify them. This tool works like find and replace feature in Excel.

How to use

Let’s suppose we collect leads for an event from various systems in Google Sheets. One of our forms transfer a phone number in a format different from other sources. We need to replace digit 1 with 3 to correct the format. The Find and Replace tool will help us.

Step 1

Open the Automation builder section and add the tool between steps.

Select the tool and click Save button.

Step 2

Where to replace – in this field select the name of the list where we need to search. In our example, it is 'Phone number'.

What to replace – enter the value you want to find. It can be text, numbers or signs without spaces. In our case, you need to find the number '1' in the transmitted contacts.

What to use to replace - Determine what will replace the identified value from the field above. In the example, the numbers should be replaced by '3'. If you just want to delete the found values, leave the field blank.

Search Mode – This field determines the replacement order if there are multiple matches at the same time. Let's assume that one of the changes will be made at number 1 (212) 563-87-16:

• first occurrence only - will replace only the first match in the order. That is, only the first number '1'. The final result would be 3 (212) 563-87-16.

• last occurrence only - will replace the last match in the order. That is, only the last '1'. The final result would be 1 (212) 563-87- 3 6.

• all occurrences – will replace all matches found in the specified fields. That is, it will replace all the numbers '1'. The final result would be 3 (232) 563-87 – 3 6.

Our example requires the first digit replacement, thus we select the First occurrence only mode.

Step 3

Now we need to set up transferring of replacement result to Google Sheets. Open the Automation builder section and click settings gear:

In the settings window, specify the field where to substitute tool’s result. Click on the field, select Albato list and the Result value from the drop-down list. In our example, Column D is for Phone numbers.

Click Save button and start the automation. Ready!