> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mind-expression-docs.gitbook.io/home/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mind-expression-docs.gitbook.io/home/how-to-guides/intelligent-process/smalltalk-with-mind-expression.md).

# Mindscript with Mind Expression

## MindScript Container

We provide support for rendering code within a container environment.

To indicate code to be rendered, it should be enclosed within `{{$` and `}}`. For instance, if the `response-template` field in a subject definition contains the following content:

```
A new format of it is {{$ sel dateFormat: 'MM/DD/YYYY'}}
```

If the `sel` is applied to the most recent input from the user, which is the query '2022-09-09', it would result in the displayed text.

```
A new format of it is 09/09/2022
```

That means, we interpret `sel dateFormat: 'MM/DD/YYYY'` as a MindScript code.

You can find the available MindScript classes and methods documentation for a container through the engine API at /public/v1/talk/documentation.

In addition to the engine API, this handbook provides documentation for all MindScript classes and methods.

## Cheat sheet reference for SQL functions

| SQL Function | MindScript method       | Description                                                   | Example                                                                              |
| ------------ | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| ABS          | abs                     | returns the absolute value of a number                        | ab := -243.2 abs.                                                                    |
| CAST         | asInteger               | to change the data type of a value into the other type.       | '123' asIntger.                                                                      |
|              | asNumber                |                                                               | '12.2' asNumber.                                                                     |
|              | asString                |                                                               | 12 asString.                                                                         |
| REPLACE      | replaceAll: with:       | replace all occurrences of a string                           | ch := 'This is a string' replaceAll: 'is' with: 'was'. "ch = Thwas was a string"     |
| CHARINDEX    | findString:             | locate the beginning position of a substring in a string      | position := 'This is a string' findString: 'is'                                      |
|              | findString: startingAt: |                                                               | position := 'This is a string' findString: 'is' startingAt: 2.                       |
| FORMAT       | asCustomNumber:         | formats a value with the specified format                     | 123456789 asCustomNumber: '##-##-#####'. "12-34-56789"                               |
| LEFT         | left:                   | extracts a number of characters from a string (from left)     | str := 'abcdefg' left: 5. "str = abcde"                                              |
| RIGHT        | right:                  | extracts a number of characters from a string (from right)    | ri := 'abcdefg' right: 5. "ri = cdefg"                                               |
| LEN          | size                    | returns the length of a string                                | length := 'W3Schools.com' size. "length = 13"                                        |
| LOWER        | asLowercase             | Convert the text to lower-case                                | lw := 'A string' asLowercase. "lw = a string"                                        |
| UPPER        | asUppercase             | Convert the text to upper-case                                | up := 'A string' asUppercase. "up = A STRING"                                        |
| LTRIM        | trimLeft                | Remove leading spaces from a string                           | tl := ' A string' trimLeft. "tl = A string"                                          |
| RTRIM        | trimRight               | Remove trailing spaces from a string                          | tr := 'A string' trimRight. "tr = A string"                                          |
| SUBSTRING    | copyFrom: to:           | extracts some characters from a string                        | substr := 'abcdefg' copyFrom: 1 to 5. "substr = abcde"                               |
| FLOOR        | floor                   | the largest integer value of a number                         | fl := 25.75 floor. "fl = 25"                                                         |
| RAND         | Random                  | a random number between 0 (inclusive) and 1 (exclusive)       | ran := Random between: 0 and: 6. "ran >= 0 and: rand < 6"                            |
| ROUND        | asCustomNumber:         | rounds a number to a specified number of decimal places       | (234.414 asCustomNumber: '0.00') asNumber. "234.41"                                  |
| DATEDIFF     | dateDiff: as:           | find the difference between two dates                         | dy := '2017/08/25' dateDiff: '2019/08/25' as: #year. "dy = 2"                        |
| DATEADD      | dateAdd: as: format:    | adds a time/date interval to a date and then returns the date | date := '2017/08/25' dateAdd: 2 as: #month format: 'YYYY/MM/DD'. "date = 2017/10/25" |
| DATEPART     | dateFormat:             | a specified part of a date                                    | yyyy := ('2017/08/25' dateFormat: 'YYYY') asInteger. "yyyy = 2017"                   |
| DAY          | dateFormat:             | the day of the month (from 1 to 31) for a specified date      | dd := ('2017/08/25' dateFormat: 'DD') asInteger. "dd = 25"                           |
| MONTH        | dateFormat:             | the month part for a specified date (a number from 1 to 12)   | mm := ('2017/08/25' dateFormat: 'MM') asInteger. "mm = 8"                            |
| YEAR         | dateFormat:             | the year part for a specified date                            | yyyy := ('2017/08/25' dateFormat: 'YYYY') asInteger. "yyyy = 2017"                   |
| GETDATE      | dateFormat:             | the current database system date and time                     | now := 'now' dateFormat: 'YYYY-MM-DD'. "now is a date string of now"                 |