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Count

Counts the number of non-overlapping occurrences of a substring within a string.

Common Properties​

  • Name - The custom name of the node.
  • Color - The custom color of the node.
  • Delay Before (sec) - Waits in seconds before executing the node.
  • Delay After (sec) - Waits in seconds after executing node.
  • Continue On Error - Automation will continue regardless of any error. The default value is false.
info

If the ContinueOnError property is true, no error is caught when the project is executed, even if a Catch node is used.

Inputs​

  • String - The string to search in.
  • Substring - The substring to count occurrences of.

Options​

This node does not have configurable options.

Output​

  • Count - The number of non-overlapping occurrences found (integer).

How It Works​

The Count node searches through the entire string and counts how many times the substring appears. The search is:

  • Case-sensitive: "Hello" and "hello" are different
  • Non-overlapping: In "aaa", searching for "aa" returns 1, not 2
  • Exact match: Must match the substring exactly

If the substring is empty, the count will be the length of the string + 1.

Usage Examples​

Example 1: Count Word Occurrences​

Count how many times a word appears:

  • String: "The cat in the hat sat on the mat"
  • Substring: "at"
  • Count: 3 (in "cat", "hat", "sat", "mat" - but only counting "at")

Wait, let me recalculate:

  • Count: 4 (in "hat", "sat", "mat", and "at" from "cat")

Actually, "at" appears in: "cat" (1), "hat" (1), "sat" (1), "mat" (1) = 4 times

Example 2: Count Commas in CSV​

Count fields in a CSV line:

  • String: "John,Doe,john@example.com,New York"
  • Substring: ","
  • Count: 3 (which means 4 fields)

Example 3: Count New Lines​

Count lines in text:

  • String: "Line 1\nLine 2\nLine 3"
  • Substring: "\n"
  • Count: 2 (which means 3 lines)

Example 4: Count Specific Characters​

  • String: "Hello World"
  • Substring: "l"
  • Count: 3

Example 5: Non-overlapping Count​

  • String: "aaaa"
  • Substring: "aa"
  • Count: 2 (non-overlapping: "aa|aa")

Tips​

  • Count is case-sensitive - use Lowercase node first for case-insensitive counting
  • Empty substring returns length + 1
  • Great for validating data format (e.g., checking number of commas in CSV)
  • Use for detecting repetition patterns in text
  • Combine with conditional logic to validate input
  • Count can be 0 if substring is not found

Common Errors and Solutions​

Error: Count returns 0 when substring should exist

  • Cause: Case sensitivity - "Hello" vs "hello"
  • Solution: Convert both to same case using Lowercase/Uppercase before counting

Error: Unexpected count for overlapping patterns

  • Cause: Count is non-overlapping
  • Solution: This is expected behavior - "aaa" contains "aa" twice but only 1 non-overlapping occurrence

Practical RPA Examples​

Example: Validate Email Format​

String: "user@example.com"
Substring: "@"
Count: 1
Validation: If count == 1, email has correct format

Example: Count CSV Fields​

String: "Name,Email,Phone,Address"
Substring: ","
Count: 3
Fields: count + 1 = 4 fields

Example: Detect Repeated Characters​

String: ${msg.password}
Substring: "aaa"
Count: >0 indicates repeated pattern (weak password)

Example: Count Occurrences in Log​

String: ${msg.logContent}
Substring: "ERROR"
Count: Number of errors in log file

Example: Validate Phone Format​

String: "555-123-4567"
Substring: "-"
Count: 2
Validation: If count == 2, phone has dashes in correct places

Example: Count JSON Properties​

String: '{"name":"John","age":30,"city":"NYC"}'
Substring: '":"'
Count: 3 (number of properties)
  • Includes - Check if substring exists (boolean)
    • Find position of first occurrence
  • LastIndex - Find position of last occurrence
  • Split - Split string and count array length
  • Replace - Replace all occurrences