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Index Any

Finds the index of the first occurrence of any character from a specified set of characters.

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.
  • Characters - A string containing the set of characters to search for.

Options​

This node does not have configurable options.

Output​

  • Result - Index position of the first matching character (0-based), or -1 if none found.

How It Works​

The Index Any node searches for the first occurrence of ANY character from the provided character set:

  • 0-based indexing: First character is at index 0
  • Finds earliest match: Returns position of whichever character appears first
  • Case-sensitive: 'A' and 'a' are different characters
  • Returns -1: If none of the characters are found

Unlike Index which finds a substring, IndexAny finds individual characters.

Usage Examples​

Example 1: Find First Vowel​

  • String: "Hello World"
  • Characters: "aeiou"
  • Result: 1 (first vowel 'e' at position 1)

Example 2: Find First Digit​

  • String: "Order #12345"
  • Characters: "0123456789"
  • Result: 7 (first digit '1' at position 7)

Example 3: Find First Delimiter​

  • String: "name:John,age:30"
  • Characters: ":,"
  • Result: 4 (first delimiter ':' at position 4)

Example 4: Find First Special Character​

  • String: "Hello@World!"
  • Characters: "@#$%!"
  • Result: 5 (first special char '@' at position 5)

Example 5: No Match​

  • String: "Hello"
  • Characters: "xyz"
  • Result: -1

Tips​

  • Useful for finding any of multiple possible delimiters
  • Great for validation (checking if string contains unwanted characters)
  • More flexible than Index when you have multiple possible characters
  • Characters string order doesn't matter - earliest match wins
  • Use for finding first whitespace, punctuation, or special character
  • Case-sensitive - include both 'A' and 'a' if you want both

Common Errors and Solutions​

Error: Returns -1 when characters should exist

  • Cause: Case sensitivity - included 'A' but string has 'a'
  • Solution: Include both cases in Characters, or convert string to lowercase first

Error: Returns unexpected position

  • Cause: Different character matched than expected
  • Solution: Check which character actually appears first in the string

Practical RPA Examples​

Example: Validate No Special Characters​

String: ${msg.username}
Characters: "!@#$%^&*()"
Result: If result == -1, username is valid (no special chars)
       If result >= 0, username contains special characters

Example: Find First Number in Text​

String: "Product ABC has 5 items"
Characters: "0123456789"
Result: 16 (position of '5')
Use: Extract numeric value from text

Example: Detect Invalid Filename Characters​

String: ${msg.filename}
Characters: "/\\:*?\"<>|"
Result: If >= 0, filename contains invalid characters

Example: Find First Whitespace​

String: "HelloWorld Test"
Characters: " \t\n\r"
Result: 10 (position of space)
Use: Detect word boundaries

Example: Parse Structured Data​

String: "name=John;age=30"
Characters: "=;"
Result: 4 (first delimiter '=' found)
Use: Begin parsing key-value pairs

Example: Find First Vowel Position​

String: "rhythm"
Characters: "aeiouAEIOU"
Result: -1 (no vowels - well, 'y' isn't counted)

String: "example"
Characters: "aeiouAEIOU"
Result: 0 (first vowel 'e' at start)

Use Cases by Category​

Validation​

  • Check if password contains numbers: "0123456789"
  • Check if text contains punctuation: ".,!?;:"
  • Validate no special chars: "@#$%^&*()"

Parsing​

  • Find first delimiter: ",;:"
  • Find first whitespace: " \t\n"
  • Find first bracket: "([{<"

Text Analysis​

  • Find first uppercase: "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"
  • Find first digit: "0123456789"
  • Find first vowel: "aeiouAEIOU"