Velocity Script - Clean Up First Name Field

[Broderick_Klem1]

I'm currently use this email script token to clean up our first name field which often contains email addresses, periods, full names, and title case it, etc.

#if($lead.FirstName == "")  
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("@"))  
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains(".")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains(" "))
  #set($name = $lead.FirstName.split(" ")[0])
  $name.substring(0,1).toUpperCase()$name.substring(1).toLowerCase()##
#else   
  #set($name = $lead.FirstName)
  $name.substring(0,1).toUpperCase()$name.substring(1).toLowerCase()##
#end

The one thing I can't figure out how to do is to identify when a first name field contains less than 2 characters so that on line #07 where we split the name, if the subsequent $name < 2 characters (e.g. "A Johnson" becoming "A") then just use "there". How do I do that?

[SanfordWhiteman · Accepted solution]

First, note this approach doesn't work for people with hyphenated first names. "Jean-Marie" should not be changed to "Jean-marie," that's not right.  (Similarly, people with a compound first name may not use a hyphen, like "Norma Jean," but that's the first name just the same, not "Norma.")

As for determining if something has N characters:

#if( $name.length() > 2 )
$display.capitalize($lead.FirstName.toLowerCase())##
#else
there##
#end

But there, too, you're saying that "AJ" and "B.B." aren't people's real-life first names.

[Broderick_Klem1]

Alright, I've got this working Almost perfectly, but I'm still running into one error:

#if($lead.FirstName == "")
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("@"))  
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains(".")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("1")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("2")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("3")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("4")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("5")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("6")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("7")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("8")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("9")) 
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("0"))
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains("_"))
  there##
#elseif($lead.FirstName.contains(" "))
  #set($name = $lead.FirstName.split(" ")[0])
    #if($name.length() > 1)  
    $display.capitalize($name.toLowerCase())##
    #else  
    there##
    #end
#elseif($lead.FirstName.length() < 2)
  there##
#else
  $display.capitalize($lead.FirstName.toLowerCase())## 
#end

This is working perfectly, except lines 29-35, where it splits the name if there is a space and is supposed to just capitalize the subsequent name if its more than 1 character, or just use "there" if less than 1 character. However, it's adding a space to the end of it for some reason. So for example if the [lead.First Name] is "Sarah Baxter", then it would end up as "Hi Sarah ," (with a space between the name and comma).

[SanfordWhiteman]

Those conditionals are causing me physical pain.  The whole thing can be expressed in under 1/3 of the lines as:

#set( $FirstName = $lead.FirstName.trim() )
#if( 
  $FirstName.isEmpty() || 
  $FirstName.matches(".*[0-9@._].*") ||
  $FirstName.length() < 2 ||
  $FirstName.indexOf(" ") == 1
)
there##
#else
#set( $FirstName = $FirstName.split(" +")[0] )
$display.capitalize($FirstName.toLowerCase())##
#end

If you need more than 3 if/else statements (in any language) you're probably going about things the wrong way.

[Broderick_Klem1]

Haha, I figured it was easier than that, just didn't know how. Thank you so much!

[Broderick_Klem1]

Thanks! And yeah, it's definitely not perfect, but I think saying "Hi there," a to a few "AJ"s is an acceptable trade off for to not ever having obviously bad names, especially when the email is supposed to look like it's coming from a person.