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# slice (string)

> Reference for the slice (string) workflow task, which extracts part of a string between specified start and end indexes.

## Task purpose

Similar to the `substring` task, the `slice` (string) task extracts part of a string and returns the extracted part in a new string. The part to extract is specified by start and end indexes, or extends to the end of the string if no end index is provided.

## Potential use case

Use this task when you need to extract a specific portion of a string — for example, extracting only the telephone area code from an incoming phone number string.

## Properties

| Incoming     | Type   | Description                                                                                                      |
| ------------ | ------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `str`        | String | Required. The string containing the value to extract.                                                            |
| `beginIndex` | Number | Required. The position at which to begin extraction. The first character is at position `0`. Defaults to `0`.    |
| `endIndex`   | Number | Optional. The position at which to stop extraction. Extraction proceeds up to, but not including, this position. |

If `endIndex` is less than `beginIndex`, `slicedString` returns an empty string (`""`). If this is not the desired behavior, consider using the `substring` task instead.

| Outgoing       | Type   | Description                                               |
| -------------- | ------ | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| `slicedString` | String | The portion of `str` between `beginIndex` and `endIndex`. |

## Examples

### Example 1

In this example:

* `str` is statically set to `800-555-1212`.
* `beginIndex` is `7` — extraction begins at the second dash.
* `endIndex` is `4` — extraction would stop before character 4 (the first `"5"`).
* Because `beginIndex` is greater than `endIndex`, `slicedString` returns `""` (an empty string).

![](/_fern-img/f5d2a1d09c9da1428c2d9b546652722ee4a344beadcdf05af7b4706ea87e0d86.webp)![](/_fern-img/530e5fd2dfcc8395ae1cc902f30b2493ef3c076011f1cceb2a9388d6f02cc94c.webp)![](/_fern-img/ff3b2db4501845804088007d93d7da1658fec7937dba0ba58e0cd3ab7fbf4900.webp)

### Example 2

In this example:

* `str` is statically set to `800-555-1212`.
* `beginIndex` is `4` — extraction begins at the first `"5"`.
* `endIndex` is `7` — extraction stops before character 7 (the second `"-"`).
* `slicedString` returns `555`.

![](/_fern-img/3f72e297093e5b6dfd9e9dc754c80d22d008c8ac56ace93e867eba5b06d69e60.webp)![](/_fern-img/8fb553565dab84d7f8ff7eed1f2d15d297c1e406a7b60edfa111f229749d025e.webp)![](/_fern-img/2d3a3b0c7dd66e95ef1bb2bdc2f22562bf8f0f35a22ad9d174a397a89900f2ce.webp)

## Related reading

* [slice (string) API reference](https://apidocs.itential.com/api/app-workflow_engine/stringSlice/)