Operations¶

Operations in eQual define aggregation or computation logic to be applied to one or more fields of a dataset—typically in a list view. They are essential for displaying totals, averages, counts, or custom calculations directly in the UI.

Overview¶

Operations allow you to perform calculations on your data, such as summing amounts, counting records, or computing averages. These are especially useful for dashboards, reports, and summary views.

Operations are defined using a functional-style array syntax, and can reference fields using the object. prefix.

Types of Operators¶

There are two main types of operators:

Unary Operators¶

Unary operators take a single operand, which can be a value or a field reference (often representing an array of values).

Supported unary operators:

ABS: Absolute value
AVG: Average
COUNT: Count of values
DIFF: Difference (single operand, context-specific)
MAX: Maximum value
MIN: Minimum value
SUM: Sum of values

Binary Operators¶

Binary operators take two operands. Each operand can be another operation, a value, or a field reference.

Supported binary operators:

`'+': Addition
`'-': Subtraction
`'*': Multiplication
`'/': Division
`'%': Modulo
`'^': Exponentiation

Syntax¶

Operations use a functional array syntax. Field references use the object. prefix followed by the field name.

Unary operator example:
```
["SUM", "object.qty"]
```
Binary operator example (nested):
```
["/", ["SUM", "object.total"], ["COUNT", "object.id"]]
```
This divides the sum of total by the count of id, effectively calculating an average.

Operation Object Format¶

Each operation object can define the following properties:

Property	Description
`operation`	The operator (e.g., `SUM`, `COUNT`) or a nested operation array
`usage`	Output format (e.g., `amount/money:2` for currency with 2 decimals)
`label`	Display label shown in the UI (optional)
`id`	Translation key for translation support (optional)
`suffix`	Text appended after the result (optional)

For more on output formatting, see Field Usages.

Examples¶

Summing Monetary Values¶

"operations": {
    "total": {
        "total_paid": {
            "id": "operations.total.total_paid",
            "label": "Total received",
            "operation": "SUM",
            "usage": "amount/money:2"
        },
        "total_due": {
            "operation": "SUM",
            "usage": "amount/money:2"
        }
    }
}

Counting Records with a Suffix¶

"operations": {
    "total": {
        "rental_unit_id": {
           "operation": "COUNT",
           "usage": "numeric/integer",
           "suffix": "p."
        }
    }
}

More examples

For more examples of operations, see the eQual Cheat Sheet.