Output formatters in templates

A field can carry an output formatter in its configuration: a rule that turns the stored raw value into a readable form. A dimensions field becomes “118,5 × 64 × 21 cm”, an address becomes a single line. For templates this means the formatting is defined once on the field rather than in every command.

The raw value always stays within reach. $o[`Maße`] outputs it, ffmt($o, `Maße`) the formatted form.

In the examples on this page, Maße (dimensions) is an assumed dimensions field with entries such as “Objekt” (object). The demo collection has no field of this name; there the dimension fields are called Breite, Höhe and Tiefe (width, height, depth), and ffmt($o, `Breite#einheit`) returns something like “118,5 cm”.

The two notations

Notation	Applies to	Remark
ffmt(record, `key`)	Everywhere, including loops	The template editor always inserts this form
$fmt[`key`]	The current object only	Wrong in a loop over `objects`, see below

{#ffmt($o, `Maße`) ?? ``#}
{#$fmt[`Maße`] ?? ``#}
{# FOR obj IN objects #}{#ffmt($obj, `Maße`) ?? ``#}{# END-FOR obj #}

If nothing is formatted, both return null. The command then stays empty, and a fallback with ?? applies, as with fdate and imask.

Use ffmt in loops

$fmt belongs to the current object. A template with a loop over objects renders exactly once, with the first object as the current one. There, $fmt shows the values of the first object in every row. ffmt($obj, …) takes the object as an argument and is therefore right inside the loop too. If you write ffmt everywhere, you cannot get it wrong.

The key

The key starts with the field name. A full stop selects an entry, a hash selects a variant:

Key	Result
`Maße`	Base variant, whole field
`Maße.Objekt`	Base variant, only the entry “Objekt”
`Maße#kurz`	Variant “kurz” (short), whole field
`Maße#kurz.Objekt`	Variant “kurz”, only the entry “Objekt”

Entries exist only in JSON fields ; after the full stop comes the label of the entry.

The base variant is the one with the ID standard or, if there is none, the first one in the field configuration. If a formatting is added later, ffmt($o, `Maße`) in an existing template therefore keeps outputting the same thing. An unknown ID returns null; it does not silently fall back to the base variant.

A field name may contain a full stop: ffmt($o, `Inv.Nr.`) works, because Moliri first checks the whole key against the field list. A hash is not allowed in field names, so that it can never hide a variant.

The preselection on the field has no effect here

On the formatter you can set which variant is preselected in views and export dialogs. That affects only those switches. In a template, the key alone decides; without a hash it is always the base variant.

Built-in formatting for each field type

Each field type brings a formatting with it (since v1.4.23 also 3D, HTML, time, link, the select fields, keywords and authority record). A field can add variants of its own or replace a built-in one with the same ID. The table shows the state as delivered; what a field in your project actually carries is in its configuration.

Field type	Variant (ID)	Result
Number (decimal, integer)	Number (`standard`)	Only the number, according to the field’s mask
	Number with unit (`einheit`)	Number and unit, for example “118,5 cm”
Date	Date DD.MM.YYYY	Incomplete dates shortened, for example “03.2025”
Switch	Label	The field’s on or off label
Address	Address on one line	Institution, person, street and number, postcode and town
Geolocation	Place on one line	The place on a single line
JSON	Entries on one line	All entries on a single line
Image, file, audio, video, panorama, 3D	File title	Title, otherwise description, otherwise ID and extension of the file
HTML	Text only	The text without markup
Time	Time HH:MM	Hours and minutes
Link	Without protocol (`standard`)	The address without `https://`
	Domain only (`domain`)	Only the host name
Select with hierarchy	Lowest level only	The last term of the path
Select, keywords	Separated by a middle dot	Several values joined with ”·”
Authority record	Label only (`standard`)	The name of the term
	Label with source (`quelle`)	Name and origin

The ID is given only where a field type brings more than one variant. Only then does the key need a hash: ffmt($o, `Breite#einheit`).

Number fields since v1.4.23

For a number field, the base variant “Number” now outputs only the mask. The unit is in the second variant “Number with unit”. Templates that relied on the unit in ffmt($o, `Breite`) now need ffmt($o, `Breite#einheit`).

Choose the formatting when inserting

In the template editor, when you insert a field, the panel Moliri · Insert & edit offers under Output the choice between Raw value and the field’s formattings, for Breite for example Number and Number with unit. The choice appears only if the field has an output formatter. Under This will be inserted you see the finished command, and below it a sample value if there is one. The panel writes the ID itself. The Word add-in does not offer this choice; there you write ffmt by hand.

Panel Moliri · Einfügen & Bearbeiten (insert and edit) in the template editor with the number field Breite (width): output Number with unit instead of the raw value, below it the command that will be inserted and the sample value 68,5 cm

Maintaining formatters

Formatters are created and changed in field management (field, section Output formatter) and, for each field type, in field type management. That is a task for the setup, see Field configuration . A formatter sees only the value of its own field. To calculate across several fields, use a virtual field .

The check in the template editor detects typing errors in formatter keys.