---
alias: user-guide-automation-converter-anytoconstant
description: "This converter transforms task outputs into a specified constant type"
---

# Any to Constant

The anyToConstant converter receives any kind of an output of a task ignores it and transforms it into a given constant. This is commonly used when for example, one wants to force a `Boolean` (true or false).

## Settings

| Name  | Possible Values | Description |
|------ | ------- | ------- |
| type  | `Boolean`<br />`String`<br />`Integer`<br />`Long`<br />`Decimal`<br />`Object`<br />`Date` | Result type of the value to output |
| value |  | The value that will be output. Will be formatted to the type defined. |
| dateFormat | `Now`<br />`UTCNow`<br />`Custom` | How the date is built when `type` is `Date` |
| customDateValue |  | The date to output when `dateFormat` is `Custom` |

Table 1: Settings

![image118][image118]

[image118]: ./images/image118.png

## Examples

The input value is always ignored - the output is built entirely from `type` and `value` (and `dateFormat` / `customDateValue` when `type` is `Date`).

The `value` field in the wizard adapts to the selected `type`, and the converter converts the stored value to that `type` at runtime.

| `type`    | `value`                     | Output                                  |
| --------- | --------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| `Integer` | `12345`                     | `12345` (`Number`)                      |
| `String`  | `Hello...`                  | `Hello...` (`String`)                   |
| `Boolean` | `true`                      | `true` (`Boolean`)                      |
| `Boolean` | `NOT true`                  | `false` - see Boolean conversion note below |
| `Decimal` | `123.45`                    | `123.45` (`Number`)                     |
| `Object`  | `{ "x": 123, "y": true }`   | An `Object` whose properties can be accessed downstream as `result.x = 123`, `result.y = true` |

Table 2: Examples

Boolean conversion is case-insensitive and trimmed: `true`, `t`, `yes`, `y`, `1` all yield `true`; **anything else yields `false` without failing.**

When `type` is `Date`, the output is driven by `dateFormat`:

| `dateFormat` | `customDateValue`        | Output                                                             |
| ------------ | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `Now`        | N/A                      | Current **local** date/time.                                        |
| `UTCNow`     | N/A                      | Current **UTC** date/time as an ISO string.                         |
| `Custom`     | `2024-08-12T12:00:00Z`   | `2024-08-12T12:00:00Z` - passed through as-is, without validation  |

Table 3: Date Format Examples

### Invalid Input

When the conversion from `value` to `type` cannot be done, the converter fails. For what happens to the rest of the chain when a converter fails (the error is logged, reported for monitoring, and the next task does not run), see [[user-guide-automation-converters-index]].

| `type`             | `value`                     | Result                                                       |
| ------------------ | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `Integer` / `Long` | `abc` (non-numeric)         | Fails with `Unable to convert 'abc' to integer`              |
| `Decimal`          | `abc` (non-numeric)         | Fails with `Unable to convert 'abc' to decimal`              |
| `Object`           | `{ invalid }` (bad JSON)    | Fails because the value is not valid JSON.                    |

Table 4: Invalid Input

`String` and `Boolean` never fail - any value is converted to a string representation or to `true`/`false` respectively. `Date` with `dateFormat = Custom` does not validate `customDateValue`, so an invalid date string is passed downstream unchanged.