Generate Appian Function From Text

Question

Hello, 
 I have a use case where end users must be able to define "functions" that will be applied to values defined in the application. 
 I was wondering if it was possible for the end users to write an Appian function with SAIL format in a paragraphField and then "translate" the generated text into an actual function ? 
 Is it possible maybe thanks to Appian Java API ? 
 Thank you in advance, 
 Claire

Mike Schmitt · Answer

I can't speak for Stefan but the impression I got was that he was suggesting something close to a palette of available calculations on a particular field or set of fields, where you allow a user to fill in one or more values then choose an operator (i.e. from a dropdown), and then use a bit of kludgey / manual logic either in a DB view or, in my opinion, the same could be done directly on-form in Appian, to display the result to the user. Of course this all depends on the desired operations being relatively uncomplicated, unless you want to sink loads and loads of time into developing it. 
 I'm not sure how much this matches your use case, honestly - it sounds almost as if you've been tasked to build a SAIL parser within SAIL. Such a thing is... certainly possible... but labor intensive, to the point that I'd be very hesitant. A shortcut (undocumented function) which everyone will tell you to avoid at all costs at least in a production system, but which you could test out at least for a proof of concept, can be read about here . I won't name it because I don't wanna get yelled at