Getting the same value from a expression rule

RE: Getting the same value from a expression rule

Harsha Sharma — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 10:27:24 GMT

Any process instance’s id is unique always! If you want random yet unique string then consider using the process id -pp!id- along with whatever code you have for the random string!

RE: Getting the same value from a expression rule

Stefan Helzle — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 06:47:10 GMT

OK, but then you can't just use a random value. You will get duplicates over time.

Did you consider to just use the primary key of a record as the identifier? This would guarantee uniqueness. And you can convert that number into an alphanumeric string if needed.

RE: Getting the same value from a expression rule

jethmrsgn — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 06:40:59 GMT

We’re using it as an identifier. Unfortunately, we can't add more characters due to an external system limitation.

RE: Getting the same value from a expression rule

Shubham Aware — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 06:39:00 GMT

Try this code once.

mid(
  substitute(
    substitute(
      text(now(), "yyyyMMddHHmmssSSS"), 
      ":", ""
    ),
    " ", ""
  ),
  12,
  6
)

I would recommend you to use pp!id with now() to make it more unique combination.

RE: Getting the same value from a expression rule

jethmrsgn — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 06:37:19 GMT

Thank you for answering. Is there a way to check this?

RE: Getting the same value from a expression rule

Stefan Helzle — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 06:33:51 GMT

6 characters isn't that much randomness. So, yes, this can happen.

What do you do with this value?

RE: Getting the same value from a expression rule

Shubham Aware — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 06:27:31 GMT

No, Expression rules don't share execution threads. Each process instance gets its own separate execution.
Your random generator likely uses system time as a seed. When two processes run at the exact same millisecond, they get the same seed -> same random value.