Zingtree makes extensive use of variables to store data collected or passed into the tree. 

How to Assign Variables

You can set variables in a variety of ways:

• Passed into the tree via the URL using Merge Variables.
• Assigned via Data Entry Fields.
• Assigned as Button Click Variables.
• Added to the session using a Webhook.
• Using optional built-in special tree variables (like IP address, location, last tree visited, last node visited, and more).
• Passed in using our apps for Zendesk, Salesforce, or Freshdesk.

Variable Names: Allowed Characters

• Variable names may contain letters, numbers, underscores (_), and dash (-) characters only. Variable names may not start with a number.
• When data is imported from external sources such as data connectors, any invalid character is replaced with an underscore (_).

Using Variables

Within Zingtee, you can add intelligence to your decision trees using variables in the following ways:

• Branch automatically to a node using a Logic Node.
• Generating a custom document based upon variables via a Document Node.

Displaying Values of Variables Within a Node

Any variable can be displayed in the node title, question or content area by surrounding the variable name with hashtags. For example, enter #name# to display the variable name.

You can do the same in email nodes as well. So in the "To: field of an email node, entering #email# will substitute the value of the email variable.

If you want to see ALL variables collected so far, enter ##ALL DATA## into the content area of any node.

Modifying and Erasing Variables

• If you want a text variable converted to lowercase automatically, add a _lc suffix to the end of the variable. So a variable named model_lc assigned as "Ford F150" will be converted to "ford f150".
• You can do math operations on numeric variables, using Zingtree Math.
• Text variables can be joined using a string catenation webhook we provide.
• You can erase variables by overwriting them or setting a Data Retention Policy.
• You can maintain a running total for numeric variables. This is useful for evaluations or testing.

Display a Reference List of all Variables

You can reference a list of variables used in individual trees or across your Organization. 

To see a list of all of the variables present in a single tree:

1. Open the tree for which you'd like to see a list of variables used
2. From the Information menu, choose Variables:
   
3. The Variables window displays a list of all the variables used, including the type of node and the node number. Clicking on the node number takes you directly to the editor for that node:
   
4. Click the link at the bottom to view a list of all variables present across all trees in the organization. Or follow the process below.

To see a list of all of the variables present across all trees in an organization:

• From the My Trees page, choose Variables from the left sidebar menu:
  
• The list can be filtered by variable name, tree name or tree ID.
• The list can be exported to a CSV file.
• Click on the Tree Name or Tree ID to edit the tree where the variable exists.
• Click on the Node number to edit the node where the variable exists.