---
title: "Helpers | Grafana Plugins documentation"
description: "Learn how to use Handlebars helpers to perform text transformations including date formatting, comparisons, and JSON manipulation."
---
# Helpers
Helpers (also called handlebars) are functions that let you perform basic text transformations within your template.
In the **JavaScript > before rendering content** option, you can register [custom handlebars](/docs/plugins/marcusolsson-dynamictext-panel/latest/javascript-code/#custom-handlebars-helper).
The Business Text panel includes many predefined handlebars that are registered automatically and ready to use:
Expand table
| Handlebar | Description |
|----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [contains](#contains) | Checks if a given value exists within an array |
| [date](#date) | Formats the timestamp in a given field using a date format |
| [eq](#eq) | Checks two strings for equality |
| [join](#join) | Joins all elements of an array into a string using a given separator |
| [json](#json) | Presents an object (JSON) or an array as a formatted string |
| [split](#split) | Splits a string into an array using a given separator |
| [toFixed](#tofixed) | Formats the given number using a fixed-point notation |
| [startsWith](#startswith) | Returns true if the variable starts with a specified value |
| [endsWith](#endswith) | Returns true if the variable ends with a specified value |
| [match](#match) | Returns true if the variable matches with a specified value |
| [variable](#helper-variable) | This helper works only with one format of Grafana dashboard variables |
| [variableValue](#helper-variablevalue) | This helper works with all Grafana variable formats |
## `{{contains}}`
Checks if a given value exists within an array.
handlebars  Copy
```handlebars
{{#if (contains array "a")}}
Success!
{{else}}
Not Found!
{{/if}}
```
## `{{date}}`
Formats the timestamp in a given field using a date format. Uses the [helper-date](https://github.com/helpers/helper-date) library.
The field value must be a Unix timestamp or any format supported by the [date.js library](https://date.js.org/).
handlebars  Copy
```handlebars
{{date Time "YYYY-MM-DD"}}
```
## `{{eq}}`
Checks two strings for equality.
handlebars  Copy
```handlebars
{{#if (eq app "auth")}}
This is the auth app.
{{else}}
This is not an auth app.
{{/if}}
```
## `{{join}}`
Joins all elements of an array into a string using a given separator.
handlebars  Copy
```handlebars
{{join array "-"}}
```
## `{{json}}`
Presents an object (JSON) or an array as a formatted string. Markdown supports the syntax highlighting.
handlebars  Copy
````handlebars
```json
{{json obj}}
```
````
[](/media/docs/grafana/panels-visualizations/business-text/json.png)
### Transformation
The `JSON` helper expects an object or an array to display as a formatted string. If the data source returns a string, transform it to a JSON object using the `Convert field type` transformation.
[](/media/docs/grafana/panels-visualizations/business-text/json-transformation.png)
## `{{split}}`
Splits a string into an array using a given separator.
handlebars  Copy
```handlebars
{{split str ","}}
```
[](/media/docs/grafana/panels-visualizations/business-text/split.png)
## `{{toFixed}}`
Formats the given number using a fixed-point notation.
handlebars  Copy
```handlebars
{{toFixed Value 2}}
```
## `{{startsWith}}`
> Note
>
> The Business Text panel supports this starting from version 4.2.0.
Returns `true` if the variable starts with a specified value.
Example:
md  Copy
```md
|Name| My Value| |---|---|
{{#each @root}}
{{#if (startsWith @key "My_")}}
| {{@key}} | {{this}} |
{{/if}}
{{/each}}
```
## `{{endsWith}}`
> Note
>
> The Business Text panel supports this starting from version 4.2.0.
Returns `true` if the variable ends with a specified value.
Example:
md  Copy
```md
|Name| My Keys| |---|---|
{{#each @root}}
{{#if (endsWith @key "_key")}}
| {{@key}} | {{this}} |
{{/if}}
{{/each}}=
```
## `{{match}}`
> Note
>
> The Business Text panel supports this starting from version 4.2.0.
Returns `true` if the variable matches a specified value.
Example:
md  Copy
```md
|Key| Value| |---|---|
{{#each @root}}
{{#if (match @key "^(Country|Street|Post)")}}
| {{@key}} | {{this}} |
{{/if}}
{{/each}}
```
## Helper `{{variable}}`
This helper works only with one format of Grafana dashboard variables: array.
It returns a string array that includes the currently selected values for a specified variable.
handlebars  Copy
```handlebars
{{variable "hostname"}}
```
If `hostname = ["server1", "server2", "server3"]`, then the result is `["server1", "server2", "server3"]`.
## Helper `{{variableValue}}`
> Note
>
> The Business Text panel supports this starting from version 4.3.0.
This helper works with all [Grafana variable formats](/docs/grafana/latest/dashboards/variables/variable-syntax/).
The following example demonstrates the `queryparam` type.
handlebars  Copy
```handlebars
Link
```
If `example` equals `["value1", "value2"]`, then the result is:
HTML  Copy
```html
Link
```