Expression node

[ricardo_martins]

Is the Expression node expected to perform the same as String Manipulation with string and Math Formula with numbers?

How has your experience been with this node in terms of performance?

And finally, now talking to the KNIME Team, will we have a Multicolumn version?

[MartinDDDD]

My understanding is that indeed this node is meant to combine functionality of Math Formula, String Manipulation and probably Column Expressions and from the last release talk I understood they are working on making it “multi-coulmn” (i.e. for me that means that you can configure creating multiple new columns with new expressions similar to column expressions node, not apply one logic across multiple columns like String Manipulation (Multi Column), but I might be wrong here).

From a performance standpoint:
I’m very happy with it - it gels really well with K-AI - i.e. most of the time I don’t bother initially trying to chain functions myself, but I just ask K-AI to do it for me and then fine-tune where need be.
In terms of speed: OK for - I have not noticed anything where things are slow…

Just my two cents

[ricardo_martins]

Thanks, for your contribuition Martin!

By “multicolumn” I mean applying the same logic to many columns. For me a very useful feature for reducing I/O.

[takbb]

Hi @ricardo_martins , this was info from @carstenhaubold around the time of the initial release in KNIME 5.3

Getting excited about KNIME 5.3...

Hey everyone, Thank you very much for trying out the nightly build and discussing the new features! That’s exactly the kind of early feedback we need. Keep it coming I can answer a few of your speculations about the new expression node: Thanks for your input! You are quite right, in the first iteration this shall be a modern replacement for String Manipulation and Math Formula nodes. We’re currently curating the list of available functions in the node and ironing out some kink…

It doesn’t currently answer your specific question, but by linking that post, I’m hopeful that you (we) may get a further update on the roadmap for the Expressions node

[carstenhaubold]

Hi guys,

Exactly, for the 5.4 release we’ll be adding multi-expression functionality in the sense that you can have multiple expressions in the same node, where one expression is executed after the other so you can use the result of previous expressions in subsequent expressions.

Supporting multi-column is a request we’ve heard multiple times, so I’m going to record your +1. But we won’t work on that immediately as there are other nodes that deserve some attention first (transitioning them to a modern UI and adding AI assistance).

Best,
Carsten