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How to: Add or Change a Property Expression

You can create property expressions for packages, tasks, Foreach Loop containers, For Loop containers, Sequence containers, event handlers, connection managers, and log providers.

To create or change property expressions, you can use either the Property Expressions Editor or Expression Builder. The Property Expressions Editor can be accessed from either the custom editors that are available for tasks and containers, or from the Properties window. Expression Builder can be accessed from inside the Property Expressions Editor. While you can write expressions in either the Property Expressions Editor or Expression Builder, Expression Builder provides a graphical set of tools that makes it simple to build complex expressions.

To learn more about the syntax, operators, and functions that Integration Services provides, see Integration Services Expression Concepts, Operators (SSIS Expressions), and Functions (SSIS Expressions). The topic for each operator or function includes examples of using that operator or function in an expression. For examples of more complex expressions, see Using Property Expressions in Packages.

To create or change a property expression

  1. In Business Intelligence Development Studio, open the project that contains the Integration Services package you want.

  2. In Solution Explorer, double-click the package to open it, and then do one of the following:

    • If the item is a task or a container, double-click the item, and then click Expressions in the editor.

    • Right-click the item and then click Properties.

  3. Click in the Expressions box and then click the ellipsis (…).

  4. In the Property Expressions Editor, select a property in the Property list, and then do one of the following:

    • Type or change the property expression directly in the Expression column, and then click OK.

      —or—

    • Click the ellipsis (…) in the expression row of the property to open the Expression Builder.

  5. (Optional) In the Expression Builder, do any of the following tasks:

    • To access system and user-defined variables, expand Variables.

    • To access the functions, the casts, and the operators that the SSIS expression language provides, expand Mathematical Functions, String Functions, Date/Time Functions, NULL Functions, Type Casts, and Operators.

    • To build or change an expression in the Expression Builder, drag variables, columns, functions, operators, and casts to the Expression box, or type the expression in the box.

    • To view the evaluation result of the expression, click Evaluate Expression in the Expression Builder.

      If the expression is not valid, an alert appears that describes the syntax errors in the expression.

      Note

      Evaluating an expression does not assign the evaluation result to the property.

  6. Click OK.