Add Actions or Other Blocks
Blocks that are not MashZone NextGen mashables or mashups appear in the Blocks Tab. Most of these additional blocks are actions that you can use to change results or provide dynamic inputs to the mashup. Some additional blocks also allow you to use information sources from sources other than MashZone NextGen, such as web sites or databases.
In most cases to use an action block, you add the block to the canvas, connect one or more other blocks as input to the action and then set additional properties for the action block.
Wires has a set of built-in actions and other blocks including:
Core |  Document: to build a well-formed document as input to a single property for another block. Common examples are for complex input parameters or headers for mashables or other mashups. See Create a Document for Input.  Extract: to extract one field, several fields or one or more repeating items from a result. The extracted results can be used as input to another block or as the final result for the mashup. See Extract Partial Results.  Group: groups repeating items based on the unique values of one or more fields. This can also optionally calculate basic statistics for groups. See Group Results. See also Aggregate Statistics.  Join: to combine the repeating items from two blocks based on a relationship. This relationship in the join condition. See Join Results.  Merge: to combine several results that all have the same structure. See Merge Results.  Parallel: to run two or more mashables or mashups at the same time (in parallel), generally to improve performance. For more information, see Run Several Blocks Simultaneously.  Select: to select only specific fields in every repeating item in a result. See Select Fields.  Sort: to sort repeating items in a result based on a field. See Sort Results. |
Data Transformation |  CSVGenerator: to convert results to a CSV (comma-separated values) format used in spreadsheets and some databases. See Format Results as CSV.  DataDecorator: to convert, format or transform just the data in results from another block. This action block allows you to apply one or several functions to data. See Decorate or Transform Data.  Mapper: to change the structure, organization or data of results to match a known structure. This maps the two structures. See Map Results to Known Structures.  Transformer: to change the structure, organization or data of results to a structure you define. See Transform Results. |
Database | Database: to run one SQL statement for any datasource that your MashZone NextGen administrator has configured. You can use this block to query a database, run a stored procedure or insert, update or delete records. See Run a SQL Statement. |
Math |  Average: to calculate the average value of one field in a set of repeating items. See Average Results.  Counter: to count the number of items in a set of repeating items. See Count Results. |
Utility |  DateBuilder: to select a date and apply one of several date formats. See Build Dates.  NamespaceStripper: to remove all namespaces from a result. See Strip Namespaces.  StringBuilder: to build a string of text from extracted values, input fields or other dynamic data. See Build Strings.  URLBuilder: to build a URL from extracted values, input fields or other dynamic data, typically for use with Direct Invoke. See Build URLs. |
MashZone NextGen administrators or developers can also add custom blocks to Wires. Contact your MashZone NextGen Administrator for information on working with custom action blocks.