DetectPromptFormat

While Storing Prompts, it helps detect JSON prompts., Markdown prompts or Plain Text

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Binu Alexander - Show more from this author
ASC,
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbinualexander/

Sample input:

PromptFormatDetector("Write a poem about FileMaker Citizen Developers")

DetectPromptFormat ( "{\"prompt\": \"Summarize this record\", \"tone\": \"formal\"}" )

Sample output:

Plain Text, JSON

Function definition: (Copy & paste into FileMaker's Edit Custom Function window)

/**
 * DetectPromptFormat ( promptText )
 *
 * Detects whether a prompt is JSON, Markdown, or Plain Text.
 *
 * Returns:
 *   "JSON"       — valid JSON object or array
 *   "Markdown"   — one or more markdown signals detected
 *   "Plain Text" — no signals detected
 *
 * Parameters:
 *   promptText — the raw prompt text to analyse
 */

Let ( [
	~raw = promptText ;

	// Normalise line endings for markdown scanning only — CRLF first, then CR, then LF
	// Order matters: replace CRLF before individual CR to avoid double-substitution
	~t = Substitute (
		Substitute (
			Substitute ( ~raw ; Char ( 13 ) & Char ( 10 ) ; "¶" ) ;
			Char ( 13 ) ; "¶"
		) ;
		Char ( 10 ) ; "¶"
	) ;

	// Strip all line break variants to find true first non-whitespace character
	// Used only for ~firstChar — JSON validation uses ~raw to preserve original content
	~trimmed = Trim (
		Substitute (
			Substitute ( ~raw ; Char ( 13 ) ; " " ) ;
			Char ( 10 ) ; " "
		)
	) ;
	~firstChar = Left ( ~trimmed ; 1 ) ;

	// Validate JSON against original text — not ~t, which has ¶ in place of newlines
	// Pretty-printed JSON would fail if validated against the normalised string
	~isJSON =
		not IsEmpty ( ~raw )
		and ( ~firstChar = "{" or ~firstChar = "[" )
		and JSONFormatElements ( ~raw ) ≠ "?" ;

	// System/User heading pattern — strong structural signal, worth 2 points
	~hasPromptHeadings =
		PatternCount ( ~t ; "## SYSTEM PROMPT" ) > 0
		or PatternCount ( ~t ; "## USER PROMPT" ) > 0 ;

	// Markdown scoring — combine weak signals; threshold at ≥ 1
	~mdScore =
		// Heading at start of text or start of any line
		( Left ( ~trimmed ; 1 ) = "#" or PatternCount ( ~t ; "¶#" ) > 0 ) +

		// System/User prompt headings (double weight)
		~hasPromptHeadings * 2 +

		// Unordered lists
		( PatternCount ( ~t ; "¶- " ) > 0 or PatternCount ( ~t ; "¶* " ) > 0 ) +

		// Code fences (strong signal)
		( PatternCount ( ~t ; "```" ) > 0 ) +

		// Bold text
		( PatternCount ( ~t ; "**" ) > 0 ) +

		// Inline links
		( PatternCount ( ~t ; "](" ) > 0 )
] ;

	Case (
		~isJSON ; "JSON" ;
		~mdScore ≥ 1 ; "Markdown" ;
		"Plain Text"
	)
)

`DetectPromptFormat` looks at a prompt stored in a FileMaker field and tells you what kind of text it is. It first checks whether the content is structured JSON data — if it starts with `{` or `[` and parses correctly, it's JSON. If not, it looks for common Markdown formatting clues like headings, bold text, bullet lists, code blocks, and links, with extra weight given to prompt-specific headings like "SYSTEM PROMPT" and "USER PROMPT." If even one Markdown signal is found, it's labeled Markdown; otherwise it's Plain Text. The idea is to check JSON first (since that's a definitive yes-or-no test), then fall back to pattern-matching for Markdown, so your downstream logic always knows what format it's working with.

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DetectPromptFormat

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