---
title: Processors and Formatters
description: "**Audience:** admin, developer · **Last updated:** 2026-06-07 · [Edit on GitHub](https://github.com/phreesoft/bizuno/edit/main/docs/04-modules-in-depth/02-phreeform/04-processors-and-formatters.md) # Processors and Formatters Every value PhreeForm prints can pass through **two transformation passes** before it lands on the page: 1. **Processing** (`viewProcess`) — *first*. Turns a raw value…"
url: "https://www.bizuno.com/docs/processors-and-formatters/"
updated: "2026-06-18"
category: PhreeForm
---

# Processors and Formatters

**Audience:** admin, developer · **Last updated:** 2026-06-07 · [Edit on GitHub](https://github.com/phreesoft/bizuno/edit/main/docs/04-modules-in-depth/02-phreeform/04-processors-and-formatters.md)

# Processors and Formatters

Every value PhreeForm prints can pass through **two transformation passes** before
 it lands on the page:

1. **Processing** (`viewProcess`) — *first*. Turns a raw value into a more useful
    one: look up a related record, compute a balance, extract a piece, convert a
    number to words.
2. **Formatting** (`viewFormat`) — *second*. Presents the value: as currency, a
    date, a percentage, upper/lower case.

Order matters: process, then format. A contact ID might be **processed** into the
 contact's name, then a number might be **processed** into a balance and then
 **formatted** as currency. This is the seam where you customize output without
 writing SQL gymnastics — and without forking Bizuno.

---

## Where they're applied

At render time, for each field, the engine runs `viewProcess(value, field.processing)` and then `viewFormat(result, field.formatting)`. You choose the
 processor and formatter per field in the [designer](/docs/form-designer/) from
 dropdowns; they're stored as `settings.processing` and `settings.formatting` on the
 field.

Either pass is optional — leave them blank and the raw value prints as-is.

---

## Formatters (the presentation pass)

Common built-in formatters:

| Formatter | Output |
| --- | --- |
| `currency` | Localized currency |
| `number` / `precise` / `rnd0d` / `rnd2d` | Numbers at various precision |
| `percent` | Percentage |
| `date` / `dateLong` / `datetime` | Localized dates |
| `n2wrd` | Number spelled out in words (for checks) |
| `uc` / `lc` | Upper / lower case |
| `yesBno` | Boolean → "Yes"/blank |
| `null0` | Blank a zero |
| `storeID` | Store id → store name |
| `contactID` / `contactName` | Contact id → contact info |
| `glType` / `glTypeLbl` / `glTitle` | GL account type / label / title |
| `j_desc` | Journal id → its name (e.g. 12 → "Sales") |

(There are more — the designer dropdown lists every formatter registered on your
 install.)

---

## Processors (the transformation pass)

Processors are richer and **module-specific** — each module contributes the ones
 relevant to its data. A sampling:

| Processor | From module | Does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `inv_image` / `image_sku` | inventory | The item's image |
| `inv_shrt` / `sku_name` | inventory | Item short description / name |
| `contactID` / `contactName` / `cIDEmail` | contacts | Pull a contact field |
| `AgeCur` / `Age30` / `Age60` / `Age90` / `Age120` | phreebooks | Aging buckets |
| `paymentRcv` / `paymentDue` / `pmtNet` | phreebooks | Payment calculations |
| `invBalance` / `invCOGS` / `subTotal` | phreebooks | Invoice math |
| `shipTrack` / `shipReq` | shipping | Shipping/tracking values |
| `n2wrd` | bizuno | Amount in words (checks) |

The exact set depends on which modules are installed.

---

## How the registry works

Processors and formatters aren't hard-coded into PhreeForm — each module **declares
 its own** and PhreeForm assembles them:

- A module's `admin.php` exposes `$phreeformProcessing` and `$phreeformFormatting`
   arrays. Each entry names the processor/formatter, a display label, a group, the
   owning module, and the **handler function** to call.
- At startup, the registry (`initPhreeForm()`) merges every module's arrays into the
   PhreeForm module cache.
- `viewProcess()` / `viewFormat()` look a name up in that cache (formatters also have
   a core hard-coded set) and dispatch to its handler.

This is why installing a module can add new processors to the dropdown, and why
 your own module can too.

> **Adding your own.** A custom processor or formatter is just another entry in a
>  module's `$phreeformProcessing` / `$phreeformFormatting` array pointing at a
>  function you write — no core changes. See
>  [Custom PhreeForm processor](/docs/custom-phreeform-processor/)
>  for the worked example.

---

## Related

- [Data binding and fields](/docs/data-binding-and-fields/) — where processing/formatting attach
- [Custom PhreeForm processor](/docs/custom-phreeform-processor/) — write your own
- [Form designer](/docs/form-designer/)