# Breaking down message sequence to seperate elements
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/breaking-down-message-sequence-to-seperate-elements/100242
**Category:** General
**Created:** [25 January 2026 19:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/breaking-down-message-sequence-to-seperate-elements/100242 "2026-01-25T19:20:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Wally](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Wally)
#### Post date: [25 January 2026 19:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/breaking-down-message-sequence-to-seperate-elements/100242/1 "2026-01-25T19:20:32Z")
Hi all
I would like to send caller number and call time to google sheets via nodered.
My Tasker app uses a get request to send caller number and unix time as a combined string separated by a comma.
The HTTP node returns an object; {data:"027522000,1769366895"}
And that is where I get lost, would the best route be a function that splits at the comma and assigns to string variables or use nodes?
So far after endless searching I have two split nodes giving a message sequence of separate strings but unable to get my head around using msg.parts.index (does it need a suffix in square brackets ?) to get new individual msgs
Have read working with a messages but cannot find specifics on message sequences, most AI responses seem to deal with rejoining sequences after manipulation but are vague on processing.
Hope someone can help .
Thanks
```auto
[{"id":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","type":"tab","label":"Flow 2","disabled":false,"info":"","env":[]},{"id":"7cb825869847fde1","type":"http in","z":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","name":"","url":"update","method":"get","upload":false,"skipBodyParsing":false,"swaggerDoc":"","x":130,"y":160,"wires":[["a85986764eb8e4bd","59f574fe33fca39f","e63ab697d6e3a489"]]},{"id":"a85986764eb8e4bd","type":"http response","z":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","name":"","statusCode":"","headers":{},"x":330,"y":240,"wires":[]},{"id":"12d8c37fd2f44dfe","type":"debug","z":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","name":"debug 3","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"true","targetType":"full","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":680,"y":160,"wires":[]},{"id":"59f574fe33fca39f","type":"split","z":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","name":"","splt":",","spltType":"str","arraySplt":1,"arraySpltType":"len","stream":false,"addname":"","property":"payload","x":330,"y":160,"wires":[["0cdcbfc4eab7092b"]]},{"id":"e63ab697d6e3a489","type":"debug","z":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","name":"debug 4","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"false","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":680,"y":100,"wires":[]},{"id":"0cdcbfc4eab7092b","type":"split","z":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","name":"","splt":",","spltType":"str","arraySplt":1,"arraySpltType":"len","stream":false,"addname":"","property":"payload","x":490,"y":160,"wires":[["12d8c37fd2f44dfe"]]}]
```
---
### Author:  [@E1cid](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/E1cid)
#### Post date: [25 January 2026 20:54 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/breaking-down-message-sequence-to-seperate-elements/100242/2 "2026-01-25T20:54:22Z")
You could use a csv node to extract number and timestamp
```auto
[{"id":"25938fe4f4d37f14","type":"inject","z":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","name":"endpoint data","props":[{"p":"payload"}],"repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"topic":"","payload":"{\"data\":\"027522000,1769366895\"}","payloadType":"json","x":90,"y":160,"wires":[["dfb8a8462826e843"]]},{"id":"dfb8a8462826e843","type":"change","z":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","name":"","rules":[{"t":"move","p":"payload.data","pt":"msg","to":"payload","tot":"msg"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":310,"y":160,"wires":[["b87b466143853734"]]},{"id":"b87b466143853734","type":"csv","z":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","name":"","spec":"rfc","sep":",","hdrin":"","hdrout":"none","multi":"one","ret":"\\r\\n","temp":"number,timestamp","skip":"0","strings":true,"include_empty_strings":"","include_null_values":"","x":490,"y":160,"wires":[["12d8c37fd2f44dfe"]]},{"id":"12d8c37fd2f44dfe","type":"debug","z":"fd16d8ce2d4fe245","name":"debug 3","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"true","targetType":"full","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":680,"y":160,"wires":[]}]
```
Or better still have tasker send a properly constructed JSON
```auto
{"number": "027522000", "timestamp": 1769366895}
```
Then the http in node could parse it with no other node required.
---
### Author:  [@gregorius](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gregorius)
#### Post date: [25 January 2026 21:18 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/breaking-down-message-sequence-to-seperate-elements/100242/3 "2026-01-25T21:18:15Z")
Any reason for not using the [google sheets](https://flows.nodered.org/node/node-red-contrib-google-sheets) node?
---
### Author:  [@Wally](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Wally)
#### Post date: [25 January 2026 23:03 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/breaking-down-message-sequence-to-seperate-elements/100242/4 "2026-01-25T23:03:50Z")
Hi
Thanks for reply.
Not being that familiar with programming generally, I used the simplest method (to me) in Tasker
of attaching data to the URL (?%CNUM=,%TIMES) rather than constructing a post request.
I also would like to get the information as variables to process further.
Will study the CSV node.
Cheers
---
### Author:  [@Wally](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Wally)
#### Post date: [25 January 2026 23:15 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/breaking-down-message-sequence-to-seperate-elements/100242/5 "2026-01-25T23:15:10Z")
Appreciate the response.
Would I still have to split the string and assign variables?
The idea behind this is a simple entry system, call a mobile number and the strike plate opens for a couple of seconds, the number can be compared to a approved list and the time can be recorded. There used to be garage door systems the took a sim that did something similar(always talk of no network charges and illegal use of power). I suppose you could use Tasker to access the sheets API direct but having nodered in the mix gives other opportunities.
Thanks
---
### Author:  [@Wally](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Wally)
#### Post date: [26 January 2026 00:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/breaking-down-message-sequence-to-seperate-elements/100242/6 "2026-01-26T00:38:59Z")
Thank you, used the csv and then a change node to assign the flow variables, now to work on the google sheet node.
If anyone has the time ? While trying different ways to get this working i noticed that the json node put the key part of a pair in quotation marks and then the split node worked slightly differently, whats the reasoning behind quotation or no quotation around the key.
Also a simple object pair like {data : "xxxx"} what javascript in a function would assign xxx to a string variable.
Thanks again for your help with this.
---
### Author:  [@Buckskin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Buckskin)
#### Post date: [26 January 2026 14:18 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/breaking-down-message-sequence-to-seperate-elements/100242/7 "2026-01-26T14:18:00Z")
> [@Wally](#):
>
> If anyone has the time ? While trying different ways to get this working i noticed that the json node put the key part of a pair in quotation marks and then the split node worked slightly differently, whats the reasoning behind quotation or no quotation around the key.
That is how JSON is formatted see [What is JSON](https://www.w3schools.com/whatis/whatis_json.asp)
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [9 February 2026 14:18 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/breaking-down-message-sequence-to-seperate-elements/100242/8 "2026-02-09T14:18:25Z")
This topic was automatically closed 14 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.