Bulk actions (unordered notes)

Last modified 04 Oct 2021 15:31 +02:00

Ideas described here exist only on paper. We hope they will be eventually implemented. For current implementation of bulk actions, please see this document.

Textual language

Besides using standard midPoint data model represented in XML, JSON and YAML we plan to provide a textual language for writing bulk actions. Some examples:

Recomputing all users without fullName

#search UserType [!exist(fullname)] | recompute

Deleting all users that have no accounts

#search UserType [!exist(linkRef)] | delete

Disabling selected users

#search c:UserType [...] | disable

Assigning an account on a resource to a people meeting given criteria

#search c:UserType [...] | assign -resource "Exchange Server"

Assigning a role to a people meeting given criteria

#search c:UserType [...] | assign -role "Domain administrators"

Construct	Example
constant	"Domain administrators"
variable reference	$user $user/c:name
assignment	#set n = $user/c:name
search	#search c:UserType [c:name="jack"]
select	#select c:linkRef
pipeline	#search c:UserType
+ #select c:linkRef	+ log
+ resolve	sequence
#search c:UserType	+ (disable ; delete)

Construct

Example

constant

"Domain administrators"

variable reference

$user
$user/c:name

assignment

#set n = $user/c:name

#search c:UserType [c:name="jack"]

select

#select c:linkRef

pipeline

#search c:UserType

+ #select c:linkRef

+ log

+ resolve

sequence

#search c:UserType

+ (disable ; delete)

Future expressions

In the future we consider adding the following expression kinds:

Constant.
Variable definition (assignment) and reference. The reference might contain a property path if the variable has a structured value.

Name	Meaning	Examples in XML	Examples in text language
constant	A constant expression. Ignores what arrives at the input side.	<c:value>Domain administrators</c:value>OR<c:value xsi:type="t:ObjectDeltaType"> <t:itemDelta> <t:modificationType> replace </t:modificationType> <t:path> c:preferredLanguage </t:path> <t:value>sk_SK</t:value> </t:itemDelta> </c:value>	"Domain administrators"
variable reference	Provides the value of a given variable, ignoring what arrives at the input side. Optionally, might contain a property path when the variable has a structured value.	<s:variable>user</s:variable>	$user $user/c:name
assignment	Assigns a given value (generally, output from an evaluation of an expression) into a variable for later use.	TODO	#set n = $user/c:name
filter	Filters items arriving at input, passing only these that fullfil a given condition. The condition can be written using standard query language (XML or MSL), or it can be specified as a script expression (groovy, XPath, …)	<s:filter> <q:present> <q:path>c:fullName</q:path> </q:present> </s:filter>	#filter [present(c:fullName)]
foreach	Executes a given command (i.e. an expression) individually for each item arriving at the input. (See Data being passed section below.)	<s:foreach> <s:action> <s:type>disable</s:type> </s:action> </s:foreach>	#foreach ( disable )

Name

Meaning

Examples in XML

Examples in text language

constant

A constant expression. Ignores what arrives at the input side.

<c:value>Domain administrators</c:value>OR<c:value xsi:type="t:ObjectDeltaType">
<t:itemDelta>
<t:modificationType>
replace
</t:modificationType>
<t:path>
c:preferredLanguage
</t:path>
<t:value>sk_SK</t:value>
</t:itemDelta>
</c:value>

"Domain administrators"

variable reference

Provides the value of a given variable, ignoring what arrives at the input side. Optionally, might contain a property path when the variable has a structured value.

<s:variable>user</s:variable>

$user
$user/c:name

assignment

Assigns a given value (generally, output from an evaluation of an expression) into a variable for later use.

TODO

#set n = $user/c:name

filter

Filters items arriving at input, passing only these that fullfil a given condition.
The condition can be written using standard query language (XML or MSL), or it can be specified as a script expression (groovy, XPath, …)

<s:filter>
<q:present>
<q:path>c:fullName</q:path>
</q:present>
</s:filter>

#filter [present(c:fullName)]

foreach

Executes a given command (i.e. an expression) individually for each item arriving at the input. (See Data being passed section below.)

<s:foreach>
<s:action>
<s:type>disable</s:type>
</s:action>
</s:foreach>

#foreach ( disable )

Variables

More complex expressions, like "modify all Exchange accounts for a given set of users by setting 'alias' attribute to have the value of user’s name", may require the use of variables.

The above scenario could be written in this way:

#search $user c:UserType [...] | #select c:linkRef | #filter [c:resourceRef = "Exchange"] | #modify { ex:alias = $user/c:name }

However, this mechanism should be used only in really exceptional cases. Standard midPoint approach to manipulating account data is using mappings.

Notes on notation

Ugly hash marks

The language would be definitively nicer if it could be used without these #-marks, e.g. in #search, #select, and so on. However, we have to distinguish between reserved words of the language and ordinary identifiers. Because we have no control over the identifiers (e.g. all items in schemas are identifiers), we had to avoid name clashes in some other way. If we would find a way to eliminate these # characters, we’ll definitely do it.

Tools

midPoint GUI

It is expected that there would be some means to start scripts from midPoint GUI, either interactively (immediately showing the user the result of the script execution), or on the background, i.e. by starting execution within a task.

Command-line administrative client

We are working on a command line tool that will allow to run scripts in this way:

c:\midpoint> runscript "#search c:ResourceType [c:name='Exchange'] | purge-schema"

Encapsulating such midPoint scripts in Windows/Linux script files would significantly simplify executing repetitive administrative/deployment tasks. The prototype is available and is described here.

Eclipse-based management tool

There is a prototype implementation of an Eclipse plugin that allows to construct MSL scripts (using all the bells and whistles of syntax and error highlighting, auto-completion, etc) and execute them by selecting them and pressing ALT-F3:

The tool uses midPoint web service to execute the scripts. It nicely supports iterative development of scripts, as it allows to instanteneously display the result of script execution (e.g. when constructing search queries) in an Eclipse window, before the developer completes the script by writing specific actions (disable, delete, etc).

Was this page helpful?

YES NO

Thanks for your feedback