Function Libraries Configuration

Last modified 14 Mar 2024 12:46 +01:00
Expression function library feature
This page describes configuration of Expression function library midPoint feature. Please see the feature page for more details.

Introduction

Function libraries are dedicated midPoint objects that contain set of reusable functions. The functions can be used in other mappings and expressions in midPoint. Function libraries can be used to group frequently-used parts of the code, therefore simplifying midPoint configuration and maintenance.

Not to be confused with built-in scripting functions.

Function Library

Function library object contains definition for reusable functions across all mappings in midPoint. The purpose of this object is to let the user defines the functions once and then use it as many time as he needs. The important thing is the name of the function library object. This name must be unique and should not be the same as one of the midpoint variable. This name is used as a script variable name so the function library is available in the scripts under this name. The example of such function library object is shown below.

Example of reusable functions - FunctionLibraryType
<functionLibrary oid="c0c010c0-d34d-b33f-f00d-999999999999"
        xmlns='http://midpoint.evolveum.com/xml/ns/public/common/common-3'
        xmlns:c='http://midpoint.evolveum.com/xml/ns/public/common/common-3'
        xmlns:t='http://prism.evolveum.com/xml/ns/public/types-3'
        xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'
        xmlns:xsd='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema'>
    <name>myLib</name>
    <description>Custom functions</description>
    <function>
        <name>getName</name>
        <parameter>
            <name>name</name>
            <type>xsd:string</type>
        </parameter>
        <script>
                <code>
                    return name.toUpperCase();
                </code>
           </script>
        <returnType>t:PolyStringType</returnType>
    </function>
    <function>
        <name>getLocality</name>
        <parameter>
            <name>location</name>
            <type>xsd:string</type>
        </parameter>
        <asIs/>
        <returnType>t:PolyStringType</returnType>
    </function>
    <function>
        <name>addCountry</name>
        <parameter>
            <name>country</name>
            <type>xsd:string</type>
        </parameter>
        <script>
            <code>
                return 'rum from ' + country;
            </code>
        </script>
    </function>
</functionLibrary>

As you can see in the example above, the function library object defines the name of the library with the element <name> and list of function defined in the library (elements <function>). Each function must have its name. The name of the function needs to be a unique unless there is a difference in the input parameters for the functions. Input parameters are defined using element <parameter>. Each parameter definition must contains name and it’s also good to define the type of the parameter. The name of the parameter is simple string and it will be used for calling the function. The type of the parameter should be provided in the form of QName. The element <returnType> describes the return type of the method and it should be provided in the form of QName.

For multi-value return type, add <returnMultiplicity>multi</returnMultiplicity> inside function tag.

Using Functions

There are two ways how to use functions. You can decide between:

  • function evaluator

  • invoking function from a script

Function evaluator

Function evaluator belongs to the family of evaluators. It is a special evaluator intended for calling reusable functions defined in the function library object. The example of the function evaluator is shown in the example below.

Example: Using function evaluator
<attribute>
    <ref>ri:location</ref>
    <displayName>Location</displayName>
    <tolerant>false</tolerant>
    <outbound>
        <strength>strong</strength>
        <source>
            <path>locality</path>
        </source>
        <expression>
            <function>
                <libraryRef oid="c0c010c0-d34d-b33f-f00d-999999999999" type="FunctionLibraryType"/>
                <name>getLocality</name>
                <parameter>
                    <name>location</name>
                    <expression>
                        <path>locality</path>
                    </expression>
                </parameter>
            </function>
        </expression>
    </outbound>
</attribute>

The example above shows the usage of the function evaluator. Name of the evaluator is defined using element <function>. To call concrete function you need to define function library in which the function is defined and then name of the function and the input parameters. Definition of function library to use is done using element <libraryRef ..>. The element <name> defines the name of the function to use from the function library. Input parameters are defined using element <parameter>. It consists of the name and the value. Name of the parameter must be the same as it is defined for the function in the function library object. When you look on the example above showing the usage of the function evaluator and the example of the function library object, you can see that the parameter name location coincide with the name of the parameter location in the function getLocality. The value used for the parameter itself is expression. So you can use each expression evaluator here to get a value for the parameter. E.g. in the example above the path expression evaluator is used to get the value from user’s locality attribute. So at the end you can interpret the example above like calling the function getLocality from the function library identified by the oid=c0c010c0-d34d-b33f-f00d-999999999999 and passing the value of user’s locality attribute as a parameter to this function.

Invoking function from a script

Functions defined in the function library can be invoked also directly in the script. The example of usage is shown in the example below.

Example: Calling function from script
<attribute>
    <ref>ri:drink</ref>
    <outbound>
        <strength>strong</strength>
        <source>
            <path>locality</path>
        </source>
        <expression>
            <script>
                <code>
                    log.info("locality: "+locality)
                    fixedDrink ="";
                    if (locality != null) {
                        map = new HashMap()
                        map.put("country", locality)
                        fixedDrink = myLib.execute("addCountry", map)
                    }
                    log.info("drink: "+fixedDrink)
                    return fixedDrink
                </code>
            </script>
        </expression>
    </outbound>
</attribute>

In the example above the line fixedDrink = myLib.execute("addCountry", map) demonstrates invoking the function directly from another script expression. Each time you want to call function defined in your function library, you must do it with calling execute method available automatically for each function library (e.g in the example above myLib.execute(…​)). The parameters for the execute method are

  • name of the function

  • map of the parameters - parameter map must contain couples parameter name as it is specified in the function and parameter value which should be used for execution.

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