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Functions used in Orchestration Pipelines's Expression Builder

Functions used in Orchestration Pipelines's Expression Builder

Use these functions in Pipelines code editors, for example, to define a user variable or build an advanced condition.

To see Pipelines functions transferred from DataStage, see DataStage Functions that are used in pipelines Expression Builder.

The Experssion Builder uses the categories for coding functions:

Conversion functions

Converts a single data element format to another.

Table for basic data type conversion

Type Accepts Returns Syntax
double int, uint, string double double(val)
duration string duration duration(string)
Duration must end with "s", which stands for seconds.
int int, uint, double, string, timestamp int int(val)
timestamp string timestamp timestamp(string)
Converts strings to timestamps according to RFC3339, that is "1972-01-01T10:00:20.021-05:00".
uint int, double, string uint uint(val)

Example

For example, to cast a value to type double:

double(%val%)

When you cast double to int | uint, result rounds toward zero and errors if result is out of range.

Standard functions

Functions that are unique to IBM Orchestration Pipelines.


sub

Replaces substrings of a string that matches the given regular expression that starts at position offset.

Syntax

(string).sub(substring (string), replacement (string), [occurrence (int), [offset (int)]])

returns: the string with substrings updated.

Examples

'aaabbbcccbbb'.sub('[b]+','RE')

Returns 'aaaREcccRE'.

format

Formats a string or timestamp according to a format specifier and returns the resulting string.

Syntax

format as a method of strings

(string).format(parameter 1 (string or bool or number)... parameter 10 (string or bool or number))

returns: the string that contains the formatted input values.

format as a method of timestamps

(timestamp).format(layout(string))

returns: the formatted timestamp in string format.

Examples

'number=%d, text=%s'.format(1, 'str')

Returns the string 'number=1, text=str'.

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00').format('%Y/%m/%d')

Returns the string '2020/07/24'.

now

Returns the current timestamp.

Syntax

now()

returns: the current timestamp.


parseTimestamp

Returns the current timestamp in string format.

Syntax

parseTimestamp([timestamp_string(string)] [layout(string)])

returns: the current timestamp to a string of type string.

Examples

parseTimestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29Z')

Returns '2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00'.

min

Returns minimum value in list.

Syntax

(list).min()

returns: the minimum value of the list.

Examples

[1,2,3].min()

Returns the integer 1.

max

Returns maximum value in list.

Syntax

(list).max()

returns: the maximum value of the list.

Examples

[1,2,3].max()

Returns the integer 3.

argmin

Returns index of minimum value in list.

Syntax

(list).argmin()

returns: the index of the minimum value of the list.

Examples

[1,2,3].argmin()

Returns the integer 0.

argmax

Returns index of maximum value in list.

Syntax

(list).argmax()

returns: the index of the maximum value of the list.

Examples

[1,2,3].argmax()

Returns the integer 2.

sum

Returns the sum of values in list.

Syntax

(list).sum()

returns: the index of the maximum value of the list.

Examples

[1,2,3].argmax()

Returns the integer 2.

base64.decode

Decodes base64-encoded string to bytes. This function returns an error if the string input is not base64-encoded.

Syntax

base64.decode(base64_encoded_string(string))

returns: the decoded base64-encoded string in byte format.

Examples

base64.decode('aGVsbG8=')

Returns 'hello' in bytes.

base64.encode

Encodes bytes to a base64-encoded string.

Syntax

base64.encode(bytes_to_encode (bytes))

returns: the encoded base64-encoded string of the original byte value.

Examples

base64.decode(b'hello')

Returns 'aGVsbG8=' in bytes.

charAt

Returns the character at the given position. If the position is negative, or greater than the length of the string, the function produces an error.

Syntax

(string).charAt(index (int))

returns: the character of the specified position in integer format.

Examples

'hello'.charAt(4)

Returns the character 'o'.

indexOf

Returns the integer index of the first occurrence of the search string. If the search string is not found the function returns -1.

Syntax

(string).indexOf(search_string (string), [offset (int)])

returns: the index of the first character occurrence after the offset.

Examples

'hello mellow'.indexOf('ello', 2)

Returns the integer 7.

lowerAscii

Returns a new string with ASCII characters turned to lowercase.

Syntax

(string).lowerAscii()

returns: the new lowercase string.

Examples

'TacoCat'.lowerAscii()

Returns the string 'tacocat'.

replace

Returns a new string based on the target, which replaces the occurrences of a search string with a replacement string if present. The function accepts an optional limit on the number of substring replacements to be made.

Syntax

(string).replace(search_string (string), replacement (string), [offset (int)])

returns: the new string with occurrences of a search string replaced.

Examples

'hello hello'.replace('he', 'we')

Returns the string 'wello wello'.

split

Returns a list of strings that are split from the input by the separator. The function accepts an optional argument that specifies a limit on the number of substrings that are produced by the split.

Syntax

(string).split(separator (string), [limit (int)])

returns: the split string as a string list.

Examples

'hello hello hello'.split(' ')

Returns the string list ['hello', 'hello', 'hello'].

substring

Returns the substring given a numeric range corresponding to character positions. Optionally you might omit the trailing range for a substring from a character position until the end of a string.

Syntax

(string).substring(start (int), [end (int)])

returns: the substring at the specified index of the string.

Examples

'tacocat'.substring(4)

Returns the string 'cat'.

trim

Returns a new string, which removes the leading and trailing white space in the target string. The trim function uses the Unicode definition of white space, which does not include the zero-width spaces.

Syntax

(string).trim()

returns: the new string with white spaces removed.

Examples

'  \ttrim\n    '.trim()

Returns the string 'trim'.

upperAscii

Returns a new string where all ASCII characters are upper-cased.

Syntax

(string).upperAscii()

returns: the new string with all characters turned to uppercase.

Examples

'TacoCat'.upperAscii()

Returns the string 'TACOCAT'.

size

Returns the length of the string, bytes, list, or map.

Syntax

(string | bytes | list | map).size()

returns: the length of the string, bytes, list, or map array.

Examples

'hello'.size() 

Returns the integer 5.

'hello'.size() 

Returns the integer 5.

['a','b','c'].size() 

Returns the integer 3.

{'key': 'value'}.size() 

Returns the integer 1.

contains

Tests whether the string operand contains the substring.

Syntax

(string).contains(substring (string))

returns: a Boolean value of whether the substring exists in the string operand.

Examples

'hello'.contains('ll')

Returns true.

endsWith

Tests whether the string operand ends with the specified suffix.

Syntax

(string).endsWith(suffix (string))

returns: a Boolean value of whether the string ends with specified suffix in the string operand.

Examples

'hello'.endsWith('llo')

Returns true.

startsWith

Tests whether the string operand starts with the prefix argument.

Syntax

(string).startsWith(prefix (string))

returns: a Boolean value of whether the string begins with specified prefix in the string operand.

Examples

'hello'.startsWith('he')

Returns true.

matches

Tests whether the string operand matches regular expression.

Syntax

(string).matches(prefix (string))

returns: a Boolean value of whether the string matches the specified regular expression.

Examples

'Hello'.matches('[Hh]ello')

Returns true.

getDate

Get the day of the month from the date with time zone (default Coordinated Universal Time), one-based indexing.

Syntax

(timestamp).getDate([time_zone (string)])

returns: the day of the month with one-based indexing.

Examples

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00').getDate()

Returns 24.

getDayOfMonth

Get the day of the month from the date with time zone (default Coordinated Universal Time), zero-based indexing.

Syntax

(timestamp).getDayOfMonth([time_zone (string)])

returns: the day of the month with zero-based indexing.

Examples

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00').getDayOfMonth()

Returns 23.

getDayOfWeek

Get day of the week from the date with time zone (default Coordinated Universal Time), zero-based indexing, zero for Sunday.

Syntax

(timestamp).getDayOfWeek([time_zone (string)])

returns: the day of the week with zero-based indexing.

Examples

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00').getDayOfWeek()

Returns 5.

getDayOfYear

Get the day of the year from the date with time zone (default Coordinated Universal Time), zero-based indexing.

Syntax

(timestamp).getDayOfYear([time_zone (string)])

returns: the day of the year with zero-based indexing.

Examples

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00').getDayOfYear()

Returns 205.

getFullYear

Get the year from the date with time zone (default Coordinated Universal Time).

Syntax

(timestamp).getFullYear([time_zone (string)])

returns: the year from the date.

Examples

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00').getFullYear()

Returns 2020.

getMonth

Get the month from the date with time zone, 0-11.

Syntax

(timestamp).getMonth([time_zone (string)])

returns: the month from the date.

Examples

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00').getMonth()

Returns 6.

getHours

Get hours from the date with time zone, 0-23.

Syntax

(timestamp).getHours([time_zone (string)])

returns: the hour from the date.

Examples

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00').getHours()

Returns 9.

getMinutes

Get minutes from the date with time zone, 0-59.

Syntax

(timestamp).getMinutes([time_zone (string)])

returns: the minute from the date.

Examples

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00').getMinutes()

Returns 7.

getSeconds

Get seconds from the date with time zone, 0-59.

Syntax

(timestamp).getSeconds([time_zone (string)])

returns: the second from the date.

Examples

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.000-00:00').getSeconds()

Returns 29.

getMilliseconds

Get milliseconds from the date with time zone, 0-999.

Syntax

(timestamp).getMilliseconds([time_zone (string)])

returns: the millisecond from the date.

Examples

timestamp('2020-07-24T09:07:29.021-00:00').getMilliseconds()

Returns 21.

Access to advanced global objects

Get node outputs, user variables, and pipeline parameters by using the following Pipelines code.

Get user variable

Gets the most up-to-date value of a user variable.

Syntax

vars.<var name>

Examples

Example Output
vars.my_user_var Gets the value of the user variable my_user_var

Get parameters

Gets the flow parameters.

Syntax

params.<param name>

Examples

Example Output
params.a Gets the value of the parameter a

Get parameter sets

Gets the flow parameter sets.

Syntax

param_set.<param_set_name>.<param_name>

Examples

Example Output
param_set.ps.a Gets the value of the parameter a from a parameter set ps
param_sets.config Gets the pipeline configuration values
param_sets.config.deadline Gets a date object from the configurations parameter set
param_sets.ps["$PARAM"] Gets the value of the parameter $PARAM from a parameter set ps

Get task results

Get a pipeline task's resulting output and other metrics from a pipeline task after it completes its run.

Syntax

tasks.<node id>.<output name>

Examples

Example Output
tasks.run_datastage_job Gets the results dictionary of job output
tasks.run_datastage_job.results.score Gets the value score of job output
tasks.run_datastage_job.results.timestamp Gets the end timestamp of job run
tasks.run_datastage_job.results.error Gets the number of errors from job run
tasks.loop_task.loop.counter Gets the current loop iterative counter of job run
tasks.loop_task.loop.item Gets the current loop iterative item of job run
tasks.run_datastage_job.results.status Gets either success or fail status of job run
tasks.run_datastage_job.results.status_message Gets the status message of job run
tasks.run_datastage_job.results.job_name Gets the job name
tasks.run_datastage_job.results.job Gets the Cloud Pak for Data path of job
tasks.run_datastage_job.results.job_run Gets the Cloud Pak for Data run path of job run

Get pipeline context objects

Gets values that are evaluated in the context of a pipeline that is run in a scope (project, space, catalog).

Examples

Example Output
ctx.scope.id Gets scope ID
ctx.scope.type Returns either "project", "space", or "catalog"
ctx.scope.name Gets scope name
ctx.pipeline.id Gets pipeline ID
ctx.pipeline.name Gets pipeline name
ctx.job.id Gets job ID
ctx.run_datastage_job.id Gets job run ID
ctx.run_datastage_job.started_at Gets job run start time
ctx.user.id Gets the user ID

Get error status

If the exception handler is triggered, an error object is created and becomes accessible only within the exception handler.

Examples

Example Output
error.status Gets either success or fail status of job run, usually failed
error.status_message Gets the error status message
error.job Gets the Cloud Pak for Data path of job
error.run_datastage_job Gets the Cloud Pak for Data run path of job (not available in watsonx)

Parent topic: Adding conditions to a Pipelines

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