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Gloop map step icon

Map steps

The Gloop map step is used to set variable values and to declare new variables. There are two ways to set a variable in a map step:

  • A map line
  • A set expression

When a map step is chosen in the service editor, the Mapper view in Martini will show all of the available input and output variables. This is where you declare and map variable values, and add set expressions.

Map lines

To map a variable, or in other words, assign the value of a variable to the value of another, simply drag and drop a variable to another as shown below:

Mapping a property to another

Mapping a property to another

The line in the GIF above is the same as the following code:

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EmployeesCursor = employees 

To delete a line, first click on the line to highlight it, then press or right click on the line and select Delete.

Removing variable mapping

Removing variable mapping

Set expressions

If the value of a variable is to be hardcoded, or requires some more advanced logic in order to set its value (such as performing lookups, or some sort of transformation, etc.), you can use a set expression instead of a map line.

When adding a set expression, you have the option whether to write it as code, or use a plain hardcoded string. When the set expression is plain text, then the expression itself is used as the value of the variable. When a code language is used, then the set expression is executed at runtime, and the output of the code snippet is used as the value of the variable.

Set step guidelines

Set expressions have no limit on how much code you can write, so you can (in theory) write dozens of lines of code in a set expression; however it's bad practice to do so. Instead, you should use a script step, script service, or write a reuseable Groovy class.

To add a set expression to a variable, you can:

  • right click on a variable in the output half of the Mapper view, and then select Add Set Expression;
  • double click a variable from the Mapper view;
  • select the variable and then press ; or
  • use content-assist while focused on the variable

Here's how to add an expression via a double click:

Adding a set expression

Adding a set expression

The (Groovy DSL) set expression provided in the demonstration above is the same as the following code:

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employees = [
    new Employee(firstName: 'James', lastName: 'Smith'),
    new Employee(firstName: 'Thomas', lastName: 'Miller'),
    new Employee(firstName: 'Sarah', lastName: 'Clark'),
    new Employee(firstName: 'Elizabeth', lastName: 'Taylor')
]

The Set Expression dialog has the available Gloop properties in a tree on the right hand side. If you double click on a variable in the tree while editing your expression, the code for accessing the variable is inserted into the set expression at the location of the cursor. Focus is kept on the script editor even when double clicking so the code can continue to be edited without having to manually put focus back on the editor.

Mapping to a set expression

Mapping to a set expression

Set Expression dialog

The Set Expression dialog is very similar to the script step editor, which you can learn about here.

Inserting property expressions on the fly

If you wish to insert a property path and surround the path with ${ and }, hold down whilst double clicking. You can also use the context menu when you right click on the tree, and then select 'Insert Property Path in Template String'.

Creating a placeholder expression

Creating a placeholder expression

If you wish to insert a property path with Groovy's safe navigation operator ? as well, hold down whilst double clicking. You can also use the context menu when you right click on the tree, and then select 'Insert Property Path with Safe Navigation'.

Using the safe navigation operator

Using the safe navigation operator

These operations can also be used to replace existing content in the code text area. Simply select/highlight the text you wish to replace prior to using the menu or shortcuts to insert the path.

To delete a set expression, right click on the variable and choose Delete Set Expression, or highlight the variable, and press .

Deleting a set expression

Deleting a set expression

Accessing the entire Gloop variable context

Set expressions also have a variable called $context included, which is actually a Gloop model that contains all of the variables that you see in the Mapper!

Map line and set expression priority

You may have noticed in the screenshots above that the Set Expression dialog has a Priority field. This field is used to determine the order in which the map lines and set expressions are executed. This allows you to map the same fields more than once in the same step. Take the following map step for example:

An example where the `Priority` field will matter

An example where the `Priority` field will matter

If all the lines in this example had the same priority, then there will be no guarantee on the order in which the lines were executed. Thankfully with the priority feature you can safely determine the order.

Map steps execute map lines and set expressions which have the lowest priority number first. This means that if the lines were configured like so:

Input Output Priority
a b 0
b c 1
c d 2
d a 3

Then it would be the same as the following Java code:

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b = a;
c = b:
d = c;
a = d;

Priorities for map lines can be configured by clicking on the line itself (in the Mapper area in the middle) until it is highlighted, then changing the value of the Priority field in the Properties view.

Map line `Priority` change

Map line `Priority` change

Errors in set expressions

If your set expression throws an exception (regardless whether it was from a syntax error or not), Gloop will produce a standard Gloop stacktrace, but with an extra suffix telling you the line number where the error occurred in your set expression, and which set expression it was. For example, given the error below, the set expression at message threw an exception at line 6:

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io.toro.gloop.exception.GloopException: groovy.lang.MissingPropertyException: No such property: name for class: NaughtyExpression_Set(NaughtyExpression_gloop_3)_message_
    at NaughtyExpression.Set(NaughtyExpression.gloop:3)[message:6]

The second line in the stacktrace tells us the name of the service that threw the error, which step, and which specific line number.

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at <Name of service>.Set(<Name of service>.gloop:<Line number of set step>)[<Name of variable>:<Line number which threw the exception>]

Here is a screenshot showing the set step:

The set step with error

The set step with error

Errors in set expressions

Exceptions are thrown at runtime if your set step has a syntax error. Like any other exception, they will be caught by any parent block step with a catch.

Declaring variables

Gloop lets you declare variables in a map step. Similar to Java, variables have a concept of scope, meaning that if you declare a variable in a nested block step, then its parents will not see the declared variable. In Martini, there are four ways in which you can declare a variable:

  • The context menu of the Mapper view's Output side
  • Hotkeys (e.g. will declare a new string);
  • Pressing the full-stop key, which will bring up the content-assist feature (unsupported by Martini Online)
  • Dragging and dropping a model from the Navigator view to the Mapper view

For example:

Declaring a property in Mapper

Declaring a property in Mapper

Unloading variables

Gloop also lets you remove declared variables once you're finished with them. This feature is useful in helping keep the Mapper view in Martini nice and clean, and also makes Gloop code easier to read. When a variable is unloaded, it will not show in the Mapper for any steps after the step that has unloaded it. To unload a declared variable, right click on it, then select Unload Property, or press .

Unloading a variable

Unloading a variable

Rules for declaring and unloading variables

Gloop lets you declare and unload variables in map and invoke steps only.