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Variables and Expressions

Steps can take input and return output, as do the containing workflows in most cases. In workflow, Cloudsoft AMP supports an interpolation expression syntax to access these values. You can also use the AMP DSL, but in most cases the interpolation syntax is more convenient.

For example, you can write:

- log Starting workflow ${workflow.name}
- let integer x = 1
- id: log
  step:  log The value for x is now ${x}
- step: let x = ${x} + 1
  next: log
  condition:
    target: ${x}
    less-than: 3

This will output a series of log messages such as:

Starting workflow: my-workflow
The value for x is now 1
The value for x is now 2
The value for x is now 3

Workflow Variables

The above illustration showed how let x = <VALUE> can be used to set a workflow variable and ${x} or "The value for x is now ${x}" will resolve it.
This is the simplest example of an interpolation expression. There is a large set of information available through these expressions, described below.

Workflow variables, using let, have some additional behaviors described further below, permitting for example the evaluation of ${x} + 1 and the specification that it should be an integer.

Workflow Contextual Information

The interpolated reference ${workflow.<KEY>} can be used to access workflow information, where <KEY> can be:

  • name - returns the name of the current workflow
  • task_id - returns the ID of the current corresponding AMP task which acts as a unique identifier for the instance of the workflow
  • link - a link in the UI to this instance of workflow
  • input - the map of input parameters
  • output - the output object or map
  • error - if there is an error in scope
  • current_step.<KEY> - info on the current step, where <KEY> can be any of the above (and the returned data is specific to the current step)
  • previous_step.<KEY> - info on the previously invoked step, as above
  • error_handler.<KEY> - info on the current error handler, as above, if in an on-error step
  • step.<ID>.<KEY> - info on the last invocation of the step with declared id matching <ID>, as above
  • var.<VAR> - return the value of <VAR> which should be a workflow-scoped variable (set with let)
  • util.<UTIL> - access a utility pseudo-variable, either random for a random between 0 and 1, now for milliseconds since 1970, now_iso for ISO 8601 date string, now_nice or now_stamp for a human readable date format

In the step contexts, the following is also supported after workflow.:

  • step_id – the declared id of the step
  • step_index – the index of the current step in the workflow definition, starting at 0 (note that for convenience in the UI, step task display names will include the index starting at 1)

Where an item returns a map (such as input and usually output), a further .<KEY> can be used to access the <KEY> entry within that map. Similarly where an item returns a list, [<INDEX>] can be used to access the element at that index (starting at 0).

Entity Contextual Information

The interpolated reference ${entity.<KEY>} can be used to access information about the entity where the workflow is running, where <KEY> can be:

  • name - returns the value of the config key <KEY>
  • id - returns the value of the config key <KEY>
  • config.<KEY> - returns the value of the config key <KEY>
  • sensor.<KEY> - returns the value of the sensor key <KEY>
  • attributeWhenReady.<KEY> - returns the value of the sensor key <KEY> once it is ready (available and truthy), for use with the wait step
  • effector.<KEY> - returns the definition of the effector <KEY> (useful in conditions to invoke effectors only if they are defined on an entity)
  • children - returns the list of children; these can be further identified either by index or by ID using square-bracket notation
  • members - returns the list of members (for a group); these can be further identified either by index or by ID using square-bracket notation
  • parent.<KEY> - returns the value of <KEY> per any of the above in the context of the application
  • application.<KEY> - returns the value of <KEY> per any of the above in the context of the application

Output Access

The token ${output} refers to the nearest output in scope: in a step’s output: block, it refers to the default output from a step, thus output: ${output.stdout} can be used on a container step to change the output from being the default map including stdout to being just the stdout (alternatively just ${stdout} can be used, per the next section). With a nested workflow running over a list, e.g. of children, output: ${output[0]} can be used to refer to the output from the first element in the list. If used in a step prior to the resolution of an output block, such as in the inputs, it refers to the output from the previous step. If used in the output block of a workflow, it refers to the default output of the workflow which is the output of the last step.

Simple Expressions for Input, Output, and Variable

Where ${<VAR>} is supplied, assuming it doesn’t match one of the models above, the following search order is used:

  • ${workflow.error_handler.output.<VAR>} (only in an on-error block)
  • ${workflow.error_handler.input.<VAR>} (only in an on-error block)
  • ${workflow.current_step.output.<VAR>} (only set when evaluating output for a step, pointing at default output of the step)
  • ${workflow.current_step.input.<VAR>}
  • ${workflow.previous_step.output.<VAR>}
  • ${workflow.var.<VAR>}
  • ${workflow.input.<VAR>}

Thus ${x} will be matched against the current step first, then outputs from the previous step, and then workflow vars and inputs. It will be an error if x is not defined in any of those scopes. (The output of the current_step is only defined when processing an explicit output block defined on a step, and the error_handler is only defined when running in an on-error step.)

Note that the workflow, entity, and output models take priority over workflow variables, so it is a bad idea to call a workflow variable workflow, as an attempt to evaluate ${workflow} refers to the model above which is not a valid result for an expression. (You could still access such a variable, using ${workflow.var.workflow}.)

When populating a <VAR> for use in the scopes above, it might not make sense to include the previous scopes; in these cases resolution starts at the appropriate scope. For example when resolving a step’s input, the step’s output is not considered. Furthermore when resolving a step’s input, it is permitted to reference other input so long as there is no recursive reference, and it is permitted to reference the variable being set, from a parent scope, but other local or recursive references are not permitted. This only applies in very specific edge cases, and so can generally be ignored. If resolution behavior is ever surprising, it is recommended to use the full syntax including scope (prefixed by workflow.).

Arithmetic and Idempotency

The let step allows mathematical operations, such as:

- let x = ${x} * 3 + 1

The spaces around the operations are required, and this is the only place arithmetic is supported. Any other usage, such as set-sensor disallowed = ${x} + 1 or let x = ${x}+1 will result in strings. It is recommended to explicitly specify a mathematical type, integer or double to trigger an error because the string 3+1 will not be coercible to an integer.

The reason let is the only place operations is allowed is because AMP is able to restore local variables if a workflow is replayed from that step. This ensures that most steps are individually idempotent, so if interrupted at the step can be safely resumed from that step.

For example, if the following were allowed:

- set-sensor count = ${entity.sensor.count} + 1   # NOT supported

if it were interrupted, AMP would have no way of knowing whether the sensor count contains the old value or the new value, and a replay might cause it to be incremented twice. The following sequence of steps (which is permitted) can always safely be replayed from any interrupted state:

- let integer count_local = ${entity.sensor.count} ?? 0",
- let count_local = ${count_local} + 1
- set-sensor count = ${count_local}

Where workflows need to be resumed on interruption or might replay steps to recover from other errors, idempotency is an important part of reliable workflow design. External actions such as http and container are not guaranteed to be idempotent, and neither are some invoke-effector calls, so care must be taken here for workflows to be replayable. Good practice and the settings available for resilient workflows are covered in Workflow Settings.

Unavailable Variables and the let Nullish Check

To guard against mistakes in variable names or state, workflow execution will typically throw an error if a referenced variable is unavailable or null, including access to a sensor which has not yet been published. There are three exceptions:

  • the let step supports the “nullish coalescing” operator ?? for this case, as described below below
  • the wait step or transform ... | wait will block until a value becomes available, such as using ${entity.attributeWhenReady.SENSOR_NAME}.
  • condition entries can reference a null or unavailable value in the target, and check for absence using when: absent_or_null

Where it is necessary to consider “nullish” values – variables which are either null or not yet available – the “nullish coalescing” operator ?? can be used within let statements:

- let x = ${entity.sensor.does_not_exist} ?? "unset"

This will set x = unset, assuming there is no sensor does_not_exist (or if that sensor is null).

A limited number of other operations is also permitted in let, namely the basic mathematical operands +, -, *, and / for integers and doubles, and the modulo operator % for integers giving the remainder. These are evaluated in usual mathematical order. Parentheses are not supported.

The transform step can be used for more complicated transformations, such as to wait on values that are not yet ready, to convert json and yaml, to trim strings, merge lists and maps, and much more. For example:

- transform x = " [ a, b ] " | trim`   # sets x to the string '[ a, b ]'
- transform y = ${x} | json`           # sets y to the list of strings '[ "a", "b" ]'
- step: transform | merge | set z`           # sets z to the list of strings '[ "a", "b", "c" ]'
  value:
  - ${x}
  - [ c ]

The yaml transform will treat a --- on a line by itself as a “document separator”, and only the last document is considered; if no type is specified, the value has leading and trailing whitespace removed. The former is primarily intended for YAML processing from a script which might include unwanted output prior to the outputting the YAML intended to set in the variable: the script can do echo --- before the output which is wanted.

Interpolating Objects and Strings

Shorthand form is designed primarily for simple strings as the data. To pass more complex objects or control the quotes, longhand form (map) is recommended, and it may be helpful to convert complex objects to strings in a previous step using e.g. let string map_s = ${map}.

It is possible to embed strings with spaces, quotes, and complex types as shorthand, but care must be taken and if doing this, it is helpful to understand the parsing process. Shorthand will normally groups things using quotation marks, single or double, provided the quoted string is surrounded by whitespace or an end-of-line, and will remove these outermost quotes and standardize whitespace not in the quotes. Thus it is technically possible to set a workflow variable a b using let "a b" = 1, although it is not recommended, and because the expression syntax doesn’t allow spaces, there is no way to access such a variable! The one case where quotes are not stripped by the shorthand processor is when the step’s final argument accepts multiple words, such as after the = in set-sensor or ssh <command>; if the final multi-word groups argument is one entire quoted string, it is unwrapped, but otherwise its quotes are respected. This allows ssh bash -c 'echo hi' to pass the quotes, and also allows it to be written ssh 'bash -c "echo hi"' or ssh 'bash -c \'echo hi\'', with the outer quotes removed. The syntax is optimized to be as intuitive as possible in common cases, although it does get complicated at the margins; for example log "hello world" prints hello world (quotes unwrapped) but log "hello" "world" prints "hello" "world" (quotes preserved). If in doubt, you can always write log "\"hello\" \"world\"" or log '"hello" "world"'. It is suggested to follow the examples and do testing, use longhand, and review these notes only if particularly interested or uncertain about quotes.

Variable expansion occurs whenever ${var} is used, expanding to the value of var as described above. If matching a shorthand variable on its own, then the type of the value is preserved, but if embedded in a larger word, simple values (numbers and booleans) will be converted to strings but complex types will give an error, as will null or absent variables. Thus if we run let integer val = 1 then set-sensor s1 = val is ${val} or set-sensor s1 = "val is ${val}", the string val is 1 will be set as the sensor s1; however set-sensor s1 = ${val} will emit the integer 1. If val is a map, then the last form will preserve the map, but the other two, including it in val is ${val}, will throw an error.

It can be helpful to use the let command to coerce data to the write format in a new variable or to handle potentially unset values; for example let json string val_json = ${val} to create a string val_json representing the JSON encoding of val, or even "let map x = { a: 1 }" for simple unambiguous map expressions, where the string { a: 1 } is converted to a map, but noting that YAML requires any string with : to be quoted in its entirety, and the YAML parse will unwrap it before passing to the shorthand processor. The longhand form, e.g. { step: "let x", value: { a: 1 } }, can be used for potentially ambiguous values or for clarity.

The let step has some special behavior. It can accept yaml and, when converting to complex types, will strip everything before a --- document separator. Thus a script can have any output, so long as it ends with ---\n followed the YAML to read in, then let yaml fancy-bean = ${stdout} will convert it to a registered type fancy-bean. It will be an error if stdout is not coercible to fancy-bean. For more conversion, see transform.

Another special behavior of let is that its value is reprocessed, supporting arithmetic as described elsewhere, and also unwrapping quoted words in the value (removing quotes) without evaluating expressions within them. This is the only way to embed ${...} expressions in a value, and can simplify other places where quotation marks and spaces are needed. Thus given the steps:

- let msg = "${person}" is ${person}
- log ${msg}

AMP will log ${person} is { name: "Bob", age: 42 }.

It is also possible to use longhand syntax { type: set-sensor, sensor: x, value: value } or a hybrid syntax { step: set-sensor x, value: value }, which can be useful for complex types and bypassing the shorthand processor’s unquoting strategy, but in this case note that YAML processing will unwrap quotes.

The interpolation_mode and interpolation_errors options can be used to specify other behavior for interpolation, both on let and on load of data from a URL.

Advanced Details

If unusual behaviour is encountered with encoding and resolving expressions, a few simple tips can often help:

  • Use the longhand (map) format for steps if using complex types or strings
  • Use let with coercion, trim, and YAML/JSON options for fine-grained control and visibility of the output
  • Remember thay YAML parsing will also remove strings; where quotes need to be included, the YAML | marker, followed by the content on the following line, is a good pattern

In rare cases it can be useful to understand some of the advanced nuances. These are described below.

Quotes and Whitespaces

Continuing from the above, because YAML and shorthand process quotes prior to passing the data to the step, the treatment of quoted expressions can be subtle. For example, consider:

- type: let
  variable: x
  value: "1 + 1"

In YAML, this is identical to the above with value: 1 + 1 passed, so the let step does not know it was supplied in quotes, and so it will evaluate it as 2. You can pass instead value: \"1 + 1\" and let will get a quoted string which it will unquote and set x to be 1 + 1. If using the shorthand, as noted above, quotes are preserved for the value to let, so as one would expect, let x = 1 + 1 sets x to 2 whereas let x = "1 + 1" and let x = 1 "+" 1 set 1 + 1.

Freemarker Templates

Cloudsoft AMP currently uses the Freemarker templating language to evaluate expressions.

Freemarker has many advanced behaviors, but it is recommended not to rely on those, and instead again to use the advanced functionality of let, in case the templating engine is changed in future.

Some specific items to note about the templating language as used:

  • Entries of maps and lists can be accessed using a dot- or bracket- qualified index, e.g. ${map.key} or list[index]
  • Nested variables are not supported, e.g. ${list[${index}]} or ${${varname}}
  • Spaces should not be used inside interpolated expressions ${...}

In rare cases the use of Freemarker may cause unexpected processing behavior of parameters, normally where an intended literal expression is interpreted by Freemarker. This can happen, for example, if sending an ssh or container containing a ${VAR} expression intended to be processed by the shell rather than by AMP. It is recommended in these situations to use the behavior of let, where quoted expressions are not interpreted by Freemarker, e.g. let script = "echo var is ${VAR}" or let script = echo var is "${VAR}", followed by ssh ${script}.

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