Subroutines

Subroutines are a capability to define reusable snippets of code that can be used as part of action parameter values. There are two categories of subroutines:

• Built-in subroutines that are provided by the framework
• User-defined subroutines that can be customized depending on the automation need

Built-in subroutines

Using built-in subroutines is easy, just call it using the appropriate input parameters. As any function or procedure, the parameters that need to be provided depend on the functionality which is supported. It is important to pay attention to the correct usage of the syntax.

Subroutines are always identified using the following syntax : ``

• The <instruction> defines the type of subroutine: lookup, generation, execution, etc.
• The <subroutine> part identifies the name of the subroutine to execute Note that synonyms of a same subroutine are also supported
• The (optional) <args> section allows to specify any input parameter required for the subroutine

Subroutine types

Instruction	Title	Description
=	Lookup	Lookup relevant information
*	Generate	Generate synthetic data on the fly
$	Variable	Get the value of a specific (framework) variable

Subroutine items

Instruction	Subroutine	Synonyms	Description	Syntax	Output
=	connection	conn	Lookup connection parameter value	=connection(,)
=	dataset	ds	Lookup value from a dataset	=dataset(,)
=	environment	env	Lookup environment parameter value	=environment(,)
=	file	f	Lookup file content	=file()
*	belgium.nationalregisternumber		Get a random Belgian national registry number	=belgium.nationalregisternumber()
*	date.between		Get a random date between two date	=date.between(,)	date:ddMMyyyy
*	date.format		Format a date	=date.format(,)	date:format
*	date.today		Get today’s date	=date.today()	date:ddMMyyyy
*	date.travel		Travel a date with a number of days, months or years	=date.travel(,<granularity:year|month|day>,)	date:ddMMyyyy
*	person.email		Get a random email address	=person.email()
*	person.firstname		Get a random first name	=person.firstname()
*	person.lastname		Get a random last name	=person.lastname()
*	person.phonenumber		Get a random phone number	=person.phonenumber()
*	time.format		Format a timestamp	=time.format(<timestamp:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS>,)	timestamp:format
*	time.now		Get the current timestamp	=time.now()	timestamp:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS
*	time.travel		Travel a timestamp with a number of hours, minutes or seconds	=time.travel(<timestamp:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS>,<granularity:hour|minute|second>,)	timestamp:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS

User-defined subroutines

Using user-defined subroutines consists of two parts:

• Defining the subroutine including the configuration it includes
• Using the subrouting as part of an action parameter value

Subroutine types

Subroutine types are the reusable configuration blocks of action type parameter values. Each type allows the framework to use them for specific action type parameters and requires a different set of input parameters.

Subroutine Type	Description
cli.command	Shell command subroutine
sql.query	SQL query subroutine

More information can be found here.

Defining subroutines

It is possible to configure or update subroutines using the subroutine template.

• Define the subroutines in the Subroutines sheet
• For each subroutine a configuration line is added
  • Define a name and description
  • Select the correct subroutine type
  • Complete the parameters and values corresponding to the subroutine type

When done, the subroutines can be used in the scripts via their name.

Important

• The name of the subroutine needs to be unique as it is used a identifier in the configuration of the scripts

Using subroutines

In order to use subroutines in action type parameter values, the following syntax applies:

=srt([SUBROUTINE])
where SUBROUTINE is the name of the subroutine

The subroutine will be substituted in the parameter field. At the same time, all parameters that are defined inside the subroutine are also replaced on runtime. In this way, the subroutine can be used in a truly reusable manner.

Illustration

• Define a subroutine named executeJob that has a parameter for the job variable name #job# (for instance: ./executeJob.sh –p #job#)
• An automation engineer only needs to call the subroutine =srt(executeJob) to run any job
• The parameter #job# will be replaced at runtime
• As such, the logic to run the job is hidden to the script and not needed anymore

Note

• Binding parameters inside the subroutine call is not yet supported