Datatypes for Variables and Parameters
Variable and parameter data can be scalar values or complex objects:
Scalar Types | string |
number |
date (deprecated, use datetime instead) |
datetime |
boolean |
Complex Types (objects) | document |
Any token that identifies a named type from a specific mashable information source. The service attribute must be used with named types. With this complex type, mashable metadata provides type information for the token. |
Variables that are implicitly declared always have a document type. For more details, see also:
For example:
<output name="result" type="document"/>
<input name="securityType" type="svc:certType" service="Credentials"/>
<input name="previousDays" type="boolean"/>
<variables>
<variable name="loops" type="number"/>
<variable name="amznResult" type="document"/>
<variable name="user.email" type="string"/>
<variable name="today" type="datetime" default="2010-07-01"/>
</variables>
Document type variables are represented in XML and must be well-formed. The MashZone NextGen Server automatically converts the results of component mashable information sources to XML for any variable that holds complex objects, unless the variable has a subtype specified.
Document-type variables can also contain well-formed HTML or JSON by specifying a subtype. These subtypes:
You can also construct complex data for variables or parameters as literal XML. See
Default and Constructed Values for information and examples on constructing data.