Calculated fields

A calculated field is a field that receives a value based on a given formula. The given formula can be specified as an expression in the spring expression language (SpEL), making use of various helper functions.

You turn another base type into a calculated field by supplying the formula attribute. The actual field value is still stored as the original base type.

Calculation is supported for the following field types:

Field values are only calculated when saving a document. See also the section on using documents in code.

Value calculation

A single value type with a formula will be visualised as a read-only control.

Example number calculation, rendering read-only control

document-definition:
  name: store
  content:
    - id: item
      label: "name"
      type: "String"
    - id: amount-items
      label: "# items"
      type: number
    - id: buy-value
      type: number
    - id: sell-value
      type: number
    - id: profit-per-item
      type: number
      formula: "$(sell-value) - $(buy-value)" (1)

1	Supply the formula that represents the value of the field. In this case, the value is the difference between the `sell-value` and the `buy-value`

Accessing field values

A formula is a SpEL expression that is executed against an EvaluationContext. The context allows accessing values of the document fields.

Accessing a field value can be done with the using a shorthand $() syntax. Some examples:

Accessing the value of a document field:

$(someField)

Accessing a fieldset field value:

$(someField.nestedField)

Providing a simple default value if the field is empty or missing:

$(someField.nestedField:0)

Accessing a single fieldset collection field:

$(fieldsetCollection[0].someField)

Getting all the values of a specific fieldset collection field:

$(fieldsetCollection[].someField)

This can be used to calculate values across all collection fields. For example sum($(orderLines[].items[].count)) would calculate the total of the count field of all items across all order lines.

Accessing a sibling field value, relative to the current fieldset:

$(.someField)

This is especially useful for calculated fields in fieldsets that are part of a collection.

Accessing a field value of the parent fieldset:

$(..someField)

Available functions

Various helper functions are available for defining your formula. These functions are implemented in DynamicDocumentFormulaFunctions.

The following table lists all functions that are available by default.

Method Parameters Remarks

Method	Parameters	Remarks
`count`	Collection of objects	Returns how many items are present in the given collection.
`countNonNull`	Collection of objects	Returns how many items are present in the given collection that differ from `null`.
`countNull`	Collection of objects	Returns how many `null` values are present in the given collection.
`flatten`	Collection of objects	Flatten an array of objects into a single collection with all `null` values removed. Recursively flattens any member that is also an array or collection.
`flatStream`	Collection of objects	Flatten an array of objects into a stream. Recursively flattens any member that is also an array or collection. Unlike `flatten`, this will not remove `null` values.
`sorted`	Collection of objects	Sort a collection of objects (in natural order).
`reverse`	Collection of objects	Reverse a collection of objects.
`first`	Collection of objects	Get the first item from a collection. If the collection is empty, `null` will be returned.
`last`	Collection of objects	Get the last item from a collection. If the collection is empty, `null` will be returned.
`min`	Collection of numeric values	Returns the smallest value in the collection. Supports nested collections of numeric values and will recurs through them.
`max`	Collection of numeric values	Returns the largest value in the collection. Supports nested collections of numeric values and will recurs through them.
`sum`	Collection of numeric values	Returns the sum of the values in the collection Supports nested collections of numeric values and will recurs through them.
`avg`	Collection of numeric values	Returns the average of the values in the collection. Supports nested collections of numeric values and will recurs through them.
`isNotEmpty`	Collection or array of objects	Returns whether the collection or array contains at least one item.
`isEmpty`	Collection or array of objects	Returns whether the collection or array contains zero elements.
`and`	Collection of boolean values	Returns whether the provided values are all true
`or`	Collection of boolean values	Returns whether one of the provided values is true
`concat`	Collection of textual	Returns the concatenated result of the provided values
`join`	Separator and a collection of textual values	Returns a single text that joins the provided textual values wit the provided separator.

count

Collection of objects

Returns how many items are present in the given collection.

countNonNull

Collection of objects

Returns how many items are present in the given collection that differ from null.

countNull

Collection of objects

Returns how many null values are present in the given collection.

flatten

Collection of objects

Flatten an array of objects into a single collection with all null values removed. Recursively flattens any member that is also an array or collection.

flatStream

Collection of objects

Flatten an array of objects into a stream. Recursively flattens any member that is also an array or collection. Unlike flatten, this will not remove null values.

sorted

Collection of objects

Sort a collection of objects (in natural order).

reverse

Collection of objects

Reverse a collection of objects.

first

Collection of objects

Get the first item from a collection. If the collection is empty, null will be returned.

last

Collection of objects

Get the last item from a collection. If the collection is empty, null will be returned.

min

Collection of numeric values

Returns the smallest value in the collection. Supports nested collections of numeric values and will recurs through them.

max

Collection of numeric values

Returns the largest value in the collection. Supports nested collections of numeric values and will recurs through them.

sum

Collection of numeric values

Returns the sum of the values in the collection Supports nested collections of numeric values and will recurs through them.

avg

Collection of numeric values

Returns the average of the values in the collection. Supports nested collections of numeric values and will recurs through them.

isNotEmpty

Collection or array of objects

Returns whether the collection or array contains at least one item.

isEmpty

Collection or array of objects

Returns whether the collection or array contains zero elements.

and

Collection of boolean values

Returns whether the provided values are all true

or

Collection of boolean values

Returns whether one of the provided values is true

concat

Collection of textual

Returns the concatenated result of the provided values

join

Separator and a collection of textual values

Returns a single text that joins the provided textual values wit the provided separator.

Customizing the evaluation context

It is possible to customize the evaluation context for calculated fields on a document level. This can be used to add additional helper components or for example to enable direct access to beans.

See the separate section for details.