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Call Java Methods with DataWeave

From a DataWeave statement, you can call Java methods from any Java class that’s in your Mule project. Note that you can only call Static methods via DataWeave (methods that belong to a Java class, not methods that belong to a specific instance of a class). Before you begin, note that DataWeave version 2 (%dw 2.0) is for Mule 4 apps. For a Mule 3 app, refer to DataWeave version 1 (%dw 1.0) examples, within the Mule 3.9 documentation set. For other Mule versions, you can use the Mule Runtime version selector in the table of contents.

Call a Java Method

Before you can call a method, you must first import the class it belongs to into your DataWeave code. You can import Java classes just as you import DataWeave modules by including java! into the statement.

For example, below is a simple Java class with a single method that appends a random number at the end of a string. Assume that you created this class as part of a Java package named org.mycompany.utils in your Mule project’s src/main/java folder.

package org.mycompany.utils;

import java.util.Random;

public class MyUtils {

	public static String appendRandom(String base) {
		return base + new Random().nextInt();
	}

}

You can call the method appendRandom() from DataWeave code, in any of the following ways.

  • Import the class and then refer to the method:

%dw 2.0
import java!org::mycompany::utils::MyUtils
output application/json
---
{
	a: MyUtils::appendRandom("myString")
}

  • Import one or more methods instead of the whole class:

%dw 2.0
import java!org::mycompany::utils::MyUtils::appendRandom
output application/json
---
{
	a: appendRandom("myString")
}

  • If the method is a static method, import and call it in a single line:

%dw 2.0
output application/json
---
{
	a: java!org::mycompany::utils::MyUtils::appendRandom(vars.myString)
}

All three methods return the variable value with a random string appended:

{
  "a":"myString969858409"
}

Instantiate a Java Class

Through DataWeave code, you can instantiate a new object of any class. Note that after creating an instance, you can’t call its instance methods through DataWeave. However, you can reference its variables.

This simple Java class has a method and a variable.

package org.mycompany.utils;
public class MyClass {

	private String foo;
	 public MyClass(String foo) {
		 this.foo = foo;
	}

	 public String getFoo() {
		return foo;
	}

}

To create the MyClass example in a Studio project:

  1. Create a project for the class in Studio by clicking New → Mule Project and providing a name, such as my-app, and clicking Finish.

  2. From my-app, create the org.mycompany.utils package by right-clicking src/main/java from Studio’s Package Explorer, selecting New → Package, and naming the package org.mycompany.utils.

  3. Create the MyClass class in the your new org.mycompany.utils package by right-clicking org.mycompany.utils, selecting New → Class, naming that class MyClass, and clicking Finish.

  4. In the MyClass.java tab that opens in Studio, copy, paste, and save the contents MyClass.

The following DataWeave example imports MyClass, creates a new instance of the class, and calls its instance variable foo. (Note that it is not possible for DataWeave to call the object’s private getFoo() method.)

%dw 2.0
import java!org::mycompany::utils::MyClass
output application/json
---
{
	a: MyClass::new("myString").foo
}

To add this DataWeave example to your Studio project:

  1. Returning to my-app.xml in src/main/mule, drag a Transform Message component into the project’s canvas, and click to open it.

  2. In the component’s Transform Message tab, replace the entire script in the source code area (on the right) with the DataWeave script (above).

  3. Save your changes and click Preview (located farthest right on the tab) to view the following output:

{
  "a":"myString"
}

Note that the XML for the Transform Message configuration in the Mule flow looks something like this:

<flow name="my-appFlow" >
	<ee:transform doc:name="Transform Message" >
		<ee:message >
			<ee:set-payload ><![CDATA[%dw 2.0
import java!org::mycompany::utils::MyClass
output application/json
---
{
a: MyClass::new("myString").foo
}]]></ee:set-payload>
		</ee:message>
	</ee:transform>
</flow>

Use a Java Bridge

DataWeave enables you to call any Java static function or constructor by using the Java bridge. This feature is useful when you need to reuse business logic written in Java or to instantiate any Java object that does not have an empty public constructor.

To use a Java bridge, transform a fully qualified Java name to a DataWeave name:

  1. Add the prefix !java.

  2. Replace the dots in the fully qualified name with ::.

When invoking the Java function, DataWeave transforms each argument to the expected type in the function parameter.

The following example shows how to create a new instance of a java.lang.NullPointerException:

%dw 2.0
output application/json
---
java!java::lang::NullPointerException::new("foo")

The following example invokes the function java.lang.String.valueOf:

%dw 2.0
output text/plain
import valueOf from java!java::lang::String
---
valueOf(true)

See Also