Home
Functions and Expressions
Use HCL Link functions and expressions to create component rules and map rules.
General functions
There are several general functions you can call from map rule to process input.
CLONE
The CLONE function creates a specified number of copies of some object.

Functions and Expressions
Use HCL Link functions and expressions to create component rules and map rules.
- Expressions and evaluations
  The documentation provided here describes HCL Link functions and expressions. Functions and expressions are used to create component rules and map rules.
- Using functions
  A function is an expression that generates an output by performing a certain operation on one or more inputs.
- Syntax of a function
  The following is an example of a function:
- Function argument syntax
  Arguments typically have some restrictions on the expression used for that argument.
- Character-set encoding functions
  Functions that use the HCL Link EXIT architecture convert data to the native character set of the platform as part of the function call.
- General functions
  There are several general functions you can call from map rule to process input.
  - ASFUNCTION
    When you run a functional map with the ASFUNCTION function, the output of the functional map returns to the map rule that invoked the functional map. The invoking rule can work with the output from the functional map. The type of the output card must be an item.
  - CLONE
    The CLONE function creates a specified number of copies of some object.
  - DEFAULT
    The DEFAULT function allows a predefined value to be introduced into an expression.
  - ECHOIN
    The ECHOIN function returns a command (or property) to be used in a RUN function argument.
  - HANDLEIN
    The HANDLEIN function returns a command (or property) to be used in a RUN function argument.
  - PARSE
    The PARSE function analyzes a data object and validates it against the metadata of a component type. The resulting data structure is available to the calling map for further processing.
  - REFORMAT
    The REFORMAT function returns a type object that results from replacing the syntax of the input type with the syntax of the output type.
  - RESOLVETYPE
    The RESOLVETYPE function resolves the provided component path to a specific schema reference when the map is being compiled.
- Bidirectional functions
  Bidirectional languages such as Arabic and Hebrew are languages in which the text is presented to the user ordered from right to left, but numbers and Latin alphabetic strings within the text are presented left to right.
- Bit manipulation and testing functions
  You can use this function to manipulate and to test a bit in a binary number.
- Cache functions
  Use cache functions to specify a value for each of the cache variables defined for a flow, and additionally, to alter an already specified value for a cache variable.
- Conversion functions
  You can use this function to convert an expression from one datatype to another datatype.
- Date/time functions
  You can use this function to perform various operations on date and time.
- Error handling functions
  You can use this function in evaluating the type of error during map execution.
- External interface functions
  You can use this function to retrieve data from a database from within in a map rule.
- Flow functions
  Use Flow functions to specify a value for each of the flow variables defined for a flow, and additionally, to alter an already specified value for a flow variable.
- Inspection functions
  You can use this function to test and inspect the object.
- Logical functions
  Logical functions provide a way to use logical conditions to display one of several values.
- Lookup and reference functions
  These function search operates by scanning the appropriate set of items in sequence, attempting to match the logical condition.
- Math and statistics functions
  Precede all MATHLIB functions with mathlib->
- Text functions
  These functions are used to convert the text item in a map rule.
- XML functions
  There are several XML functions that you can call from component rules and map rules to process input XML data.
- Custom functions
  From the Type Designer or Map Designer, you can create custom functions to call external libraries.
- Date and time format strings
  You can use the listed format strings for numbers, dates and times in functions such as the CURRENTDATETIME, FROMNUMBER, TONUMBER, FROMDATETIME, and TODATETIME.
- Number format strings
  You can create custom number formats by using the given format strings.
- RUN function return codes
  The RUN function return codes and messages might result when using the RUN function.
- Character set codes for CPACKAGE, CSERIESTOTEXT, and CTEXT
  The second argument of the CPACKAGE, CSERIESTOTEXT, and CTEXT functions specifies the character set of the output of the function. The value of the second argument (the character set of the object content), must be a valid character set code.

CLONE

The CLONE function creates a specified number of copies of some object.

This function can be useful when the number of output objects to be built depends on a data value, rather than the number of objects that exist in the data.

Syntax:: CLONE (single-object-name , single-integer-expression )
Meaning:: CLONE (object_to_copy , number_of_copies)
Returns:: A series-object

The CLONE function returns a series of the object specified by object_to_copy. The output series consists of as many copies of the object as specified by number_of_copies. The value of each member of the resulting output series is the same as object_to_copy.

Examples

LineItem Segment (s) = LotsOf ( CLONE ( Detail Row , Quantity:Detail Row ) )
In this example, the input contains an object named Detail Row that has a Quantity item component. You want to create multiple Line Item Segments for every Detail Row in your input based on the value of Quantity. So, if Quantity has the value 5, you want to build five Line Item Segments for that Detail Row.