Supported Data Types, Operators and Statements

Boolean

true

Date

new Date()

Double

5.0

String

"Hello World"

+

Addition

Sums two Double values.

Double

Double

2 + 5; //returns 7

-

Subtraction

Subtracts two Double values.

Double

Double

5 - 3; //returns 2

*

Multiplication

Multiplies two Double values.

Double

Double

2 * 5; //returns 10

/

Division

Divides two Double values.

Double

Double

10 / 2; //returns 5

3 / 2; //returns 1.5

%

Modulo (remainder)

Returns the remainder resulting from the division of two Doubles.

Double

Double

5 % 2; //returns 1

**

Exponential

Returns the result of raising one Double to the power of another.

Double

Double

5 ** 2; //returns 25

Unary -

Unary Minus

Indicates a negative value

Double

Double

-5; // returns -5.

-5 + 2; // returns -3.

||

OR

Returns the result of combining Boolean values using a logical OR. If one value or expression contained in the OR statement evaluates to true, the OR expression returns true.

Boolean

Boolean

true || false;

//returns true

&&

AND

Returns the result of combining Boolean values using a logical AND. If both values or expressions in the AND statement evaluate to true, the AND expression returns true.

Boolean

Boolean

true && false;

//returns false

!

NOT

Negates the specified Boolean value. Applying the NOT operator to an expression that evaluates to true will return false.

Boolean

Boolean

!true;

//returns false

==

Equal

Tests if two values are equal.

All

Boolean

1.0 == 1.0;
//returns true

1.0 == 2.3
//returns false

"Hello" == "Hello" //returns true

!=

Does Not Equal

Tests if two values are not equal.

All

Boolean

2 + 2 != 5;
//returns true

2 + 2 != 4;
//returns false

"Hello" != "Goodbye" //returns true

>

Greater Than

Tests if one value is greater than another.

All

Boolean

50 > 100; //returns false

50 > 5; //returns true

"2" > "10" //returns true

"Hello" > "World" //returns false

5 > "4" //error. The types of compared values must match.

>=

Greater Than or Equal To

Tests if one value is greater than or equal to another

All

Boolean

60 >= 50; //returns true

60 >= 70 //returns false

60 >= 60 //returns true

"Hello" >= "World" //returns false

<

Less Than

Tests if one value is less than another.

All

Boolean

50 < 100; //returns true

50 < 40 //returns false

"2"< "10" // returns false

"Hello" < "World" //returns true

"3/1/17" < new Date() //error the types of compared values must match

<=

Less Than or Equal To

Tests if one value is less than or equal to another.

All

Boolean

60 <= 50; //returns false

60 <= 90 // returns true

60 <= 60 //returns true

"10" <= "2" //returns true

+

Concatenation

Combines a String with another data type, yielding a new String. String concatenation is applied when the leftmost operand of the + operator is of the data type String. The right operand can be a value of any type. When concatenated, Date values may not serialize in the format anticipated.

String

"Hello" + " World" //returns "Hello World"

"Lucky Number " + 7; //returns "Lucky Number 7"

"a" + 1 + 2 //returns "a12"

5 + "Hello"; //returns an error. To perform concatenation, the leftmost operand must be a String.

=

Assignment

Assigns a value of a supported data type to a variable.

All

def myVar = 50;

( )

Parentheses

Specifies logical grouping and evaluation order. Statements in parentheses have increased precedence.

All

(5 + 2) * 2;

//returns 14

new

Constructor

Instantiates a new instance of a class, resulting in an object of that class.

Date

def currDate = new Date();

//

Comment

Indicates a single-line comment. Commented lines are not evaluated. Use comments to describe and annotate your formula script. Comments extend to the end of a line.

All

//def a = 5; //because this code is commented, it will not be evaluated.

/**/

Multi-line Comment

Indicates an extended comment. Multi-line comments are not evaluated. Multi-line comments may span multiple lines.

All

/* Multi-line comments span

multiple lines.

*/

def

Specifies a variable. Variables in Groovy are strongly typed and restricted to the data type of their initial assignment. Variables are not accessible outside the scope of the code block they are declared in. Variables declared outside of code blocks or other control structures are global and may be accessed from anywhere within the script.

def x = "My Variable";

def y = 2;

def z = new Date();

x = y; //error, after the initial declaration and assignment, x can only have a data type of String. Tried to assign a data type of Double.

return

Specifies a value that should be returned as the result of a script and serve as the default value of the configured field associated with the formula script. The return statement ends script execution. If no return statement is specified, Groovy scripts automatically return the last statement evaluated.

return "Hello World"
// script exits, the text Hello World is returned as the configured field value.

5 + 2;
//unreachable code--will not be evaluated. Script execution ends when a return statement is evaluated.

{ } (block)

Specifies a sequence of expressions to evaluate. Used to structure Groovy scripts, establish variable scope, and improve readability.

Variables defined and assigned values within a code block are accessible only within the code block and other structures the code block contains.

def a = 8;

{

def b = 10;

}

return a + b; // error. B is not defined within scope.

if/else

Code contained in an if block will only be evaluated if the condition specified by the if statement evaluates to true. Code in the else block will be evaluated if the specified condition evaluates to false.

if (1 + 1 == 2) {

//block executed if condition is true

return "True";

} else {

//block executed if condition is false

return "Not true!";

}