Using Groovy Within Scripts
Groovy code can be incorporated in scripts using the step type Groovy Members. For each script with Groovy code, there will be a single Groovy class created by concatenating all Groovy Members steps.
For security, the product and third party Java classes available for scripting in Groovy are restricted. The allowable base classes may be viewed in the Groovy Javadocs viewer via the 'View Groovy Javadocs' link in the context sensitive Script Tips zone. The list of allowable third party classes can be viewed via the 'View third party Groovy allowlist' link in the Script Tips zone.
Groovy Script Engine
For scripts invoked from within Java and entirely written in Groovy should use a script engine version of Groovy. The system processes this type of script in a similar way to code written in Java. This avoids the need to convert the script to and from XML format and allows the use of code that acts directly on the system objects with consequent performance benefits.
The following script types support the Groovy engine version:
Plug In Scripts
Plug-in Scripts can be configured to use the Groovy engine if they contain only Groovy oriented step types. The system provides an automatically generated superclass that defines the plug-in spot API. Internally, the Groovy code must conform to the system conventions for Java based algorithm types, including the inclusion of an 'invoke' method that is the plug-in entry point, and the definition of 'soft' parameters using annotations.
Groovy Library Scripts
Groovy Library Scripts provide the ability to create groups of common routines written in Groovy that can be called from within other scripts. Scripts of this type must include a single step type of Groovy Library Interface in which the publicly available methods in the library are listed. The supporting code for those methods is defined in one or more Groovy Members step types within the library script. The methods defined in the library can accept arguments and return values of any type. Scripts of this type use the Groovy engine by default and cannot include scripting step types.
Scripts that need to invoke methods from a Groovy library can use the createLibraryScript method provided by the system to instantiate the library interface. Ensure that the class being instantiated includes the .class filename extension.
Invoking Groovy within the Scripting Engine
If a plug-in script or a service script is configured to use a scripting engine version, it can include a mixture of regular and Groovy Members step types. The script step types will define the process to be executed. The Groovy Members steps contain code that can be called from Edit Data step types within the script using the invokeGroovy command. Only Groovy methods that receive no arguments and return void are supported using this command. Refer to the section on edit data steps for more details.
For scripts using this option, the framework provides a superclass containing methods that support common scripting actions such as move commands, string evaluation, and methods to invoke business objects, business services and service scripts. Refer to the Groovy specific Javadocs for details of the supported methods.
Importing Groovy Classes
All the Groovy classes used by your script should be explicitly declared in a Groovy Imports step type. When saving a script, if the system finds classes referenced in the script that are not explicitly declared, the system issues a warning and automatically adds import statements for the classes. Script writers should review the imports to confirm that they are the correct classes (in case there is a class with the same name in two different packages).
Backward Compatibility
In previous releases, the system did not require explicit imports and had logic to automatically import all callable classes available to Groovy at run-time. For any existing script that does not explicitly declare its imports, the system continues to fall back on importing all callable classes at runtime. However, the recommendation is to identify and update any such script as this is not the recommended practice.
The system provides a batch program F1-CAGVY that reports all scripts that required the automatic import step to successfully compile. In addition, this batch program is useful when the version of Groovy is upgrade to proactively detect possible issues in compilation of existing scripts that may occur due to changes in Groovy. Implementations are encouraged to run this batch program in the short term to identify and fix any scripts missing explicit imports and also for any Groovy version upgrade to review any implementation owned scripts that may be reported.