Bloblang Beta

As of this weekend (and Benthos v3.13) you can now use a bloblang processor and complementary condition. These components are in a beta phase, which means that based on feedback the mapping language might change in minor ways in upcoming minor releases.

The Motivation

In the last post I outlined my motivations for experimenting with a mapping language. Words are stupid and boring and so to illustrate why a mapping language kicks ass here's a config example using the old processors compared to the new one. Keep in mind that the new version is simpler and performs better.

Using old processors:

pipeline:
  processors:
  - metadata:
      operator: set
      key: bar
      value: ${!json_field:foo.bar} 

  - json:
      operator: delete
      path: foo.bar

  - json:
      operator: set
      path: foo.topic
      value: ${!metadata:topic} 

  - metadata:
      operator: delete
      key: topic

  - conditional:
      condition:
        jmespath:
          query: "foo.baz == 'thing'"
      processors:
      - json:
          operator: set
          path: foo.thing_id
          value: ${!uuid_v4}

Using Bloblang:

pipeline:
  processors:
  - bloblang: |
      root = this

      foo.topic = meta("topic")
      meta topic = deleted()

      meta bar = foo.bar
      foo.bar = deleted()

      foo.thing_id = match {
        foo.baz == "thing" => uuid_v4()
      }

My ultimate intention is to completely eradicate the need for a json, metadata and text processor, as well as a range of others. However, I'll need as much help as possible to get the language right, so please consider testing and feeding back on Github, the Gitter channel, or event @ me on Twitter for the good of blobkind.