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Changing a param value programmatically in a user macro

Brian Peters_piqzwm

I'm writing a user macro (VTL) and want to programmatically change the value of an existing param (of type=string).

Problem is, I can't find any documentation indicating how to set the value of a param after the initial "## @Param..." definition (something like: $paramSomething.setValue("123") or $paramSomething.value = "123", etc.).

Anyone know how to do this?

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Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

This is not really something you would ever want do with a parameter. A parameter is something that has been given to your code to tell it to do something. You're not supposed to ignore them, you might as well just not have parameters.

But if you re-cast the requirement as "do something based on some logic that looks at a parameter", then it makes perfect sense. Some really simple pseudocode:

For a really basic macro that just echoes the input:

$incomingParameter

But to prepare to do what you want:

#set ($mydata = $incomingParameter)
Output $mydata

And so you can see where I'm going with this:

#set ($mydata = $incomingParameter)
#if ( $mydata [contains bad words] )
  #set ($mydata = "no bad words allowed")
#endif
$mydata

Brian Peters_piqzwm

Thanks for the quick reply and suggestion. I need my user to be able to pick a background color... and then need to programmatically change another parameter based on their selection so that the user can see it has changed. In other words, I need the change reflected back to the interface (otherwise they will perceive that it's broken). Is there no way to change the value of a parameter other than through user input on the interface?

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

I think you might be confusing "parameter" with "variable" here.

A parameter (in computer speak) is a value you feed into a function or routine to give it some information to work with. It is not an output or result. It's not something you would change during a routine.

I'm English, so bear with my strained analogy - imagine making a pot of tea. The process needs parameters such as "amount of tea to put in pot", "type of tea", "how long to brew", "amount of water" and so-on.

None of those change as a result of making a pot of tea, they're purely inputs into the process. You might alter the process based on what you're given as parameters, but the parameters do not come out of the other end of the process, changed or intact.

So I am a little confused on what you are asking for when you say "change a parameter". A parameter only informs a specific process that takes it in. There's no point in changing it, it's not used outside or after that process run.

Anyway, that's me being fussy about how I'm not understanding your writing.

You also say "change reflected back to interface". That's nothing to do with parameters but does suggest that your macro should be doing something based on data fed into it.

Could you explain broadly what your macro is for? Forget the parameter/variable/etc stuff and explain roughly what the macro should be doing for your people?

Brian Peters_piqzwm

I am writing a User Macro for Confluence in the Velocity Template Language (because I can't figure out how to write it in anything else). In my user macro I have defined some named parameters, for example:

## @Param ButtonTextColor:title=Button Text Color|type=string|required=false|default=white|desc=Enter a color for the button's text

... etc.

When the user adds the macro to a page these parameter definitions result in a dropdown and a text field on the edit pane.

I use the resulting values ($paramButtonColor and $paramButtonTextColor) in some CSS farther down in the script.

If the user selects white for the "Button Color" and enters nothing for "Button Text Color", I would like to programmatically change the "Button Text Color" field to say "gray". If they select any other color for "Button Color" and they still have not specified a "Button Text Color" I would like "Button Text Color" to show "white".

I could change the CSS with an "if" statement and some variables but my goal here is also to communicate to the user that "Button Text Color" is being changed based on their selection.

So, I'm looking for a method or something that will let me programmatically change the value of the text field created by the "@param ButtonTextColor" definition so that the new value is apparent to the person creating the button.

I've only been at this for a month or so and have already run into a couple instances where being able to change the value of one of these parameter fields on the macro's editor UI would be very useful. I'm new to VTL but not to coding and I can't imagine there's no way to control the UI (the Javascript equivalent would be something along the lines of: document.getElementById("ButtonTextColor").value = "white").

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