How to check for empty values in an array in DataWeave | Part 3: isEmpty, filter

I had this use-case where I had to make sure all the values inside an array were not empty. By “empty,” I’m referring to an empty string (“”), a null value (null), or even an empty array ([]). There were some cases when I would receive a null value instead of an array. The array could only contain strings or nulls, but not objects. However, I’ll be adding tests to check for empty objects as well.

In this series of posts, I explain 6 different approaches to achieve (almost) the same output using different DataWeave functions/operators. As we advance through the posts, the functions will become easier to read, and the logic will have fewer flaws.

• Part 1: Using sizeOf, groupBy, isEmpty, and default.
• Part 2: Using sizeOf, filter, isEmpty, and default.
• Part 3: Using isEmpty and filter.
• Part 4: Using the Arrays Module, Pattern Matching, and Function Overloading.

I use the DataWeave Playground throughout these articles. You can follow this post to set up a local Docker image (no previous Docker experience is needed), or you can also open a new Mule project and use the Transform Message component.

Building the solution

I’ll create an array to start building and testing this solution:

%dw 2.0
output application/json
---
["notEmpty", "", null]

Step 1: Just as we did in the previous solution, we’ll use the “filter” function, followed by “isEmpty” to retrieve the empty items from the array.

["notEmpty", "", null] filter isEmpty($)

Step 2: This time, we will not be counting the values with “sizeOf.” Instead, let’s use another “isEmpty” function for this filtered array ([“”, null]). This function can let us know if the array contains any value or an empty array ([]).

isEmpty(["notEmpty", "", null] filter isEmpty($))

With this, we know that the original array ([“notEmpty”, “”, null]) indeed contains empty values (because it’s not empty after filtering it).

Step 3: Although our goal was to receive a true value if there were empty values, not a false, right? Not to worry! We can simply negate the whole thing with the “not” operator.

not isEmpty(["notEmpty", "", null] filter isEmpty($))

Quiz: Do the following scripts generate the same output?

1) not true or true
2) ! true or true

The answer will be revealed in the next post…Surprise! - There will be more! :)

And now…drumroll…we get to the test that broke our two previous solutions…What if we send a null value instead of an array?

not isEmpty(null filter isEmpty($))

It didn’t break this time! Woohoo! Since we’re no longer using the “sizeOf” function, which only accepts Array, Object, Binary, and String data types (not Null), we don’t have that issue anymore! “isEmpty” is cool with Array, String, Null, and Object.

Look at that! We’re done! We’re already returning a Boolean, so there’s no need to create a condition. Now we just have to make this a function and call it with our test data.

Setting up test values

To create the function, we can simply define it over the 3 dashes (---) using the “fun” keyword. We can copy and paste our previous code for this new function and replace the hardcoded array (or null value) with the function’s argument. Like this:

%dw 2.0
output application/json
fun containsEmptyValues(arr) = not isEmpty(arr filter isEmpty($))
---

To test our use-cases, we’ll be using the same payload we created in our previous solutions:

%dw 2.0
output application/json
fun containsEmptyValues(arr) = not isEmpty(arr filter isEmpty($))
---
{
    nullValue: containsEmptyValues(null),
    emptyArray: containsEmptyValues([]),
    arrayWithEmptyString: containsEmptyValues([""]),
    arrayWithNull: containsEmptyValues([null]),
    arrayWithEmptyString2: containsEmptyValues(["1", ""]),
    arrayWithNull2: containsEmptyValues(["1", null]),
    arrayWithValues: containsEmptyValues(["1", "2"]),
    arrayWithEmptyObject: containsEmptyValues([{}]),
    arrayWithEmptyObject2: containsEmptyValues(["1",{}]),
    arrayWithNonEmptyObject: containsEmptyValues([{a:"b"}])
}

But the “nullValue” and “emptyArray” fields are returning false instead of the true value that we need.

Step 4: Let’s add a condition to check if the argument (arr) is empty and to immediately return true if that’s the case. Don’t forget to add the “else” with the logic we already had.

fun containsEmptyValues(arr) = if (isEmpty(arr)) true 
    else not isEmpty(arr filter isEmpty($))

Oh, look at that! We did it!!

Does it work as expected?

It works for ALL of our use-cases! But there are more ways to achieve the same output. Have you heard of function overloading or pattern matching using match/case? We can also achieve this solution with these two additional approaches. Plus, we will review how to use the Arrays module!

Remember that the answer to the quiz will be revealed in the next post. Here is the question:

Do the following scripts generate the same output?

• not true or true
• ! true or true

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Prost!

-Alex