Expression Language
Use the Gatling Expression Language (EL) to generate dynamic parameters
Most Gatling DSL methods can be passed Gatling Expression Language (EL) Strings.
This is a very convenient feature to pass dynamic parameters.
Only Gatling DSL methods will interpolate Gatling EL Strings. You can’t use Gatling EL in your own methods or functions.
For example queryParam("latitude", session -> "#{latitude}") wouldn’t work because the parameter is not a String, but a function that returns a String.
Also, queryParam("latitude", Integer.parseInt("#{latitude}")) wouldn’t work either because Integer.parseInt would be called on the "#{latitude}" String before trying to pass the result to the queryParam method.
The solution here would be to pass a function:
queryParam("latitude", session -> session.getInt("latitude")).
Syntax
Gatling EL uses a #{attributeName} syntax to define placeholders to be replaced with the value of the matching attributeName attribute’s value stored in the virtual user’s Session, eg: request("page").get("/foo?param=#{bar}").
// direct attribute access
"#{foo}"
// access by index
// supports arrays, Java List, Scala Seq and Product
// n can be negative to count backward from the end
"#{foo(n)}"
// access by key
// supports Java Map, Java POJO, Java records, Scala Map and Scala case class
"#{foo.bar}"
The previous ${} syntax is deprecated because it was clashing with Scala and Kotlin String interpolation. It will be dropped in a future release.
Please make sure to use the #{} syntax from now on.
Built-in functions
Gatling EL provide the following built-in functions:
// collection size
// supports arrays, Java Collection, Java Map, Scala Iterable and Product
"#{foo.size()}"
// collection random element
// supports arrays, Java Collection, Java List, Scala Seq and Product
"#{foo.random()}"
// true if the session contains a `foo` attribute
"#{foo.exists()}"
// true if the session doesn't contains a `foo` attribute
"#{foo.isUndefined()}"
// properly formats into a JSON value (wrap Strings with double quotes, deal with null)
"#{foo.jsonStringify()}"
// System.currentTimeMillis
"#{currentTimeMillis()}"
// ZonedDateTime.now() formatted with a java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter pattern
"#{currentDate(<pattern>)}"
// unescape an HTML String (entities decoded)
"#{foo.htmlUnescape()}"
// generate a random UUID String (fast but cryptographically insecure)
"#{randomUuid()}"
// generate a random UUID String (standard java.util.UUID#randomUUID: cryptographically secure, but slower)
"#{randomSecureUuid()}"
// generate a random Int with full range
"#{randomInt()}"
// generate a random Int, where the number generated is >= 5 and < 10 (the right bound of 10 is excluded)
"#{randomInt(5,10)}"
// generate a random Long with full range
"#{randomLong()}"
// generate a random Long, where the number generated is >= 2147483648 and < 2147483658 (the right bound is excluded)
"#{randomLong(2147483648,2147483658)}"
// The following functions generate a random Double value in a given range
// To use these functions you must adhere to the following formats and pay attention to the gotchas
// * a valid double string is of the format number.number, ex 0.34 or -12.34, while these are INVALID .34 or 2. or +0.34
// must be of the format -?\d+.\d+ (can start with a - then has digit(s) then a . then has digit(s))
// * when the double is converted to a string in the payload,
// you may end up seeing doubles represented in scientific notation.
// This can happen when you choose very small or very big numbers or when requesting many decimal places
// generate a random Double, where the number generated is >= -42.42 and < 42.42 (the right bound of 42.42 is excluded)
"#{randomDouble(-42.42,42.42)}"
// generate a random Double, similar to above, but limit to max of 3 decimal places
"#{randomDouble(-42.42,42.42,3)}"
// generate a random alphanumeric with length
"#{randomAlphanumeric(10)}"
You can combine different Gatling EL builtin functions, eg:
// return first element of the first list in `foo`
"#{foo(0)(0)}"
// return a random element from the List associated with key `list` in the Map `foo`
"#{foo.list.random()}"
Escaping
To prevent "#{" from being interpreted by the EL compiler, add a \\ before it. "\\#{foo}" will be turned into "#{foo}".
If you want a $ before the placeholder, add another $.
Assuming the session attribute foo holds "FOO", "$$${foo}" will be turned into "$FOO".
This can go on and on. In general, if there are 2n-1 $ characters before ${ – an even number of $ characters totally –
there will be n $ before { in the final string;
if there are 2n $ before ${ – an odd number totally – there will be n $ before the placeholder.