Body

🎯 Goal

Improve convenience by reducing the need to memorize common transformation patterns, while still requiring basic programming knowledge.

🧩 Problem

Basic transformations (e.g., add timestamp, rename, delete fields) require users to remember JavaScript patterns.

Example:

event.timestamp = Date.now(); event.newName = event.oldName; delete event.oldName; delete event.propertyToDelete; event.timestamp = new Date(event.dateField).getTime();

Especially for simple tasks users must recall the syntax.

🔄 Alternative 1: Utility Functions + Autocomplete

Provide built-in helper functions combined with editor assistance.

utils.addTimestamp(event); utils.rename(event, "oldName", "newName"); utils.remove(event, "propertyToDelete"); utils.parseTimestamp(event, "dateField");

Enhancements

• Autocomplete for:

  • event.<fields> (based on sample data)
  • utils.* functions

• Inline descriptions / tooltips

Benefits

• Less need to memorize patterns
• Faster and less error-prone
• Keeps full scripting flexibility

🔄 Alternative 2: Rule-Based Snippet Widget

Provide a small UI widget (e.g., “Add Transformation”) to generate common scripts.

💡 Concept

• User clicks “Add Transformation”

• Selects a rule:

  • Add Timestamp
  • Rename Field
  • Remove Field
  • Parse Timestamp

Interaction

Example: Rename Field

• Field: oldName
• New name: newName

Generated script:

event.newName = event.oldName; delete event.oldName;

The script is shown in a preview and can be copied and pasted into the editor.

Benefits

• No need to remember syntax
• Simple and non-intrusive
• Acts as lightweight guidance for users

StreamPipes Committer

I acknowledge that I am a maintainer/committer of the Apache StreamPipes project.