Provide values to configurable variables

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The values for configurable variables can be provided through configuration files, command line arguments, and environment variables. The configuration values will be overridden in the following precedence order if the values are given through multiple ways when retrieving configurable values:

  • Command line arguments: The values can be configured through the command line arguments when executing the Ballerina program. The configurable value provided through a command line argument is expected to be the toString() representation of the intended value.

  • Configuration files: The values can be configured through the configuration files in the TOML(v0.4) format. The file location can be specified through an environment variable with the name BAL_CONFIG_FILES. Ballerina supports specifying multiple configuration files using this environment variable with the OS-specific separator. The file precedence order will be as specified in the environment variable. If an environment variable is not specified, the file will be located in the current working directory with the file name Config.toml by default.

  • Environment variables: Users can provide the configuration values through an environment variable with the name BAL_CONFIG_DATA in which the content is expected to be in the TOML(v0.4.0) format.

    Note: Providing multiple configuration values through separate environment variables is not supported.

Provide via command line arguments

The following syntax can be used to provide values for the variables through the command line parameters:

-Ckey=value

Currently, the command line based configuration is only supported for configurable variables of types int, byte, float, boolean, string, decimal, enum and xml.

The following examples explain the way of providing command line arguments to configure variables of specific Ballerina types.

Ballerina type Ballerina example Command line argument
int, byte configurable byte age = ?;
configurable int port = ?;		 bal run -- -Cage=25 -Cport=9090
string configurable string name = ?; bal run -- -Cname=John
float, decimal configurable float height = ?;
configurable decimal salary = ?;		 bal run -- -Cheight=5.6 -Csalary=50500.65
boolean configurable boolean isAdmin = ?; bal run -- -CisAdmin=true
or
bal run -- -CisAdmin=1
xml configurable xml book = ?; bal run -- -CxmlVar="<book>The Lost World</book>"
enum enum Country {
LK = "Sri Lanka",
US = "United States"
}
configurable Country country = ?; 		bal run -- -Ccountry="Sri Lanka"

Provide via TOML syntax

Ballerina defines a specific TOML syntax to be used when configuring the variables through the configuration files and environment variables. Depending on the type of the configurable variable, the way of providing values in the TOML content differs. Currently, TOML-based configuration is supported for configurable variables of int, float, boolean, string, xml, decimal, enum, the arrays of the respective types, map, record, table and the union of the respective types.

The mapping of Ballerina types to TOML types can be explained through the following examples:

Ballerina type Ballerina example TOML type TOML example
int, byte configurable byte age = ?;
configurable int port = ?;		 Integer age = 25
port = 9090
string configurable string name = ?; String name = "John"
float, decimal configurable float height = ?;
configurable decimal salary = ?;		 Float height = 5.6
salary = 50500.65
boolean configurable boolean isAdmin = ?; Boolean isAdmin = true
xml configurable xml book = ?; String book = "<book>The Lost World</book>"
enum enum Country {
LK = "Sri Lanka" ,
US = "United States"
}
configurable Country country = ?;		 String country = "Sri Lanka"
union configurable int|string code = ?; Relevant TOML type for the value code = "10001A"
int[] , byte[] configurable int[] ports = ?; Array of integers ports = [9090, 9091]
string[] configurable string[] colors = ?; Array of strings colors = ["Red", "Green", "Blue"]
float[], decimal[] configurable float[] rates = ?; Array of floats rates = [55.4, 76.3, 38.5]
boolean[] configurable boolean[] switches = ?; Array of booleans switches = [false, false, true]
map configurable map <string> person = ?; TOML table [person]
name = "Anna"
city = "London"
map[] configurable map <string>[] people = ?; Array of TOML tables [[people]]
name = "John"
city = "Paris"
[[people]]
name = "Jack"
city = "Colombo"
record type Person record {
string name;
int age;
};
configurable Person person ?;		 TOML table [person]
name = "John"
age = 45
record[] type Person record {
string name;
int age;
};
configurable Person[] peope = ?;		 Array of TOML tables [[people]]
name = "John"
age = 45
[[people]]
name = "Jack"
age = 32
table configurable table <map<string>> users = ?; Array of TOML tables [[users]]
name = "Tom"
occupation = "Software Engineer"
[[users]]
name = "Harry"
occupation = "Doctor"