I’ve always wondered, if you can index link modifiers, why not set value modifiers?

Any ideas?

Can’t you though? Have you tried something like:

%/elementA/elementB/elementC[2]/elementD%

as your set value, with the “Enable variable substitution” box checked?

Yes… for the source. What about the target?

Regards

Target you can’t set like that in normal flow service. Java service you can do that but will involve java coding.

I know.

I was wondering why this is the case.

I use indexed links a lot when I know the specific index of the target list. It’s aggravating to create a temp variable to simulate an indexed set-value modifier.

Has anyone asked a webMethods engineer about this at a conference?

I think the way to do this for the target is to use a normal map step and set the index value for the target on the “mapping line”. You’ve probably already tried that but just in case…

Rob, I think Mark’s saying that’s what he does now, using a temp variable so that he can set the index on the link. One way of not using the temp variable might be to loop over the target list and branch on $iteration to determine when to do the set. That’s certainly not any easier though, it just avoids using an extra variable.

Mark, are you familiar with the Wish List forum on Advantage :-)?

That was pretty much the way it looked to me.

I guess I was just curious about it.

I do use loops when the target index is unknown at design time.

When the index is known and the target is deep within multiple nested documents, the multiple loop steps to “flatten” the document lists seem ugly to me.

My Wish List suggestion would be that when you open a set value modifier, it has data entry textboxes for all appropriate index levels just like the index property dialog for a link.

I guess I’ll post it.