Dependencies Tfvars: Complex Types
Simple Types
Types like string, number, bool are simple and are straightforward to use. For example:
vpc_id = <%= output("vpc.vpc_id") %>
Can result in something like this:
vpc_id = "vpc-123"
Next, we’ll show how to use complex types.
Complex Types
To understand how to use complex types, it helps to understand how the output helper works. The output helper, eventually tells Terraspace to fetch outputs from the statefile. It then formats the data as a JSON string.
Ultimately, it’s just JSON string written to the tfvars file by Terraspace. Since Terraform variables assignment syntax work with JSON, we can pass JSON straight from a terraform output to an input.
Example 1: List of Strings (Array)
subnet_ids = <%= output("vpc.subnet_ids") %>
Given that the output of the vpc stack subnet_ids’ output is an list(string) type, this would be the result:
subnet_ids = ["subnet-aaa", "subnet-bbb", "subnet-ccc"]
So it works.
Example 2: Map (Hash)
subnets = <%= output("vpc.subnets") %>
Given that the output of the vpc stack subnets’ output is an map(string) type, this would be the result:
subnets = {"subnet1":"subnet-aaa","subnet2":"subnet-bbb","subnet3":"subnet-ccc"}
Again, it works.
Example 3: Accessing Attributes from Complex Types with HCL
To access the attributes of a complex type, you can first assign it to another terraform local variable first.
locals {
first_subnet = var.subnet_ids[0]
}
Then you are able to use native Terraform HCL to grab the element, in this case, the first subnet. Then use the local variable like you normally would:
local.first_subnet
Example 4: Accessing Attributes from Complex Types with Ruby
You can also access the elements within a complex type with pure Ruby. Here’s a complex output:
output "complex_output" {
value = [{
a = 1
b = 2
},{
a = 3
b = 4
}]
}
The .to_ruby method returns the data as a native Ruby object.
- If the value is an Array, the object is an Array
- If the value is a Hash, the object is Hash
- And so forth
This allows you to do things like:
length = <%= output("stack.complex_output").to_ruby.last["a"].to_json %>
Which results in:
length = 3
So you can use the full power of Ruby to filter and manipulate data structures before passing it to the input variable.
