Using the ternary operator for conditional logic

The previous recipe mentions that a tMap expression cannot be more than a single line of Java code. This means that we cannot use the normal if-then-else logic to test for conditions.

Fortunately, Java does provide a mechanism by which we can perform tests on a single line: the ternary expression.

Getting ready

Open the job jo_cook_ch04_0030_ternaryExpressions.

How to do it...

We'll be looking at two similar scenarios using the ternary expression.

Single ternary expression: if-then-else

1. Open tMap and click the output singleTernaryLocality column.

2. Enter the following code:

   customer.countryOfBirth.equals("UK") ? "UK" : "RestOfWorld"

3. Run the job. You will see that all countries apart from the UK have a locality of RestOfWorld.

Ternary in ternary: if-then-elsif-then-else

1. Open tMap and click the output column multiTernaryLocality.

2. Enter the following code:

   customer.countryOfBirth.equals("UK") ? "UK" : customer.countryOfBirth.equals("France") ? "Europe" : customer...