mcascone/jenkins-function-test

How I'm discovering if local files can be loaded as vars (to be used as functions)

1. Create the pipeline in a test repo
2. create a simple jenkins file to load the files
3. test various configurations:
   1. load('src/test.groovy')
   2. load('vars/test.groovy')

Results

It can be done! The files can be loaded as vars and used as functions.

There are some tricks/caveats:

1. The script must end with return this

2. Unless the var is defined prior to the pipeline block, it will go out of scope like any other var when its scope closes.

   steps {
     script {
       def testScript = load('src/test_src.groovy')
     }
   }

   testScript will go out of scope when the script block closes.

Instead, define the var prior to the pipeline block:

    def testScript

    pipeline {
      agent any
      stages {
        stage('test') {
          steps {
            script {
              testScript = load('src/test_src.groovy')
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }

2. The file must be loaded, and subsequently used, in script blocks.

3. You can define a call() function and call it with the name of the script.

   def call() {
     echo 'this is a call'
   }

   script {
     testScript()
   }

4. You can also use class members inline:

   script {
     def aValue = load('src/test_src.groovy').aFunction()
   }

Conclusion

This is a viable way to load local files as vars and use them as functions. It's not as clean as loading them as shared libraries, but it's a good option for small, simple functions that don't need to be shared across multiple pipelines.