5.5.1

Limitations of the Mozilla Rhino Implementation in Orchestrator
Orchestrator uses the Mozilla Rhino 1.7R4 JavaScript engine. However, the implementation of Rhino in
Orchestrator presents some limitations.
When writing scripts for workflows, you must consider the following limitations of the Mozilla Rhino
implementation in Orchestrator.
n
When a workflow runs, the objects that pass from one workflow element to another are not JavaScript
objects. What is passed from one element to the next is the serialization of a Java object that has a
JavaScript image. As a consequence, you cannot use the whole JavaScript language, but only the classes
that are present in the API Explorer. You cannot pass function objects from one workflow element to
another.
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Orchestrator runs the code in scriptable task elements in a context that is not the Rhino root context.
Orchestrator transparently wraps scriptable task elements and actions into JavaScript functions, which
it then runs. A scriptable task element that contains System.log(this); does not display the global
object this in the same way as a standard Rhino implementation does.
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You can only call actions that return nonserializable objects from scripting, and not from workflows. To
call an action that returns a nonserializable object, you must write a scriptable task element that calls the
action by using the System.getModuleModuleName.action() method.
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Workflow validation does not check whether a workflow attribute type is different from an input type
of an action or subworkflow. If you change the type of a workflow input parameter, for example from
VIM3:VirtualMachine to VC:VirtualMachine, but you do not update any scriptable tasks or actions that
use the original input type, the workflow validates but does not run.
Using the Orchestrator Scripting API
The Orchestrator API exposes as JavaScript objects and methods all of the objects and functions of the
technologies that Orchestrator accesses through its plug-ins.
For example, you can access JavaScript implementations of the vCenter Server API through the Orchestrator
API, to include vCenter operations in scripted elements that you create. You can also access JavaScript
implementations of objects from all of the other plug-ins you install in the Orchestrator server. If you create
a custom plug-in to a third-party application, you map the objects from its API to JavaScript objects that the
Orchestrator API then exposes.
Procedure
1 Access the Scripting Engine from the Workflow Editor on page 125
The Orchestrator scripting engine uses the Mozilla Rhino 1.7R4 JavaScript engine to help you write
scripts for scripted elements in workflows. You access the scripting engine for scripted workflow
elements from the Scripting tab in the workflow editor.
2 Access the Scripting Engine from the Action or Policy Editor on page 126
The Orchestrator scripting engine uses the Mozilla Rhino JavaScript engine to help you write scripts
for actions or policies. You access the scripting engine for actions and policies from the Scripting tabs
in the action and policy editors.
3 Access the Orchestrator API Explorer on page 126
Orchestrator provides an API Explorer that you can use to search the Orchestrator API and see the
documentation for JavaScript objects that you can use in scripted elements.
4 Use the Orchestrator API Explorer to Find Objects on page 126
The Orchestrator API exposes the API of all plugged-in technologies, including the entire vCenter
Server API. The Orchestrator API Explorer helps you find the objects you need to add to scripts.
Developing with VMware vCenter Orchestrator
124 VMware, Inc.