Save 2 clicks, test data preprocessing

This topic is related to template development from scratch, bulk data input, and a lot of dependable items having different preprocessing steps each.

If these keywords resonate with you, keep reading.

Story stars back in a day when a “Test now” button was invented inside the item preprocessing section. In this way, we can simulate the entire preprocessing stack. A very cool feature to have.

Nevertheless, we tend to copy over and over again the data input:

While this is fine for small projects with simple preprocessing steps which match our knowledge league. It is not so OK in we have ambition to solve the impossible. Figure out a data preprocessing rule(s) which suit our needs.

For a template development process, the solution is to skip data input and inject a static value in the very first preprocessing step. Let me introduce the concept.

JavaScript preprocessing step 1:

return 'this is input text';

JavaScript preprocessing step 2:

return value.replace("text","data");

Now we have static input, no need to spend time to “click” the input data.

Sometimes the input is not just one line but multiple lines, and tabs, and spaces and double quotes and single quotes and special characters. To respect all these things, we must get our hands dirty with the base64 format.

To prepare input data as base64 string, on windows systems it can be easily done with Notepad++. Just select all text and select “Plugin commands” => “Base64 Encode” (functionality is not there with a lite version of Notepad++):

After that, we need to copy all content to clipboard:

Create the first JavasSript preprocessing with the content from the clipboard. Here is the same example:

return 'PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTE2Ij8+DQo8am9ibG9nPg0KICA8am9iX2xvZ192ZXJzaW9uIHZlcnNpb249IjIuMCIvPg0KICA8aGVhZGVyPg0KICAgIDxzdGFydF90aW1lPkpvYiBzdGFydGVkOiBNb25kYXksIEF1Z3VzdCAxMCwgMjAyMCBhdCAxOjAwOjA1IFBNPC9zdGFydF90aW1lPg0KICA8L2hlYWRlcj4NCiAgPGZvb3Rlcj4NCiAgICA8ZW5kX3RpbWU+Sm9iIGVuZGVkOiBNb25kYXksIEF1Z3VzdCAxMCwgMjAyMCBhdCAzOjE3OjUwIFBNPC9lbmRfdGltZT4NCiAgICA8T3BlcmF0aW9uRXJyb3JzIFR5cGU9ImpvYmZ0cl9qb2Jjb21wbF9zaHV0ZG93biI+Sm9iIGNvbXBsZXRpb24gc3RhdHVzOiBDYW5jZWxlZCBieSBzZXJ2aWNlIHNodXRkb3duPC9PcGVyYXRpb25FcnJvcnM+DQogICAgPGNvbXBsZXRlU3RhdHVzPjE8L2NvbXBsZXRlU3RhdHVzPg0KICAgIDxhYm9ydFVzZXJOYW1lPlRoZSBqb2Igd2FzIGNhbmNlbGVkIGJlY2F1c2UgdGhlIHJlc3BvbnNlIHRvIGEgbWVkaWEgcmVxdWVzdCBhbGVydCB3YXMgQ2FuY2VsLCBvciBiZWNhdXNlIHRoZSBhbGVydCB3YXMgY29uZmlndXJlZCB0byBhdXRvbWF0aWNhbGx5IHJlc3BvbmQgd2l0aCBDYW5jZWwsIG9yIGJlY2F1c2UgdGhlIEJhY2t1cCBFeGVjIEpvYiBFbmdpbmUgc2VydmljZSB3YXMgc3RvcHBlZC48L2Fib3J0VXNlck5hbWU+DQogIDwvZm9vdGVyPg0KPC9qb2Jsb2c+DQo=';

In the next step, there must be decoding scheduled. Kindly copy the code 1:1. Configure it as a second preprocessing step. On version 4.2:

var k = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/="
function d(e) {
    var t, n, o, r, a = "",
        i = "",
        c = "",
        l = 0;
    for (/[^A-Za-z0-9+/=]/g.exec(e) && alert("1"), e = e.replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9+/=]/g, ""); t = k.indexOf(e.charAt(l++)) << 2 | (o = k.indexOf(e.charAt(l++))) >> 4, n = (15 & o) << 4 | (r = k.indexOf(e.charAt(l++))) >> 2, i = (3 & r) << 6 | (c = k.indexOf(e.charAt(l++))), a += String.fromCharCode(t), 64 != r && (a += String.fromCharCode(n)), 64 != c && (a += String.fromCharCode(i)), t = n = i = "", o = r = c = "", l < e.length;);
    return unescape(a)
}
return d(value);

On version 4.4.8 and up, we can do:

return atob(value);

This is how it looks like:

Go to testing section and ensure the data in Zabbix is similar as it was in Notepad++:

Data has been successfully decoded. Multiple lines, quite original stuff. The tabs are not visible with a naked human eye but they are there, I promise!

Now we can “play” out the next preprocessing steps and try out different things:

When one preprocessing has been figured out, just clone the item and start to developing a next one. Sure, if we succeed the ambition, it will be required to spend 5 minutes to go through all items, remove first 2 steps and link the item to master key 😉

Ok. That is it for today. Bye.

By the way, on Linux system to have base64 string we only need:

1. A command where the output entertains us
2. Pipe it to ‘base64 -w0’

systemctl list-unit-files --type=service | base64 -w0

About Aigars Kadiķis

Technical Support Engineer at Zabbix

View all posts by Aigars Kadiķis