Is there a way to set a default value for an array of objects in a yaml template (Azure Pipelines) - azure

Question

I have a yaml template that contains parameters like below. In the array / list I want to be able to set the default value for one of the properties (the object has 3). The reason being is I have some if statements that check these properties and I want them to run regardless of whether or not the property is set in the yaml that uses the template (the third property was added later and I don't want to have to update every repo that uses this template).
Is this something that can be done in the parameter setup?
Notes: Using the below example if the property WebProject is not used I would like everything to go through the template as if it was set to false. I know there is some duplication where I check the property and copy files / publish the artifacts but at the moment I want to get it working and make it more efficient afterwards.
yaml template
parameters:
- name: ArtifactPublish
type: boolean
default: false
- name: Solution
type: string
default: '**/*.sln'
- name: Artifacts
type: object
default: []
jobs:
- job: Build
displayName: 'Build, Pack, and Publish'
pool:
vmImage: 'windows-latest'
variables:
solution: ${{ parameters.Solution }}
buildPlatform: 'Any CPU'
buildConfiguration: 'Release'
- task: VSBuild#1
displayName: 'Build Solution'
inputs:
solution: '$(solution)'
msbuildArgs: '/p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:WebPublishMethod=Package /p:PackageAsSingleFile=true /p:SkipInvalidConfigurations=true /p:PackageLocation="$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)"'
platform: '$(buildPlatform)'
configuration: '$(buildConfiguration)'
- ${{ if eq(parameters.ArtifactPublish, true) }}:
- ${{ each artifact in parameters.Artifacts }}:
- ${{ if eq(artifact.WebProject, false) }}:
- task: CopyFiles#2
displayName: 'Copy .artifactignore: ${{ artifact.ArtifactPath }}'
inputs:
SourceFolder: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)'
Contents: '.artifactignore'
TargetFolder: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/${{ artifact.ArtifactPath }}'
- task: PublishPipelineArtifact#1
displayName: 'Publish Artifact: ${{ artifact.ArtifactName }}'
inputs:
targetPath: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/${{ artifact.ArtifactPath }}'
artifactName: '${{ artifact.ArtifactName }}'
- ${{ if eq(artifact.WebProject, true) }}:
- task: CopyFiles#2
displayName: '${{ artifact.ArtifactPath }}*'
inputs:
SourceFolder: $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)
Contents: '${{ artifact.ArtifactPath }}*'
TargetFolder: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/${{ artifact.ArtifactPath }}'
- task: PublishPipelineArtifact#1
displayName: 'Publish Artifact: ${{ artifact.ArtifactName }} (WEB)'
inputs:
targetPath: $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/${{ artifact.ArtifactPath }}
artifactName: '${{ artifact.ArtifactName }}'
Example yaml that uses the template:
trigger:
- release
- development
- master
- feature/*
- task/*
resources:
repositories:
- repository: templates
name: Project/RepoName
type: git
ref: refs/heads/release
jobs:
- template: Templates/example.yml#templates
parameters:
ArtifactPublish: true
Artifacts:
- ArtifactPath: 'example/path'
ArtifactName: 'exampleName'
- ArtifactPath: 'example/path'
ArtifactName: 'exampleName'
WebProject: true

Answer 1

I am afraid setting the default value for one of the properties cannot be done in the parameters setup.
But you can use the coalesce expression to check if the WebProject parameter is set or not:
Evaluates the parameters in order, and returns the value that does not equal null or empty-string.
Min parameters:
Max parameters: N
Example: coalesce(variables.couldBeNull, variables.couldAlsoBeNull, 'literal so it always works')
So you can use the expression coalesce(artifact.WebProject, false) in your template yaml as below:
- ${{ if eq(parameters.ArtifactPublish, true) }}:
- ${{ each artifact in parameters.Artifacts }}:
- ${{ if eq(coalesce(artifact.WebProject, false),false) }}:
With this expression - ${{ if eq(coalesce(artifact.WebProject, false),false) }}, No matter whether parameter WebProject is set to false or not used, this expression will always be true.