functions-bindings-example.md

title	description	ms.topic	ms.devlang	ms.custom	ms.date
Azure Functions trigger and binding example	Learn to configure Azure Function bindings	conceptual	csharp, javascript	devx-track-csharp	02/08/2022

Azure Functions trigger and binding example

This article demonstrates how to configure a trigger and bindings in an Azure Function.

Suppose you want to write a new row to Azure Table storage whenever a new message appears in Azure Queue storage. This scenario can be implemented using an Azure Queue storage trigger and an Azure Table storage output binding.

Here's a function.json file for this scenario.

{
  "bindings": [
    {
      "type": "queueTrigger",
      "direction": "in",
      "name": "order",
      "queueName": "myqueue-items",
      "connection": "MY_STORAGE_ACCT_APP_SETTING"
    },
    {
      "type": "table",
      "direction": "out",
      "name": "$return",
      "tableName": "outTable",
      "connection": "MY_TABLE_STORAGE_ACCT_APP_SETTING"
    }
  ]
}

The first element in the bindings array is the Queue storage trigger. The type and direction properties identify the trigger. The name property identifies the function parameter that receives the queue message content. The name of the queue to monitor is in queueName, and the connection string is in the app setting identified by connection.

The second element in the bindings array is the Azure Table Storage output binding. The type and direction properties identify the binding. The name property specifies how the function provides the new table row, in this case by using the function return value. The name of the table is in tableName, and the connection string is in the app setting identified by connection.

To view and edit the contents of function.json in the Azure portal, click the Advanced editor option on the Integrate tab of your function.

Note

The value of connection is the name of an app setting that contains the connection string, not the connection string itself. Bindings use connection strings stored in app settings to enforce the best practice that function.json does not contain service secrets.

C# script

Here's C# script code that works with this trigger and binding. Notice that the name of the parameter that provides the queue message content is order; this name is required because the name property value in function.json is order

#r "Newtonsoft.Json"

using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;

// From an incoming queue message that is a JSON object, add fields and write to Table storage
// The method return value creates a new row in Table Storage
public static Person Run(JObject order, ILogger log)
{
    return new Person() { 
            PartitionKey = "Orders", 
            RowKey = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),  
            Name = order["Name"].ToString(),
            MobileNumber = order["MobileNumber"].ToString() };  
}
 
public class Person
{
    public string PartitionKey { get; set; }
    public string RowKey { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string MobileNumber { get; set; }
}

C# class library

In a class library, the same trigger and binding information — queue and table names, storage accounts, function parameters for input and output — is provided by attributes instead of a function.json file. Here's an example:

public static class QueueTriggerTableOutput
{
    [FunctionName("QueueTriggerTableOutput")]
    [return: Table("outTable", Connection = "MY_TABLE_STORAGE_ACCT_APP_SETTING")]
    public static Person Run(
        [QueueTrigger("myqueue-items", Connection = "MY_STORAGE_ACCT_APP_SETTING")]JObject order,
        ILogger log)
    {
        return new Person() {
                PartitionKey = "Orders",
                RowKey = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
                Name = order["Name"].ToString(),
                MobileNumber = order["MobileNumber"].ToString() };
    }
}

public class Person
{
    public string PartitionKey { get; set; }
    public string RowKey { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string MobileNumber { get; set; }
}

JavaScript

The same function.json file can be used with a JavaScript function:

// From an incoming queue message that is a JSON object, add fields and write to Table Storage
module.exports = async function (context, order) {
    order.PartitionKey = "Orders";
    order.RowKey = generateRandomId(); 

    context.bindings.order = order;
};

function generateRandomId() {
    return Math.random().toString(36).substring(2, 15) +
        Math.random().toString(36).substring(2, 15);
}

---

You now have a working function that is triggered by an Azure Queue and outputs data to Azure Table storage.

Next steps

[!div class="nextstepaction"] Azure Functions binding expression patterns