DataWorks allows you to create and manage MaxCompute user-defined functions (UDFs) in a visualized manner. You can either execute MaxCompute SQL statements to create and manage MaxCompute UDFs, or register MaxCompute UDFs in a visualized manner. This topic describes how to create and use MaxCompute UDFs in a visualized manner in DataWorks.
Prerequisites
Before you can register a MaxCompute UDF, you must upload an existing resource or create and add a resource to DataWorks in a visualized manner.
Limits
DataWorks allows you to view and manage UDFs that are uploaded in a visualized manner only in the DataWorks console. If you add UDFs to a MaxCompute compute engine by using other tools such as MaxCompute Studio, you must use the MaxCompute Functions feature in DataWorks DataStudio to manually load the UDFs to DataWorks. You can view and manage the UDFs in DataWorks after the loading is complete. For more information, see MaxCompute functions.
Register a function
Go to the DataStudio page.
Log on to the DataWorks console. In the left-side navigation pane, choose . On the page that appears, select the desired workspace from the drop-down list and click Go to DataStudio.
Create a workflow. For more information, see Create an auto triggered workflow.
Create a Java Archive (JAR) or Python resource, and commit and deploy the resource. For more information, see Create and use MaxCompute resources.
Create a function.
Expand the desired workflow, right-click MaxCompute, and then select Create Function.
In the Create Function dialog box, enter a function name and a path.
Click Create.
In the Register Function section of the configuration tab that appears, configure the parameters that are described in the following table.
Parameter
Description
Function Type
The type of the function. Valid values: Mathematical Operation Functions, Aggregate Functions, String Processing Functions, Date Functions, Window Functions, and Other Functions. For more information, see Use built-in functions.
Engine Instance MaxCompute
The MaxCompute compute engine instance. The value of this parameter cannot be changed.
Function Name
The name of the UDF. You can use this name to reference the UDF in SQL statements. The UDF name must be globally unique and cannot be changed after the UDF is registered.
Owner
The owner of the function. The default owner is the account that is used to log on to the DataWorks console. You can change the value of this parameter.
Class Name
The name of the class that implements the UDF. Configure this parameter in the
Resource name.Class name
format. The resource name can be the name of a Java or Python package.When you register UDFs in the DataWorks console, you can reference MaxCompute resources including JAR packages and Python resources. The value format of this parameter varies based on the resource type:
If the resource type is JAR, configure the Class Name parameter in the
JAR package name.Actual class name
format. You can query the class name by executing thecopy reference
statement in IntelliJ IDEA.For example, if
com.aliyun.odps.examples.udf
is the Java package name andUDAFExample
is the class name, the value of the Class Name parameter iscom.aliyun.odps.examples.udf.UDAFExample
.If the resource type is Python, configure the Class Name parameter in the
Python resource name.Actual class name
format.For example, if
LcLognormDist_sh
is the Python resource name andLcLognormDist_sh
is the class name, the value of the Class Name parameter isLcLognormDist_sh.LcLognormDist_sh
.NoteYou do not need to include the .jar or .py suffix in the resource name.
You can use a resource after the resource is committed and deployed. For information about how to create a MaxCompute resource, see Create and use MaxCompute resources.
Resources
Required. The resource that has been uploaded or added to DataWorks in a visualized manner. You can perform a fuzzy match to search for the desired resource in the current workspace.
NoteYou do not need to specify the path of the added resources.
If multiple resources are referenced in the UDF, separate the resource names with commas (,).
Description
The description of the UDF.
Expression Syntax
The syntax of the UDF. Example:
test
.Parameter Description
The description of the input and output parameters that are supported.
Return Value
Optional. The return value. Example: 1.
Example
Optional. The example of the UDF.
Click the
icon in the top toolbar.
Commit the UDF.
Click the
icon in the top toolbar.
In the Submit dialog box, enter your comments in the Change description field.
Click Confirm.
For information about how to view the functions in a MaxCompute compute engine and the change history of the functions, and how to perform other operations, see MaxCompute functions.
View the function version and roll back the function
For example, in the MaxCompute folder in the Business Flow section in the Scheduled Workflow pane, you can right-click a MaxCompute function and select View Earlier Versions to view the earlier versions of the function or roll back the function.

Use UDFs in nodes
If you want to use a UDF in a node, you can directly reference the name of the UDF in the code of the node. In detail, you can find the UDF in the Scheduled Workflow pane, right-click the UDF name, and then select Insert Function. This way, the UDF is displayed on the configuration tab of the node.
Appendix 1: Run commands to query functions in a compute engine
show functions; Queries functions in a compute engine.
DESC function functionname; Queries the registration details of a function.
Appendix 2: View the list of built-in functions
For information about the list of built-in functions, see Overview.
Appendix 3: Add functions of a compute engine to DataWorks for management
You can use the MaxCompute function feature to load MaxCompute compute engine resources to DataWorks for visualized management and usage. For more information, see Manage MaxCompute resources.