Skip to main content

convert Function

convert performs an explicit type conversion to make the given value conform to the given target type constraint.

Code Block
convert(value, type)

A value of any type can be provided as long as it can be converted to match the given type constraint.

Explicit type conversions are rarely necessary in OpenTofu because it converts types automatically where required. This function can be useful in situations where the type of a result is ambiguous, such as when parsing an arbitrary JSON string using jsonencode and then ensuring the resulting data structure conforms to the expected type.

The type argument expects a type constraint using the same syntax as for input variables, as described in Type Constraints. The type constraint may include object types with optional attributes, but the default values for any optional attributes must be constant values and cannot use functions or references to other symbols in the module.

Examples​

Code Block
> convert("true", bool)
true
> convert({}, object({ name = optional(string, "OpenTofu") }))
{
  name = "OpenTofu"
}
  • tobool is a shorthand for convert with a type constraint of bool.
  • tolist is a shorthand for convert with a type constraint of list(any).
  • tomap is a shorthand for convert with a type constraint of map(any).
  • tonumber is a shorthand for convert with a type constraint of number.
  • toset is a shorthand for convert with a type constraint of set(any).
  • tostring is a shorthand for convert with a type constraint of string.