functions-bindings-return-value.md

title	description	ms.topic	ms.devlang	ms.custom	ms.date
Using return value from an Azure Function	Learn to manage return values for Azure Functions	reference	csharp, fsharp, java, javascript, powershell, python	devx-track-csharp	01/14/2019

Using the Azure Function return value

This article explains how return values work inside a function.

In languages that have a return value, you can bind a function output binding to the return value:

• In a C# class library, apply the output binding attribute to the method return value.
• In Java, apply the output binding annotation to the function method.
• In other languages, set the name property in function.json to $return.

If there are multiple output bindings, use the return value for only one of them.

In C# and C# script, alternative ways to send data to an output binding are out parameters and collector objects.

C#

Here's C# code that uses the return value for an output binding, followed by an async example:

[FunctionName("QueueTrigger")]
[return: Blob("output-container/{id}")]
public static string Run([QueueTrigger("inputqueue")]WorkItem input, ILogger log)
{
    string json = string.Format("{{ \"id\": \"{0}\" }}", input.Id);
    log.LogInformation($"C# script processed queue message. Item={json}");
    return json;
}

[FunctionName("QueueTrigger")]
[return: Blob("output-container/{id}")]
public static Task<string> Run([QueueTrigger("inputqueue")]WorkItem input, ILogger log)
{
    string json = string.Format("{{ \"id\": \"{0}\" }}", input.Id);
    log.LogInformation($"C# script processed queue message. Item={json}");
    return Task.FromResult(json);
}

C# Script

Here's the output binding in the function.json file:

{
    "name": "$return",
    "type": "blob",
    "direction": "out",
    "path": "output-container/{id}"
}

Here's the C# script code, followed by an async example:

public static string Run(WorkItem input, ILogger log)
{
    string json = string.Format("{{ \"id\": \"{0}\" }}", input.Id);
    log.LogInformation($"C# script processed queue message. Item={json}");
    return json;
}

public static Task<string> Run(WorkItem input, ILogger log)
{
    string json = string.Format("{{ \"id\": \"{0}\" }}", input.Id);
    log.LogInformation($"C# script processed queue message. Item={json}");
    return Task.FromResult(json);
}

F#

Here's the output binding in the function.json file:

{
    "name": "$return",
    "type": "blob",
    "direction": "out",
    "path": "output-container/{id}"
}

Here's the F# code:

let Run(input: WorkItem, log: ILogger) =
    let json = String.Format("{{ \"id\": \"{0}\" }}", input.Id)   
    log.LogInformation(sprintf "F# script processed queue message '%s'" json)
    json

JavaScript

Here's the output binding in the function.json file:

{
    "name": "$return",
    "type": "blob",
    "direction": "out",
    "path": "output-container/{id}"
}

Here's the JavaScript code:

module.exports = function (context, input) {
    var json = JSON.stringify(input);
    context.log('Node.js script processed queue message', json);
    return json;
}

PowerShell

Here's the output binding in the function.json file:

{
    "name": "Response",
    "type": "blob",
    "direction": "out",
    "path": "output-container/{blobname}"
}

Here's the PowerShell code that uses the return value for an http output binding:

Push-OutputBinding -Name Response -Value ([HttpResponseContext]@{
    StatusCode = [HttpStatusCode]::OK
    Body = $blobname
    })

Python

Here's the output binding in the function.json file:

{
    "name": "$return",
    "type": "blob",
    "direction": "out",
    "path": "output-container/{id}"
}

Here's the Python code:

def main(input: azure.functions.InputStream) -> str:
    return json.dumps({
        'name': input.name,
        'length': input.length,
        'content': input.read().decode('utf-8')
    })

Java

Here's Java code that uses the return value for an output binding:

@FunctionName("QueueTrigger")
@StorageAccount("AzureWebJobsStorage")
@BlobOutput(name = "output", path = "output-container/{id}")
public static String run(
  @QueueTrigger(name = "input", queueName = "inputqueue") WorkItem input,
  final ExecutionContext context
) {
  String json = String.format("{ \"id\": \"%s\" }", input.id);
  context.getLogger().info("Java processed queue message. Item=" + json);
  return json;
}

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Next steps

[!div class="nextstepaction"] Handle Azure Functions binding errors