[[constant-language]]
= Constant Language
:docTitle: Constant
:artifactId: camel-core-languages
:description: A fixed value set only once during the route startup.
:since: 1.5
:supportLevel: Stable

*Since Camel {since}*

The Constant Expression Language is really just a way to specify
constant strings as a type of expression.

[NOTE]
====
This is a fixed constant value that is only set once during starting up the route,
do not use this if you want dynamic values during routing.
====

== Constant Options


// language options: START
The Constant language supports 1 options, which are listed below.



[width="100%",cols="2,1m,1m,6",options="header"]
|===
| Name | Default | Java Type | Description
| trim | true | Boolean | Whether to trim the value to remove leading and trailing whitespaces and line breaks
|===
// language options: END


== Example usage

The setHeader element of the Spring DSL can utilize a constant
expression like:

[source,xml]
----
<route>
  <from uri="seda:a"/>
  <setHeader name="theHeader">
    <constant>the value</constant>
  </setHeader>
  <to uri="mock:b"/>
</route>
----

in this case, the Message coming from the seda:a
Endpoint will have 'theHeader' header set to the
constant value 'the value'.

And the same example using Java DSL:

[source,java]
----
from("seda:a")
  .setHeader("theHeader", constant("the value"))
  .to("mock:b");
----

== Loading constant from external resource

You can externalize the constant and have Camel load it from a resource
such as `"classpath:"`, `"file:"`, or `"http:"`. +
 This is done using the following syntax: `"resource:scheme:location"`,
eg to refer to a file on the classpath you can do:

[source,java]
----
.setHeader("myHeader").constant("resource:classpath:constant.txt")
----

== Dependencies

The Constant language is part of *camel-core*.
