using when inside and outside a loop

[Spiro Mitsialis]

I want to do something like this below:

  - name: Create Simple list from Connection Dict
    set_fact:
      connections: "{{ connections | default([]) + [ {
        'switchid': item.id,
        'connectionid': item.connections[0].id
        } ] }}"
    when: item.connections                                     #only want to create facts if connections exist
    loop: "{{ connections_result.json.0.switchPorts | flatten }}"
    when: connections_result is defined                        #depending on the host,connection_result.json may not be defined so need  to check

When I run the playbook, I get the following warning at the top

[WARNING]: While constructing a mapping from /home/xxx/xxxxx.yml, line 245, column 5, found a duplicate dict key (when). Using last defined value only.

Is there a way to get both when to work?

[Vladimir Botka]

No. It's not possible. Instead, default to an empty list if the variable does
not exist. For example

- name: Create Simple list from Connection Dict
set_fact:
connections: "{{ connections | default([]) + [ {
'switchid': item.id,
'connectionid': item.connections[0].id
} ] }}"
when: item.connections

loop: "{{ connections_result.json.0.switchPorts|
default([])|
flatten }}"

HTH,

-vlado