You can use the expressionType parameter to set a type when you create an ESV variable. This lets Identity Cloud correctly transform the value of the ESV to match the configuration property type when substituting it into configuration.
The type is set when the ESV is created, and cannot be modified after creation. If you do not specify a type, it will default to string.
Before the expressionType parameter was introduced, it was only possible to set types from within configuration, using expression level syntax; for example, {"$int": "&{esv.journey.ldap.port|1389}"}. The expressionType parameter supplements this expression level syntax and allows the ESV type to be identified without inspecting configuration.
You can use the encoding parameter to set an encoding format when you create an ESV secret. You can only choose an encoding format using the API. The UI currently creates secrets only with the generic encoding format.