Working with arrays

You can edit the code for action parameters that involve arrays of objects.
Many action parameters in Prinergy require lists (or arrays) of objects. For example, the Refine action needs a list of input files to refine, and the Perform Loose Page Output action needs a list of pages. Many event properties are also lists. For example, the Page Approval Changed event provides a list of pages where the approval status has changed.
Working with these arrays in code is considerably more complex than working with simple assignments.

Simple array assignment

When you want to pass all the members of an event property array to an action parameter array, the code looks the same as a simple assignment:

'This takes ALL the input files from the event and gives them to the action
action.InputFiles = triggerEvent.InputFiles

Using ArrayLists

ArrayLists are useful because they are untyped and unsized . They will expand as you add to them and you can put anything in them.

'Create an ArrayList and add items to it
Dim oArray As System.Collections.ArrayList = New
System.Collections.ArrayList
oArray.AddRange(System.IO.Directory.GetFiles("c:\", "*.pdf"))
oArray.Add(someOtherObject)

Converting ArrayLists to other arrays

After you have prepared the ArrayList, you probably need to convert it into other arrays to be used within the rules—arrays that are typed and sized.
ArrayList has a ToArray method that will copy the elements of the ArrayList to an array of a given type.
 

' Converts the ArrayList into an Array of Automation Pages
Dim oAlist As System.Collections.ArrayList ' . . . fill with contents
action.Pages =
oAList.ToArray(GetType(Creo.PWS.Automation.PrinergyDataModel.Page))

The ToArray method only works if the contents of the ArrayList can be cast to the type you specify. If not, a runtime error appears. You must manually convert each item in the ArrayList to the array. For example, you cannot cast a String to a FileSystemItem, but you can use the CreateFrom factory method to create a FileSystemItem from a String.

' Converts the ArrayList into an Array of Automation FileSystemItems.
Dim oFSIArray() As Creo.PWS.Automation.PrinergyDataModel.FileSystemItem = _
New Creo.PWS.Automation.PrinergyDataModel.FileSystemItem(oAList.count
- 1) {}
For i As Integer = 0 To oAList.Count - 1
oFSIArray(i) = _
Creo.PWS.Automation.PrinergyDataModel.FileSystemItem.CreateFrom(oAList(i).T
oString)
Next i

Flattening nested arrays

Sometimes the data that you want to assign to an action parameter are spread over the members of an array in the event properties. For example, the results of a Refine action are available from an Input Files Refine OK event. When you look into that event, you see that it has the following properties:

Where are the pages? Each of the refined input files has its own list of pages that were created from it. In other words, each member of the InputFiles array contains an array of pages.
To pass a list of all the refined pages to an action such as Perform Loose Page Output, we need a way to reach into each input file and build a collection of all the pages.

'First we need to create a holder for the new list we will be building
Dim newList As System.Collections.ArrayList = New
System.Collections.ArrayList
'Now we create a counter variable and initialize to the value 0
Dim i As Integer = 0
'Next we create a loop that will go through all the input files (until
'the counter i reaches the end of the list)
Do While (i < triggerEvent.InputFiles.Length)
'We reach into the ith Input File and add its Pages array to our
list
newList.AddRange(triggerEvent.InputFiles(i).Pages)
'Increment the value of i
i = (i + 1)
Loop
'Finally, we convert our list into an Array of Pages and assign it to the
'Pages parameter of the action
action.Pages =
newList.ToArray(GetType(Creo.PWS.Automation.PrinergyDataModel.Page))

Filtering an array

Another common requirement is the ability to filter parts of a list that you are not interested in. For example, you might want a simple way to create imposition proofs of only the front surfaces of every signature in your job. You want to pass to the Imposed Proof action a list of surfaces that has all the back surfaces filtered out.

'First we need to create a holder for the new list we will be building
Dim newList As System.Collections.ArrayList = New
System.Collections.ArrayList
'Now we create a counter variable and initialize to the value 0
Dim i As Integer = 0
'Next we create a loop that will go through all the input files (until
'the counter i reaches the end of the list)
Do While (i < triggerEvent.Surfaces.Length)
'We look at the ith Surface and add it to our list if it is “Front”
If triggerEvent.Surfaces(i).Side = "Front" Then
newList.AddRange(triggerEvent.Surfaces(i))
End If
'Increment the value of i
i = (i + 1)
Loop
'Finally, we convert our list into an Array of Surfaces and assign it to
the
'Surfaces parameter of the action
action.Surfaces =
newList.ToArray(GetType(Creo.PWS.Automation.PrinergyDataModel.Surface))

Filtering and flattening arrays

Combining the two patterns for flattening and filtering gives us the most power of all. In this example, we want a list of all the refined pages that are larger than 8.5 x 11. Since we need to look at every page in order to determine its size, this requires us to introduce a second loop. The outer loop goes through all the input files, while the inner (nested) loop goes through all the refined pages for each input file.

'First we need to create a holder for the new list we will be building
Dim newList As System.Collections.ArrayList = New System.Collections.ArrayList

'Now we create a counter variable and initialize to the value 0
Dim i As Integer = 0

'Next we create a loop that will go through all the input files (until
'the counter i reaches the end of the list)
Do While (i < triggerEvent.InputFiles.Length)

'Create a second counter and make a second loop to go through all
' the pages for input file i
Dim j As Integer = 0
Do While (j < triggerEvent.InputFiles(i).Pages.Length)

'Grab the jth Page from the ith Input File
Dim thePage As Page = triggerEvent.InputFiles(i).Pages(j)

'See if the page is larger than 8.5 x 11 (in points) – if so add it to our list
If (thePage.TrimSize.x > 8.5*72 AND thePage.TrimSize.y > 11*72) Then
newList.add(thePage
End If

'Increment the value of j
j = (j + 1)
Loop

'Increment the value of i
i = (i + 1)

Loop

'Finally, we convert our list into an Array of Pages and assign it to the
'Pages parameter of the action
action.Pages = newList.ToArray(GetType(Creo.PWS.Automation.PrinergyDataModel.Page))