The Loop flow actions allow Prinergy to perform actions on one item at a time from a group of items, or to repeat the same actions multiple times on one item or an entire group of items.
There are three types of loop actions available in RBA:
- Split
The Split flow action allows Prinergy to process one item at a time from a group of items. This loop action adds functionality to Prinergy, since in Workshop, a group of items is normally processed as a batch. Available parameters in the Split flow action are Items, Items Per Group (the default is one item), and Per Group Delay (the default is one second).
Note: Be careful to avoid situations in which a large groups of actions are triggered to occur too close together in time, because this can result in a heavy load on the system. For example, if an action takes half an hour to complete, and it is triggered once a second for a large group of items, this may result in performance slowdown. In such cases, a per-group delay parameter can be set in the split to a period longer than the rule will take to complete. For example, if it will take half an hour to complete the action, set the duration of delay to more than half an hour. - Repeat
The Repeat action allows Prinergy to perform the same process on one item or a entire group of objects (for example, a set of imposed pages). This is useful when you want to do automated testing of processes. Available parameters in the Repeat flow action are Number of Repetitions (the default is one repetition) and Per Repetition Delay (the default is one second).
Note: Be careful not to create a rule with a Repeat action that puts a heavy load on the system, because this can reduce performance drastically.
- Next
You can add the the Next flow action to the end of a loop to ensure that the repeated actions occur in a sequence without unnecessary delays. Processing of the second item (in a Split flow) or the second repetition (in a Repeat flow) will begin when the previous item or repetition is complete, even if the time set in the delay parameter has not yet passed. After the first item has been processed, the Next action overrides the delay and sends the second item to be processed. By using Split and Next together, you make sure that the second file is not refined too early (while the first one is still being processed) and that it is not refined too late (by waiting until the full delay period has passed).
In this scenario, we are going to create a split flow action. This action refines each page and prepares a PDF preflight report on individual pages where there is a warning or error. It then sends an e-mail message to the CSR about each page that had a warning or error, while attaching the relevant PDF preflight report to each e-mail.