Branch Components

Overview

• Simple (also called just Branch)
• Loops (Branches that loop)
• Switches (Branches that share the same expression)

A Branch does not have to run to completion; the same script call is used to programmatically exit any type of Branch: system.exitBranch(). See Exiting a Branch (or Loop or the AL Flow) for more information.

The three Branch component types are:

Branch

While each type of Branch lets you define alternate routes for AssemblyLine processing, this simplest form determines the action in case: "If this situation occurs, then take this action." You define what "situation occurs" means by setting up Conditions that must be met; for example, by comparing data values or checking the result of some operation. If the conditions are true, the components attached under this Branch are executed.

The Branch allows you to define Conditions based on any data in the TDI server: Attribute values, parameters settings, externally accessible properties, and any information available using JavaScript, such as operating system calls for disk or memory usage. Multiple Conditions are ANDed or ORed, depending on the Match Any check box setting.

This simplest form of Branch component also supports three subtype settings, IF, ELSE-IF and ELSE, that you can select.

IF

Can appear anywhere within the AssemblyLine Flow, the IF Branch provides an alternative track for process to follow if Conditions are true. Once the components under the Branch are executed, control passes to the first component after this Branch. If you do not want this to happen, you must either add an ELSE or ELSE IF Branch, or exit the Branch with a scripted call to system.exitBranch().

ELSE-IF

Identical to the IF Branch, except it can only appear immediately following an IF or ELSE-IF Branch.

ELSE

Can only appear immediately after an IF or ELSE-IF Branch, the ELSE Branch has no Conditions. Its components are processed only if no preceding IF or ELSE-IF Branch was true. Furthermore, the ELSE instance always evaluate to true so there are no conditions evaluated during the cycle.

As mentioned above, you can prematurely exit a Branch by means of scripting, using system.exitBranch().

Loop

The Loop component provides functionality for adding cyclic logic within an AssemblyLine. Loops can be configured for three modes of operation: based on Conditions, based on a Connector or based on the values of an Attribute:

Conditional

Just as with a simple Branch, you can define Conditions that control Loop behavior. The Loop will continue to cycle as long as the Conditions are met, and will stop as soon as they fail. The details window for Loops is the same as for the simple Branches described in the previous section.

Connector

This method lets you set up a Connector in either Iterator or Lookup mode, and will cycle through your Loop flow for each entry returned. The details window of this type of Loop contains the Connector tabs necessary to configure it, connect and discover attributes and set up the Input Map.

Note that you have a parameter called Init Options with which you can instruct the AL to either:

• Do Nothing means that the Connector will not be prepared in any way between AL cycles.
• Initialize and Select/Lookup causes the Connector to be re-initialized for each AL cycle.
• Select/Lookup Only keeps the Connector initialized, but redoes either the Iterator select or the Lookup, depending on the Mode setting.

Note also that there is a Connector Parameters tab, which functions similarly to an Output Map in that you can select which Connector parameters are to be set from work Attribute values.

This brings us to the topic of how Looping with an Iterator differs from doing so based on Lookup mode. Both options perform searches that create a result set returned for looping. For Iterator mode, the result set is controlled exclusively by the parameter settings of this component. Lookup mode, on the other hand, uses Link Criteria to define search or match rules. Since it frees you from having to code Hooks like On No Match or On Multiple Found, this is the preferred way of doing searches that may not always return one (and just one) matched entry.

Attribute Value

By selecting any Attribute available in the work Entry, the Loop flow will be executed for each of its values. Each value is passed into the Loop in a new Work Entry attribute named in the second parameter. This option allows you to easily work with multi-valued attributes, like group membership lists or e-mail.

You can prematurely exit a Loop by means of scripting, using system.exitBranch().

Switch

Unlike expressions used in the Conditions of Branches and Loops, the Switch expression can result in more values than just true or false. For example, you could Switch on the value of an Attribute, or the operation requested when this AL was called from another AssemblyLine or process. Under the Switch component, you add a Case for each constant value of the Switch expression that you want to handle. So for example, if you set up the Switch to use the delta operation code in the Work Entry, your Cases would be for values like "add", "delete" and "modify."

In an AL Switch-Case construct, multiple cases can be active at the same time. TDI checks each case, just as it would a series of standard IF Branches. The following example shows how multiple cases work:

work.setAttribute("test","abc");

Switch work.test
		Case startsWith("a"): this is true
		Case contains ("bc"): this is true
		Case length=3: this is true

The three Switch work.test expressions that are true will trigger Switch execution.

You can prematurely exit a Switch-Case by means of scripting, using system.exitBranch();.