−Table of Contents
INPUT
Category: Create / Input
Description
This action obtains an input dataset from the module (or project) that called the current module. If the current module was not called from another module (or project) then Input returns an empty dataset. This action works together with the following actions:
Use cases
The Input action passes data between modules in memory which helps avoid potentially slow reading datasets from disk or writing to disk in every iteration or call. By removing the need to read/write datasets to disk, the action simplified workflows.
Action settings
Populating the Input dataset from within the same project
Within the Input action
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Populate automatically | This option will attempt to retrieve data from a Call or Iterate… action within the same project. |
| Paste data | This option will paste data that has been copied to the clipboard. Options for headers, delimiters, and decimal provide fine-tuning of the pasted data. |
| Import dataset | This option allows for browsing to and selecting an external dataset (.dset file) to populate the Input action with. |
Externally
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Send to module | Data can be sent to the Input action by right-clicking on an action that produces data in the calling module and selecting Send to sandbox/module. Select the module containing the Input action from the list at the bottom of the menu. |
| Send to clipboard | Data can be sent to the clipboard by right-clicking on an action that produces data in the calling module and selecting Send to sandbox/module and choosing Send to Clipboard. From the Input action, choose the Paste data option. |
Remarks
When editing a workflow, the Input action is empty by default. For development and debugging, it is possible to populate the action with a sample dataset by pressing the "Populate" action in the action settings - it will find a calling action, and copy its dataset to the Input action.
You can also paste test data from the clipboard into Input action, similar to the Sandbox action. Typically, a small subset is pasted for use in designing the workflow. The pasted data is not saved and does not survive project re-opening.
Note that an Input action called from another project (not a module!) cannot be automatically populated with test data. Either a .dset file export must be made from the calling action and imported into the Input action, or the calling action's input dataset must be copied to the clipboard and pasted into the receiving Input action.
Community examples
- Create a new table with columns based on row values (Project; Module: Module 1; Group: Tab 1; Table: Table 1; Action position: 1)
- Match action - matching multiple values (Project; Module: Get matches; Group: Tab 1; Table: Lookup table; Action position: 1)
- Send email - Add table extract to outlook email message (Project; Module: Calc column width; Group: Tab 1; Table: Table 1;
Action position: 1) - How to pull data from web APIs with pagination (Project; Module: Query API; Group: Group 1; Table: Input; Action position: 1)