Next in our continuing series about new Workflow Conductor 1.5 features: Have you ever wanted to create a single SharePoint workflow that could loop through every item in a list? Thanks to Workflow Conductor 1.5, now you can! In the latest release of Bamboo's Workflow Conductor, we've added a new Widget called - appropriately - Repeat For Each Item.
The Repeat For Each Item Widget acts as a container for all the actions you want to take on every item in the list or library. A workflow-within-a-workflow, if you will. Simply add Repeat For Each Item to your workflow, and then drop other Widgets inside of it. Repeat For Each Item will start with the first item in your list, perform the actions you specified, and then move on to the next item. You don't need other workflows or complicated logic - you just need Repeat For Each Item.

But what if you only want to loop through some of the items in your list? For example, items created after a certain date? We've thought of that, too. Repeat For Each Item lets you specify where in your list to start and where to end.

Do you need more flexibility on which items to batch process than simply defining a start and stop item? Repeat For Each Item can contain any other Widget, so you can use a Conditional Branch Widget to evaluate a condition for each item before taking any other actions.

Since Repeat For Each Item is another Widget in Workflow Conductor's arsenal, you can include it in your primary workflow. This lets you add steps before and after your loop for one cohesive business process.
Here are just a few examples of how you can make Repeat For Each Item work for you:
- Check in, check out, or approve all items in a document library
- Archive all documents older than 30 days
- Update a column value for every item in the list
- Perform calculations by processing values for each item in the list
- Selectively copy items from one list to another
To get started, download your free 30-day trial copy of Workflow Conductor. For more information on exactly how Repeat For Each Item works, check out our online documentation.
Previous: Customize Workflow Task E-mails, Schedule Workflow Deployment, Limit Workflow Designers, and More with Workflow Conductor 1.5
Next: Test Drive Your SharePoint Workflow: Simulation Mode (and other Workflow Start Options) in Workflow Conductor 1.5
Posted
Oct 25 2010, 09:30 AM
by
Cynthia Fistler
Filed under: Workflow, SharePoint Workflow, Conductor, Workflow Widget, Workflow Conductor, Workflow Logic, SharePoint Workflows, Conditional Branch, Bamboo Workflow Conductor, Widgets, Workflow Conductor 1.5, Batch Processing, Looping
Cynthia Fistler joined Bamboo Solutions as a technical writer in March 2010. She came to Bamboo from the Web Hosting division of an international telecommunications company, where her job included project management, technical writing, training, and as much hands-on SharePoint use as she could get. Cynthia writes content for the Bamboo Tools & Technologies product group, which includes Workflow Conductor, and is looking forward to becoming a regular Bamboo Nation contributor.