Retrieving a list of files and reading and writing to them loop help

[PedroNL]

Dear All,

I have a script that I am writing that will require loops or something along that list.

So right now this script that is attached below reads from a variable and pulls out over 100+ files.  

What logic would I need to implement where it reads from each of the files that and then updates each one 1 at time.  Aka like loop?  

Does anybody have an example of this or suggestions?

[OkanAutomation]

The loop (for each) should take place after step 6. and before read text.

So what happens is for every file within TestFiles will follow the activities 7, 8 and 9. The end should be after your last activity.

Although i might see a problem in your flow and that is that in step 7 you try to read text from a path and not the File. You might have to change TestFilesPath to TestFiles (TestFiles is where your Files are?) Or i might have misunderstood these actions. But it seems that the variables within TestFiles is not being used within a read/replace/write activity. 

[MichaelAnnis · Accepted solution]

Get Files in Folder (filter for *.ini) to %Files%

For each %CurrentItem% in %Files%

    Read Text from file

    Replace text

    Write text to file %CurrentItem% "overwrite=yes"

End (For Each)

Good luck!

[PedroNL]

@MichaelAnnis @OkanAutomation ,

How would you suggest that I could get an email or save to a file that include the details to the .ini files that were updated?

[RPGpro]

@MichaelAnnis  wrote:

Get Files in Folder (filter for *.ini) to %Files%

For each %CurrentItem% in %Files%

    Read Text from file

    Replace text

    Write text to file %CurrentItem% "overwrite=yes"

End (For Each)

Good luck!

To extend that to send the summary email: 

At the start (before the loop) initialise a text variable, lets call it %emailBody%

inside the loop, either immediately before or immediately after updating the file, use "append to string variable" to add the current item's name, followed by a <br> (you'll find the current item name in the dynamic content window, I forget the exact name for it), replace <br> with \n or some other form of new line character depending on how your email will be formatted. 

Then after you've ended the loop, add a new connector to send an email, put the %emailBody% variable in the email body.

A different approach using an array of strings instead of 1 long string: 

instead of using a string variable, use an array variable, 

Within the loop, for each modified file, add the current item's name to the array

after the end of the loop, send the email, you can use the join function within the email body to return each array element with a given delimiter. This will also allow you to do things such count the array elements so that your email subject could for example say "Updated x files out of a total of y files checked" 

[MichaelAnnis]

I think @RPGpro has a good solution. I would just note that within each loop, after replace text, that is saved as %ReplacedText%. So if it’s something you are willing to do per loop, then you could reference that to get the end product. That doesn’t necessarily tell you what was changed.