The For Each Loop activity takes as an input an array (collection) of objects and repeats the set of activities within the loop for each object in the collection. For example, if the input collection has five objects, the loop iterates five times. If the collection is empty, the loop does not iterate. There is no upper limit to the number of objects in the collection. The For Each Loop activity always runs on the computer on which the workflow runs.
The For Each Loop activity is a composite activity with two containers for activities:
- Input Container: This activity sets up
the loop and defines the input collection. You can use the Get
Incident or the Get Virtual Machine activity in this
role.
- Loop Container: Named
ForEachChildActivity, this activity contains the loop
activities. Most Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) activities that
you place in this container have two additional properties:
Current Item and Property to Bind. For each activity
within the loop container, set these properties as follows:
- Set Current Item to the Current Item property of
the Loop Container activity of the ForEach activity.
Note that if this activity is the first activity in the For Each
Loop, Current Item is set automatically.
- Set the value of the Property to Bind property to the
value of the property of the current activity that uses the
Current Item value.
- Script activities such as the Windows
PowerShell Script activity.
- Custom activities or other activities that do
not inherit from the WorkflowActivityBase class. Such
activities include those based on the Activity base class,
such as native Visual Studio activities.
- Set Current Item to the Current Item property of
the Loop Container activity of the ForEach activity.
Note that if this activity is the first activity in the For Each
Loop, Current Item is set automatically.
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Design Time Prerequisites
Run Time Prerequisites
Properties
The For Each Loop activity uses the input properties listed in the following table.
| Display Name | Internal Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Input Collection |
InputCollection |
Array/Object |
N/A |
A collection of objects to be passed, one at a time, to the activities within the For Each Loop activity. If the activity that resides in the input container produces an array of objects as its output property, Input Collection is automatically set to that property. To view the current value of this property, right-click the loop container, and then click Properties. |
|
Current Item |
CurrentItem |
Object |
N/A |
An index into Input Collection that activities within the loop can use as an input property. For the first activity in the loop container, this property is set automatically. |
Errors and Exceptions
The For Each Loop activity uses the custom tracking service supplied by Service Manager to log errors and exceptions when the activity runs. The activity generates errors or exceptions under the following conditions:
- If any error occurs in the ForEachLoop
activity and that is not with the child activities, the workflow
terminates.
- If any error occurs within the child
activities, the workflow terminates unless
ContinueOnError=true.
- If any of the input properties are null. The
activity does not iterate.
Each activity within the For Each Loop activity must write its own errors or exceptions to the custom tracking service. The For Each Loop activity does not do so itself.
Remarks
Example