Run the same macro simultaneously on different records

[Ali_288-1]

Hi there, 

Is it possible to run the same macro multiple times simultaneously in the same workflow? 

I have a workflow which creates a download URL then downloads, structures, combines datasets. I have a macro for the 'download' part of that - so each URL needs to go through that macro. 

However when I try to run this workflow, it seems to get confused when running the macro multiple times simultaneously. It hangs - and even if it does run successfully, the outputs are all of the top file only. 

I can't make it a batch macro, since I need the outputs to be kept separate - and I can't use a 'block until done', as these sections run parallel. Is there a better way to do this? 

Thanks! 

[Luke_C]

Regarding your comment on the batch macro, there are ways to separate the outputs after the fact. What are you outputting to?

[Ali_288-1]

The data will eventually be summed together in the workflow, but the datasets all have totally different fields so I thought a batch macro wouldn't work! Can a batch macro be used on datasets with different fields? 

[Luke_C · Accepted solution]

It ultimately depends on the various details of the workflow, but you could do the below option in the interface designer, which should accommodate different schemas assuming there's some common fields you're using in the macro. If one URL doesn't have a certain field it would just come out as null. 

[Ali_288-1]

I'll keep looking at turning this into a batch macro - but enabling that setting ("Output fields change based on macro's configuration or data input") has stopped the majority of the problem. The smaller datasets will now happily run simultaneously. I think it could be made more efficient by being a batch macro - but this does at least work for now! Thank you!