Workflow to load files - how to handle the problem of no files to load

[cmcclellan]

I want to process one file in a folder, so I do this:

 But I also want to NICELY stop the workflow if there's no files to process.  At the moment I'm using a Count Records > Filter > Message (as an error), but is there a "nicer" way to stop the workflow when there's no files to process (ie without generating an error) ??

[cmcclellan]

No, I've never found a viable solution, and no answer from @JoshuaB  either 😉

[caltang]

Hi @cmcclellan !

Re-reading this post and my old reply. I have been playing with Detour tools a lot and thought about this:

The idea is to have the bulk of your process in the batch macro and have the detour tool do the heavy lifting. If there is a record, process as usual and then archive.

If no record, then the Count Records returns 0, and you can make a formula tool that is called "Status" or whatever, to flag true/false, which then feeds into the batch side. It will then control the action tool to update the Detour tool, and executes if there is >0 records, and DOES not execute (without error!) if =0 records.

[WirkKarl]

Hey! Another approach I use is a Block Until Done + Conditional tool combo. It lets the workflow exit cleanly if there’s nothing to process, avoiding unnecessary error messages.