Start iteration

Description

The Start Iteration activity enables iteration over incoming data, allowing workflow activities within the loop to execute repeatedly with varying values.

This control activity supports row-wise iteration, file-based iteration, and chunk-wise iteration. Each loop pass receives a different input slice, enabling dynamic data transformations, enrichment, or conditional logic.

Use case:
In a data processing workflow, use Start Iteration to loop over rows of customer records fetched from a CRM system. Each iteration can process one customer — validating, enriching, and updating records individually. When used with Parallel Execution, processing time is drastically reduced.

Input

Data – Required input in tabular form for row or chunk iterations, or as a list of files for file iteration.

Output

Output Type	Format	Description
Iteration Log	JSON	Logs and context from each iteration

Configuration Fields

Field Name	Description
Operation	Specifies the iteration type: Iterate over each row Iterate over each file Iterate over a chunk of rows
Iteration Limit	Defines the maximum number of iterations to execute.
Identifier Column	Appends the value from this column to the activity name during execution (used in row/file iteration for better traceability).
Use Row for Replacement	If enabled, values in the configuration of nested activities can be replaced by corresponding row values (for row iteration only).
Chunk Size	Applicable when iterating over chunks of rows. Defines the size of each chunk.
Fail on Empty Input	If enabled, the workflow will terminate when this activity receives no input.
Parallel Execution	When enabled, each iteration is executed in parallel for faster processing (use with caution for stateful operations).

Sample Input

Not applicable

Sample Configuration

Field	Value
`operation`	`Iterate over each row`
`iterationLimit`	`100`
`identifierColumn`	`CustomerID`
`useRowForReplacement`	`true`
`failOnEmptyInput`	`true`
`parallelExecution`	`true`

Sample Output

Activity Name	Activity Step	Replaced Values
SendEmail_12345	Step 1	CustomerName: John Doe
SendEmail_67890	Step 2	CustomerName: Jane Smith