topic RE: Key Item in a Collection in Product Forum

Key Item in a Collection

GeneKerls — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 14:48:00 GMT

Is there a way to identify in a Collection object which field is the Key Item to enter into a Queue?

In Section 9 of the Foundation Training, the first activity is to process data that is in a Queue. The first problem is that there is no data available in the queue. So going back through the videos I found where it was demonstrated how to Generate the Queue records. My problem is when I run the procedure, the records load but there is no Key Item identified. Where in the Collection Object do I define the Key Item?

Results

Thanks!!

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Gene Kerls
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RE: Key Item in a Collection

John__Carter — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 14:59:00 GMT

Hi Gene and welcome. You specify the key field name when you create the queue. Then whenever you add items to that queue, you need to make sure the collection input contains a field with that name. If you don't the queue items will still be created, and will still be accessible from a process, but in control room the Item Key column will be blank.

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John Carter
Professional Services
Blue Prism
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RE: Key Item in a Collection

John__Carter — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 15:02:00 GMT

And item key has nothing to do with 'primary key' in a database table, it does not need to be a unique value. If you want to be sure it is unique then prior to adding you need to check if the key value already exists in the queue (by using Is Item in Queue)

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John Carter
Professional Services
Blue Prism
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RE: Key Item in a Collection

GeneKerls — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 16:52:00 GMT

Thanks John!! That fixed my problem.

I think someone should look at the information presented in Section 9 of the Foundation Training to allow the student to build the collection before the activity of working with the queues begins. There was no data defined to allow the proper execution of the first steps in the training module.

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Gene Kerls
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RE: Key Item in a Collection

Carl__Carter — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 18:03:00 GMT

Hi Gene,

Thanks for raising this concern.

The activity to load items into Queue1 ready for section 9 is completed at the start of training in Section 1 - Introduction. The setup guide walks you through a few setup steps, including running a process to push items into the Work Queue.

Here is a snippet from the relevant section in the setup guide:

When we next review Section 9 videos, we will look to add some signposting to refer back to the setup guide - load queue activity.

Best regards,

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Carl Carter
Developer Program Manager
Blue Prism
Europe/London
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