GroupDocuments

A step that is based on the GroupDocuments step template updates the document properties file to identify groups of documents based on up to six document properties. After you have grouped documents, you can use a step based on the CreateJobsFromDocuments step template to create a separate child job for each group.
For example, you can group documents by a common set of inserter bin contents. If your workflow does not include a step to create child jobs, such as CreateJobsFromDocuments, GroupDocuments is useful to group the documents before they are sorted by the SortDocuments step.

Job property defaults

  • First group: Not set
  • Second group: Not set
  • Third group: Not set
  • Fourth group: Not set
  • Fifth group: Not set
  • Sixth group: Not set
  • Honor groups on sort: Not set

Usage notes

  • This step must run on the primary server.
  • You cannot delete this step template.
  • The grouping properties can be any property named in the document properties file, such as Customer Name, State, or Country.
  • When ordering the groups resulting from step processing, the type of comparison that is done depends on the data type associated with the property. A property that stores string values uses a character comparison (even if the values are numbers). Properties that accept a list of values are sorted according to the collating sequence defined for the list, not on a character comparison. Numeric data types are sorted based on a numeric sort.
  • If any of the group properties have no value, grouping occurs according to the remaining properties.
  • If Honor groups on sort is Yes, the step creates groups by updating the child job ID field in the document properties file. If there are existing values for the child job ID (for example, from a previous GroupDocuments or SplitDocuments step), those job IDs are considered the primary criteria for grouping, and any new grouping is done within the existing groups. The job IDs associated with the documents remain unchanged, or the jobs are split into smaller jobs.
  • If Honor groups on sort is No, the step does not subdivide existing groups; instead, it considers the entire document properties file as one group.
  • If a step based on the SortDocuments step template occurs before this step, the groups produced are sorted, and the documents within a group retain the relative ordering that they had before grouping. This is an example of the ordering before GroupDocuments processing: 
    DocID ChildJob SeqInChild GroupProp
1       1.1        1          B
2       1.1        2          B
3       1.1        3          A
4       1.1        4          B
5       1.1        5          A

    After GroupDocuments processing, the documents in Group A stay in the same sequence in their group, as do the documents in Group B: 

    DocID ChildJob SeqInChild GroupProp
1       1.2        1          B
2       1.2        2          B
3       1.1        1          A
4       1.2        3          B
5       1.1        2          A

Parent topic: Supplied step templates