Configuring Modules without Data Sources

The Execute Rulex Process File Source task imports tasks from a process, or part of one, into a new process. There are two main ways to do this:

by exporting part of a process as a module, copying and pasting the consequently created Execute Rulex Process File Source task into the new process, and configuring it. For further information on modules see Compacting Tasks into Modules
by exporting a process via command or task, dragging and dropping a Execute Rulex Process File Source task into the new process, and referencing the exported PRCX file.

The peculiarity of the Execute Rulex Process File Source task is that it imports the required tasks, but not their data. This is useful for example when the input data varies according to the process, and you want to be able to specify different data sources.

Prerequisites

You must have created a process in Rulex.

Additional tabs

Apart from the Options, Advanced and Remote Connections tabs, where the task can be configured, the following additional tabs are provided:

Documentation tab where you can document your task,
Parametric options tab where you can configure process variables instead of fixed values. Parametric equivalents are expressed in italics in this page.

Procedure

Drag and drop the Execute Rulex Process File task onto the central stage, or copy and paste the task from another process after creating a module.
Double click the task.
Configure the basic options as described in the table below.
Configure the additional options in the Advanced tab Configuring Modules without Data Sources#advanced.
Save and compute the task.

Execution and Iteration Scenarios

There are 4 main execution and iteration scenarios, which can be configured in the Advanced tab:

Execute the Rulex process in a simple loop.
Execute the Rulex process in a simple loop, accumulating the data of each iteration.
Execute the Rulex process in a simple loop, using the results of the specific iteration as the input for the successive iteration.
Execute the Rulex process in a simple loop, accumulating the data of each iteration and using this accumulative data as the input for the successive iteration. This scenario is particularly useful for making long term predictions.

Execute Rulex Process File options

Execute Rulex Process File options
Parameter Name	PO	Description
Basic options
Source file URI	uri	Select the source of the PRCX file, which can either be: Local File System for local files, or the corresponding remote connection, such as FTP or a SharePoint site, and then configure the connection in the Remote Connections tab. Note that if you have copied and pasted a module directly into the process, this value will already be configured.
Select file	filename	Either click here to browse to the text file you want to import and click Open, or manually enter the name of the file in the corresponding edit box. Note that if you have copied and pasted a module directly into the process, this value will already be configured.
Endpoint task	endpoint	Select the task whose results will be used as the endpoint results of the linked process. There can only be one endpoint task.
Execute all internal tasks	alltasks	If selected, all tasks in the extracted PRCX file are executed, otherwise the data provided by the specified endpoint task is simply used by the hosting process. This option is useful as a time saver when you are sure that the tasks have already been computed and you just need the tasks' output data.
Use cached file if the target one is not available	useoldprc	If selected, data from the cache PRCX file will be used if the target file is not available.
Process variables		If required modify the values of any process variables used in the imported .prcx file, by double-clicking it in the table and entering the new value.
Mapping		Map the inbound and entrypoint tasks, to connect the main and linked processes, as follows: From the inbound task drop-down list select the task in the current process that will immediately precede the linked process. From the entrypoint drop-down list select the first task in the linked process. The inbound and entrypoint tasks will effectively be connected in the overall process. Viewing issues If you can't visualize the inbound and entrypoint columns together, click on the square in the top right-hand corner of the task panel to enter full screen viewing mode.
Advanced options
Number of executions	nexec	Specify how many times the process should be run.
For each execution.....increment.....process variable	loopvar, incrdecr	If required specify whether specific process variables (selected from the drop-down list, loopvar) should be incremented or decremented (incrdecr) with each iteration. If the Number of Executions option was set to 1, this option will obviously be disabled. If you want to increment/decrement by more than 1, this value can be modified in the Parametric options tab.
Feedback entrypoint	feedbackentrypoint	Specify the task in the imported module/process where the output of the iteration will be used as input.
Accumulate iterations data	cumulative	If selected, the results of successive iterations are saved, otherwise they are overwritten.
Consider the output of each iteration as the input for the following one	reenter	If selected, the results of the specific iteration will be used as the input for the successive iteration.