Microsoft Orchestrator's "Get Lines" activity is a powerful tool for processing text data within your workflows. It allows you to break down large blocks of text into individual lines, enabling you to analyze, manipulate, and process each line independently. This is particularly useful when working with log files, configuration files, or any data structured line by line. This guide will delve into the functionality of the "Get Lines" activity, providing practical examples and addressing common questions.
What Does the "Get Lines" Activity Do?
The "Get Lines" activity in MS Orchestrator takes a string (a block of text) as input and outputs an array of strings, where each string represents a single line from the input text. Line breaks are typically defined by the carriage return and line feed characters (\r\n), but you can customize this behavior if necessary. This allows you to iterate over each line individually, performing specific actions based on its content.
How to Use the "Get Lines" Activity: A Step-by-Step Example
Let's imagine you have a log file containing error messages, one error per line. You want to extract only the lines containing the error code "ERROR_123". Here's how you would use the "Get Lines" activity:
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Input: Your input would be the entire content of your log file, which you could retrieve using a file reading activity.
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Get Lines Activity: Drag and drop the "Get Lines" activity into your workflow. Connect the output of your file reading activity to the "Input" property of the "Get Lines" activity. This will feed the entire log file content to the activity.
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Line Separator: Ensure the "Line Separator" property is set correctly (usually
\r\n). This tells the activity how to identify the end of each line. -
Output: The output of the "Get Lines" activity is an array of strings. Each string in the array represents a single line from the original log file.
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Filtering (Optional): Use a "For Each" loop to iterate through the array. Within the loop, use a "Condition" activity to check if each line contains "ERROR_123". If the condition is true, you can perform further actions, like logging the error or triggering an alert.
Common Questions about "Get Lines" Activity
What are the different line separators I can use?
The "Line Separator" property in the "Get Lines" activity accepts various line separators, including but not limited to:
\r\n(Carriage return and line feed – common in Windows)\n(Line feed – common in Unix-like systems)\r(Carriage return – less common)
You might need to adjust this based on the source of your text data. If you're unsure, inspect your text file to determine the line ending characters used.
Can I handle files with different line endings?
While the "Get Lines" activity has a specific line separator property, you might encounter files using inconsistent line endings. In such cases, you might need preprocessing steps before using "Get Lines." You could use a separate activity to standardize the line endings to a consistent format before feeding it into "Get Lines".
How do I handle very large files?
For extremely large files, processing the entire file at once might not be efficient. Consider using techniques like streaming or processing the file in chunks to manage memory usage effectively. This might involve using other activities to read and process the file segment by segment.
What if my data isn't perfectly line-separated?
If your data has inconsistencies or irregular line breaks, the "Get Lines" activity might not provide the expected results. You might need to use more advanced text manipulation techniques (like regular expressions) to parse the data accurately before employing the "Get Lines" activity.
This comprehensive guide provides a solid understanding of the "Get Lines" activity in MS Orchestrator. By understanding its functionality and employing the strategies outlined here, you can effectively process and extract valuable information from line-separated text data within your workflows. Remember to always adapt your approach based on the specifics of your data and the desired outcome.
