Page-Merge-Into method

Use this method to merge the contents of two or more pages into one page. Specify the source pages in the MergeFromList parameter.

Parameters

The Page-Merge-Into method accepts a list of source pages and one base parameter.

Parameter	Description
MergeFromList	Optional. List one or more page names to merge into the step page. Don't include the step page (the destination) as one of the source pages. Order is significant. If you leave this blank, the Page-Merge-Into method merges the primary page into the step page. Identify one or more single pages here. You can't reference a Page List property here without including an explicit index value.
Keep	Optional. Enter 0, 1 or 2 to control the merge operation: 0 causes the value of a property already present on the step page to be retained, not overwritten, by a value for that property on a source page. 1 causes a property value on a source page to overwrite a value already present on the step page. 2 retains the values of properties already on the step page (as with 0), but with special treatment for Page List, Value List and Value Group properties, as described in the table. Mode Results with Keep 2 Page List First, all source Page List elements are merged to the destination page Page List.  (This is the same behavior as keep 0). Then, if the destination Page List property contains more elements than the source Page List property, the first element of the source list is used as the source value for all the remaining target list elements.  This differs from processing with Keep 0, which ignores the target pages beyond the size of the source list. Value List and Value Group If the destination page contains the property but it is empty (contains no elements), the source property is copied — including all its elements — into the destination.  This differs from the Keep 0 behavior, as existing destination properties may be altered. (other modes) Same as Keep 0.

Results

The system finds the destination page named in the Step Page column. If not found, it creates a new page with this name.

If any of the specified MergeFromList pages are not found, the merge process ignores them.

It copies properties and values from the source pages into the destination page, retaining or overwriting property values in the destination page according to the value of the Keep parameter.

It processes the source pages in the sequence you entered them in the parameter array. As it copies a property and value, the system validates the value against the property definition (the Rule-Obj-Property rule) and marks any in error. It updates the pxErrorList property.

Source pages are unaltered.

Checking the method status

This method updates the pxMethodStatus property. See How to test method results using a transition.

Restrictions

This method cannot be used in a step that involves iteration.

Methods and instructions by function