Defining a For Loop Function

The For Loop function can be used when you need to maintain an iterator value, for example, when parsing text or iterating through a dictionary's keys and getting their values.

The For Loop function can also be used to iterate through a list and to work with list values. When iterating through a list, the iteration is one-based and not zero-based, as in most computer languages. Therefore, to iterate through all the members of a list, the condition must use a less than or equal to (<=) operator instead of a less than (<) operator.

To define a For Loop function:

1.

Click Insert Instruction to display the following drop-down menu:

Select For to display the following action statement:

2.

Click the <Iterator> link to display an Assignment Tool and specify the name of the iterator.

3.

Click the <Select Value> link in the middle to display an Assignment Tool and specify the starting value for the iterator. This value must be a numeric constant, a numeric property, or a method that returns a numeric value.

4.

Click the <…> link to specify when this loop is started/stopped. This opens a Boolean Statement Editor in which you specify the applicable break condition. For example, iterating when the iterator is <= the length of the iterated list, or when a certain business entity Boolean value is false (in this case, the For Loop acts as a While Loop).

5.

Click the corresponding <Select Value> link to display an Assignment Tool and specify the increment to be used by the iterator. You can increment by a numeric constant or by a method that returns a number.

6.

Define the inner statement of the For Loop, which is the statement inside the brackets. You can add any type of expression for this statement.

You can also use the iterator in an inner statement. The example below shows the use of the iterator to iterate through the values of a list: