Loops in ZD
Description.
Loops are a programming construct that repeats a set of instructions a certain number of times while a given condition is met.
This is a complex construct where a number of unexpected errors can occur. Especially if you're not familiar with programming.
Automatic creation.
Right-click on any action (or select a group of actions) → Repeat in loop.
Then a window will pop up where you choose the reason to end the loop:
Repeat a specified number of times.
When you select this option, you need to enter the desired number of repetitions. After confirming, a counter variable, an action to compare with the specified number, and an action to increment the counter value will be created.
Repeat while condition is true.
Here you need to set the condition for the loop to keep running (True). As soon as the condition is no longer met and returns False, the loop will stop. After clicking OK, the data from the condition field moves to IF action, so be sure to stick to proper expression syntax.
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| While the current URL equals https://google.com, a click will happen. |
Manual creation.
The two options above are for automatic creation of loops. But you can also do it manually.
Example: You need to scrape data from a website with many pages. To go to each next page, you have to click the Next button. But when you reach the last page, the button disappears.
In this case, the condition to finish the loop will be the error finding the Next element. So as soon as the button disappears, the loop stops.
Always add a counter in your loops. Otherwise, your template can freeze due to infinite execution. And putting the whole project in a loop can cause unpredictable errors.