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Combining Bundles Using Aggregators
Every result/item from some module types (like Trigger / Iterator / List / Search / Match modules) can potentially and likely output more than one bundle. These multiple bundles will individually run subsequent modules once per bundle, which is not optimal in most cases:
- one operation per bundle per module, which could lead to…
- use of multiple credits per bundle per module (some modules use more than one credit)
View example screenshots
Aggregator Example
The “Search Rows” module runs one time, returning 999 results (999 bundles).
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This can easily use your entire quota of credits if you are not careful or fail to understand this concept. |
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To “combine” multiple bundles into a single variable, so that you can process all of the items in a single operation, you’ll need to use an aggregator. Aggregators is a type of module that accumulates bundles and outputs one bundle (unless you are using “Group By”). An example of a commonly-used aggregator module is the Array aggregator module.
You can find out more about some other aggregator modules here:
Question: Which is the best aggregator do you think you’ll need for your use-case?
Setting the Correct Aggregator Source
You need to set the “Source Module” field of the aggregator to where the bundles are coming from. This is usually an iterator module, but can also be a search/list/repeater module, or even the trigger module!
Mapping a Complex (Collection) Structure Into an Array Field
The Array Aggregator module is very powerful because it allows you to build a new complex array of collections that matches a later module’s array field to map multiple items (collections) to it. Such fields initially may allow you to manually add individual items, but toggle the “Map” switch on, and you can map an array variable (from an Array Aggregator) containing multiple collections.
Simply select the respective “Target structure type” in an Array Aggregator module.
As you can see from the example above, the “Map” toggle on complex array fields are used when you have an array variable (like from an array aggregator).
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Other combinations of modules may also allow you to generate an array that matches a future module field’s array structure, like “Aggregate to JSON + Parse JSON”, or “Create JSON + Parse JSON”, but this is an advanced topic. |
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Question: Are you mapping your array into a field that accepts more than one item/collection?
For more information, see “Mapping with arrays” in the Help Centre. I also suggest going through the Make Academy, which also covers the use of Iterators & Aggregators.
Links & Guides
Here are some useful links and guides you can use to learn more on how to use the Make platform, apps, and app modules. I’d also recommend going through the Make Academy if you haven’t yet!
Learn Make
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