Split PDF into Parts

As PDF files are a widespread way to share information, a common requirement is splitting them into parts for further processing. Robomotion allows users to split PDF files by a set number of pages without struggle.

What Split PDF into Parts can do

• Core.Flow.SubFlow Download Fixtures preps sample data, then Core.Programming.Function builds msg.default_pdf = global.get('$Home$') + '/templates/pdf-automation/split-pdf-into-parts/fixtures/sample.pdf'.
• Input Dialog titled Split a PDF file, message Select a PDF file to split:, default msg.default_pdf -> msg.pdf_path.
• Input Dialog titled Split a PDF file, message Specify the number of pages to split by:, default 3 -> msg.n_text.
• Validate (Core.Programming.Function, outputs: 2) — requires a .pdf path and integer n >= 1; sets msg.pages_per_part, msg.directory, msg.pages_dir = <dir>/_pages_<stamp>, msg.split_output_dir = <dir>/parts_<stamp>; failure goes to Core.Flow.Stop.
• Core.FileSystem.Create (directory, continueOnError) on msg.pages_dir, then Robomotion.PDFBox.Split (optPerPage: 1, prefix p) bursts the source into msg.pages_dir.
• Core.FileSystem.List (optAbsolutePath: true, optSort: 'ascend') -> msg.page_files; a Function filters out dirs, sorts by name and packs paths into msg.chunks of size msg.pages_per_part.
• Core.FileSystem.Create on msg.split_output_dir, then Core.Flow.GoTo into the Loop Start label that runs Core.Programming.ForEach over msg.chunks -> msg.current_chunk / msg.current_index.
• Each iteration calls Core.Flow.SubFlow Merge Chunk then Core.Flow.GoTo back to Loop Start; when exhausted, Core.FileSystem.Delete cleans msg.pages_dir, builds msg.dialog_text and shows Core.Dialog.MessageBox titled Flow ran successfully!.

Behind the scenes

• The timestamped _pages_<stamp> and parts_<stamp> directories are siblings of the source PDF, so repeated runs never clobber each other and the per-page staging area is easy to clean up after merging.
• Splitting is done in two passes: burst to one file per page with Robomotion.PDFBox.Split, then merge slices of msg.pages_per_part pages via the Merge Chunk subflow. This keeps the loop body trivial and lets Core.FileSystem.List drive the chunking order.
• The final message points the user at msg.split_output_dir rather than individual file names because the merge subflow is responsible for its own naming scheme.