UNTIL Command

Description

Waits until the supplied condition expression evaluates to true, or until the timeout is reached.

Use until after commands such as runtask, runtemplate, export, or any automation step that creates files asynchronously. This prevents the next command from running before the expected files, variables, or process state are ready.

Syntax

until -conditions condition_expression [-timeout seconds] [-match all|any|one] [-filePath path | -search query]

Parameters

• conditions: The condition expression to evaluate. Supports and, or, nested groups, file/folder/process exists checks, comparisons, PDM variables, placeholders, and simple arithmetic comparisons.
• timeout: Maximum number of seconds to wait before the command fails. If omitted, PDMShell uses the command default.
• match: When search returns multiple files, controls how many files must satisfy the conditions. Use any when one matching file is enough, all when every matching file must pass, or one when exactly one matching file must pass.
• filePath: Optional file context used to evaluate PDM variables and file placeholders.
• search: Optional search query. When supplied, PDMShell evaluates the condition against the files returned by the search.
• directory: Optional vault folder used as the search scope. Only valid with search.
• recursive: Includes subfolders when used with search.

Examples

until -conditions "$localPath exists" -timeout 60

until -conditions "$folderPath\$fileNameWithoutExtension.pdf exists" -timeout 500

until -conditions "$folderPath\$fileNameWithoutExtension.pdf exists and $folderPath\$fileNameWithoutExtension.dxf exists" -timeout 500

until -conditions "$(Description.@) contains A" -filePath "C:\Vault\Parts\1001.sldprt" -timeout 30

until -conditions "1 + 3 greater than 3" -timeout 5

until -search "Name=%.sldprt;Locked=true" -conditions "$(Description.@) contains ECO" -match any -timeout 120

Condition Format

The visual editor builds conditions as three fields:

Field	Meaning	Example
Variable / placeholder	The left side of the condition. This can be a PDM variable, placeholder, path, text, or arithmetic expression.	$localPath, $(Description.@), 1 + 3
Operator	The operation to apply.	Exists, Contains, Equal To, Greater Than
Value	The right side of the condition. Hidden for Exists.	A, 3, $fileName

Examples of generated conditions:

$localPath exists
"$(Description.@)" contains "A"
"$(Revision.@)" equals "A"
1 + 3 greater than 3

Note

PDM variables use $( and ), for example $(Description.@). When writing conditions manually, quote PDM variable tokens if they appear inside a larger expression so the parser does not treat the parentheses as condition grouping.

Supported Operators

• exists or exist
• equals, equal, is, =, ==
• not equals, !=, <>
• contains
• starts with
• ends with
• matches or regex
• less than, <
• less than or equal, <=
• greater than, >
• greater than or equal, >=

Exists Conditions

Use exists when the condition should wait for a file or folder path.

$localPath exists
$folderPath\ready.txt exists
file exists "$folderPath\ready.txt"
folder exists "$folderPath"
process exists "notepad"

When the left side is not explicitly file, folder, or process, PDMShell treats the condition as a file exists check by default. If the value looks like a folder path, PDMShell evaluates it as a folder check.

Grouping Conditions

Use and, or, and parentheses to combine checks.

$folderPath\ready.pdf exists and $folderPath\ready.dxf exists

($folderPath\ready.pdf exists or $folderPath\ready.dxf exists) and "$(Description.@)" contains "Released"

Placeholders

The until command supports dynamic placeholders in conditions. The most commonly used placeholders are:

Placeholder	Meaning
$localPath / $filePath	Local path of the current file, or folder path when the context is a folder.
$folderPath / $directory	Local path of the file folder or current folder.
$fileName / $filename / $name	File name with extension.
$fileNameWithoutExtension	File name without extension.
$extension	File extension.
$id	File or folder ID.
$version	Current file version.
$revision	Current file revision.
$folderName	Folder name.
$folderID	Folder ID.
$vaultName / $vaultname	Vault name.
$vaultRootFolder / $vaultrootfolder	Local path of the vault root folder.
$GUID / $guid	Script or task GUID context when available.
$taskName	Task name context when available.
$tempFolder / $TempFolder	Windows temporary folder.
$machineName / $computerName	Current machine name.
$userName / $username	PDM logged-in user, or Windows user when no PDM user is available.
$username.firstName / $username.lastName	PDM logged-in user's first and last name when available.
$username.FullName	PDM logged-in user's full name when available.
$username.email	PDM logged-in user's email address when available.
$windowsUser	Windows user name.
$userDomain / $domain	Windows user domain.
$configuration	Current configuration context when available.
$value	Current value context when available.
$completefilename	Legacy complete file path placeholder.
$completefoldername	Legacy complete folder path placeholder.

Date and time placeholders:

Placeholder	Meaning
$yyyy / $year	Four-digit year.
$yy	Two-digit year.
$MM	Two-digit month number.
$M	Month number.
$dd	Two-digit day of month.
$d	Day of month.
$month	Full month name.
$mon	Short month name.
$day	Full day name.
$dayShort	Short day name.
$HH	24-hour hour.
$hh	12-hour hour.
$mi / $mm	Minutes.
$ss	Seconds.
$tt	AM/PM designator.
$timestamp	Timestamp in yyyyMMdd_HHmmss format.
$date	Date in yyyy-MM-dd format.
$time	Time in HH-mm-ss format.

Note

Placeholder names are evaluated case-insensitively in until conditions.

PDM Variables

Use $(VariableName.ConfigurationName) to read a PDM variable from the file context.

"$(Description.@)" contains "ECO"
"$(Revision.@)" equals "A"

If the configuration is omitted, PDMShell uses @.

Arithmetic Comparisons

Numeric expressions can be used on either side of a comparison.

1 + 3 greater than 3
2 * 5 equals 10
"$(Quantity.@)" greater than 0

Arithmetic is evaluated only for simple numeric expressions containing numbers, parentheses, and arithmetic operators.

Remarks

• Use filePath when you need placeholders or PDM variables to be evaluated against one specific file.
• Use search and match when the same condition should be evaluated across multiple matching files.
• exists does not need a value in the visual editor.
• For generated PDF/DXF workflows, use placeholders such as $folderPath, $fileNameWithoutExtension, and $extension to avoid hard-coded output paths.

Availability

Available since PDMShell 4.0.7.