Join Paths (RapidMiner Studio Core)

Synopsis

This operator delivers the first non-null input to its output.

Description

The Join Paths operator can have multiple inputs but it has only one output. This operator returns the first non-null input that it receives. This operator can be useful when some parts of the process are susceptible of producing null results which can halt the entire process. In such a scenario the Join Paths operator can be used to filter out this possibility.

Input

input (IOObject)
This operator can have multiple inputs. When one input is connected, another input port becomes available which is ready to accept another input (if any). Multiple inputs can be provided but only the first non-null object will be returned by this operator.

Output

output (IOObject)
The first non-null object that this operator receives is returned through this port.

Tutorial Processes

Returning the first non-null object

This Example Process starts with the Subprocess operator. Two outputs of the Subprocess operator are attached to the first two input ports of the Join Paths operator. But both these inputs are null because the Subprocess operator has no inner operators. The 'Golf' and 'Polynomial' data sets are loaded using the Retrieve operator. The Join Paths operator has four inputs but it returns only the 'Golf' data set because it is the first non-null input that it received.