# Multiple targets

The previous example showed how to use the `prism.decorators.target` decorator to define a single target. Prism also supports multiple targets in a single task. There are two ways that this can be done:

1. Multiple `prism.decorators.target` calls
2. Using `prism.decorators.target_iterator`

## Multiple `prism.decorators.target` 

Building off of the previous example, let's say you want your `HelloWorld` task to also produce a file with the string `"foo, bar"`. You can do that as follows:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Class-based tasks" %}

```python
# tasks/hello_world.py

import prism.task
import prism.target
import prism.decorators

class HelloWorld(prism.task.PrismTask):
    
    @prism.decorators.target(type=prism.target.Txt, loc="/Users/hello_world.txt")
    @prism.decorators.target(type=prism.target.Txt, loc="/Users/foo_bar.txt")
    def run(self, tasks, hooks):
        test_str1 = "Hello, world!"
        test_str2 = "foo, bar"
        return test_str, test_str2
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Function-based tasks" %}

```python
# tasks/hello_world.py

from prism.decorators import task, target
    
@task(
    targets=[
        target(type=prism.target.Txt, loc="/Users/hello_world.txt"),
        target(type=prism.target.Txt, loc="/Users/foo_bar.txt")
    ]
)
def hello_world(tasks, hooks):
    test_str1 = "Hello, world!"
    test_str2 = "foo, bar"
    return test_str, test_str2
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

In this revised task, the objects corresponding to the different targets are returned as a tuple, and for every returned object in the tuple there is a `prism.decorators.target` call.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Good to know:** make sure you match the order of the objects in the tuple and prism target decorators. In the above, 

* `"Hello, world"` --> `/Users/hello_world.txt`
* `"foo, bar"` --> `/Users/foo_bar.txt`. 

But, if we switched the order of the tuple (i.e., `return test_str2, test_str`), then we would have the reverse:

* `"foo, bar"` --> `/Users/hello_world.txt`
* `"Hello, world"` --> `/Users/foo_bar.txt`. 
  {% endhint %}

That's it! That's all you have to do to specify multiple targets. Now, `tasks.ref("hello_world.py")` will return a tuple of the objects returned by the HelloWorld task:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Class-based tasks" %}

```python
# tasks/second_task.py

import prism.task
import prism.target
import prism.decorators

class SecondTask(prism.task.PrismTask):

    def run(self, tasks, hooks):
        tasks.ref("hello_world")  # returns ("Hello, world!", "foo, bar")
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Function-based tasks" %}

```python
# tasks/second_task.py

from prism.decorators import task

@task()
def second_task(self, tasks, hooks):
    tasks.ref("hello_world")  # returns ("Hello, world!", "foo, bar")
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

## `prism.decorators.target_iterator`

Using multiple `prism.decorators.target` calls can be tedious if you need to save a dozen or more targets at a time. That's where `prism.decorators.target_iterator` comes in.

Here's how to use it. Let's say you have data from different clients stored in different CSVs and you want to apply the same processing to all of them. 

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Class-based tasks" %}

```python
# tasks/process_client_data.py

import prism.task
import prism.target
import prism.decorators
import prism_project
import pandas as pd

class ProcessClientData(prism.task.PrismTask):
    
    @prism.decorators.target_iterator(
        type=prism.target.PandasCsv, loc="/Users/"
    )
    def run(self, tasks, hooks):
        results_dict = {}
        clients = ['clientA', 'clientB', 'clientC', 'clientD']
        for cl in clients:
            df = pd.read_csv(f'{cl}.csv')
            df_processed = ... # do some processing here
            results_dict[f'{cl}_processed.csv'] = df_processed
        return results_dict
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Function-based tasks" %}

```python
# tasks/process_client_data.py

from prism.decorators import task, target_iterator
import prism.target

@task(
    targets=[
        target_iterator(type=prism.target.PandasCsv, loc="/Users/")
    ]
)
def process_client_data(tasks, hooks):
    results_dict = {}
    clients = ['clientA', 'clientB', 'clientC', 'clientD']
    for cl in clients:
        df = pd.read_csv(f'{cl}.csv')
        df_processed = ... # do some processing here
        results_dict[f'{cl}_processed.csv'] = df_processed
    return results_dict
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

{% hint style="info" %}
**Important:** this decorator requires the output of the task function to be a dictionary mapping the name of the file to the object you want to save.
{% endhint %}

Here's what's happening under the hood:

1. We iterate through the different clients, process their data, and store the processed data in a dictionary (`results_dict`). This dictionary uses the desired target file name as keys and the objects as values.
2. The task function returns the `results_dict`. Prism then iterates through the key, value pairs in the dictionary and saves each value (i.e., each object) to the path `{loc}/{key}`. 

In other words, the task above will save four targets:

* `/Users/clientA_processed.csv`
* `/Users/clientB_processed.csv`
* `/Users/clientC_processed.csv`
* `/Users/clientD_processed.csv`

Now, `tasks.ref("process_client_data.py")` will return the base `loc` path in which all the targets were saved (i.e., `"/Users/"`):

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Class-based tasks" %}

```python
# tasks/second_task.py

import prism.task
import prism.target
import prism.decorators

class SecondTask(prism.task.PrismTask):

    def run(self, tasks, hooks):
        tasks.ref("process_client_data")  # returns "/Users/"
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Function-based tasks" %}

```python
# tasks/second_task.py

from prism.decorators import task

@task()
def second_task(tasks, hooks):
    tasks.ref("process_client_data")  # returns "/Users/"
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Important**: unlike for individual `@target` calls, the `@target_iterator` still returns the path to which the targets are saved.
{% endhint %}

Check out the [API reference](https://docs.runprism.com/v0.2.6/api-reference/target_iterator-...) documentation for more information.