code: def _nest_vars_in_rec(var_items, rec_items, input_order, items_by_key, parallel):
      
      num_items = var_items
      var_items = list(var_items)[0]
      if rec_items:
          rec_items = list(rec_items)[0]
          if ((rec_items == 1 and var_items > 1) or parallel.startswith("batch")):
              num_items = set([rec_items])
              for var_key in (k for (k, t) in input_order.items() if t != "record"):
                  var_key = tuple(var_key.split("__"))
                  items_by_key[var_key] = [items_by_key[var_key]] * rec_items
          else:
              assert var_items == rec_items, (var_items, rec_items)
      return items_by_key, num_items
docs: Nest multiple variable inputs into a single record or list of batch records.
  
      Custom CWL implementations extract and merge these.