diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/batch/BatchProcessWorkProvider.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/batch/BatchProcessWorkProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..92f541da72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/batch/BatchProcessWorkProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2010 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+package org.alfresco.repo.batch;
+
+import java.util.Collection;
+
+/**
+ * An interface that provides work loads to the {@link BatchProcessor}.
+ * 
+ * @author Derek Hulley
+ * @since 3.4
+ */
+public interface BatchProcessWorkProvider<T>
+{
+    /**
+     * Get an estimate of the total number of objects that will be provided by this instance.
+     * Instances can provide accurate answers on each call, but only if the answer can be
+     * provided quickly and efficiently; usually it is enough to to cache the result after
+     * providing an initial estimate.
+     * 
+     * @return                  a total work size estimate
+     */
+    int getTotalEstimatedWorkSize();
+    
+    /**
+     * Get the next lot of work for the batch processor.  Implementations should return
+     * the largest number of entries possible; the {@link BatchProcessor} will keep calling
+     * this method until it has enough work for the individual worker threads to process
+     * or until the work load is empty.
+     * 
+     * @return                  the next set of work object to process or an empty collection
+     *                          if there is no more work remaining.
+     */
+    Collection<T> getNextWork();
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/batch/BatchProcessor.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/batch/BatchProcessor.java
index 3d4bf7930e..6f61e31ece 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/batch/BatchProcessor.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/batch/BatchProcessor.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
 import java.util.concurrent.ArrayBlockingQueue;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor;
@@ -65,8 +66,8 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
     /** The retrying transaction helper. */
     private final RetryingTransactionHelper retryingTransactionHelper;
 
-    /** The collection. */
-    private final Collection<T> collection;
+    /** The source of the work being done. */
+    private BatchProcessWorkProvider<T> workProvider;
 
     /** The process name. */
     private final String processName;
@@ -77,9 +78,9 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
     /** The number of worker threads. */
     private final int workerThreads;
 
-    /** The number of entries we process at a time in a transaction *. */
+    /** The number of entries we process at a time in a transaction. */
     private final int batchSize;
-
+    
     /** The current entry id. */
     private String currentEntryId;
     
@@ -104,26 +105,6 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
     /** The end time. */
     private Date endTime;
 
-    /**
-     * Instantiates a new batch processor using a the default logger, which references
-     * this class as the log category.
-     * 
-     * @see #BatchProcessor(String, RetryingTransactionHelper, Collection, int, int, ApplicationEventPublisher, Log, int)
-     */
-    public BatchProcessor(
-            String processName,
-            RetryingTransactionHelper retryingTransactionHelper,
-            Collection<T> collection,
-            int workerThreads, int batchSize)
-    {
-        this(
-                processName,
-                retryingTransactionHelper,
-                collection,
-                workerThreads,
-                batchSize, null, null, 1);
-    }
-
     /**
      * Instantiates a new batch processor.
      * 
@@ -143,11 +124,62 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
      *            the logger to use (may be <tt>null</tt>)
      * @param loggingInterval
      *            the number of entries to process before reporting progress
+     *            
+     * @deprecated Since 3.4, use the {@link BatchProcessWorkProvider} instead of the <tt>Collection</tt>
      */
     public BatchProcessor(
             String processName,
             RetryingTransactionHelper retryingTransactionHelper,
-            Collection<T> collection,
+            final Collection<T> collection,
+            int workerThreads, int batchSize,
+            ApplicationEventPublisher applicationEventPublisher,
+            Log logger,
+            int loggingInterval)
+    {
+        this(
+                    processName,
+                    retryingTransactionHelper,
+                    new BatchProcessWorkProvider<T>()
+                    {
+                        public int getTotalEstimatedWorkSize()
+                        {
+                            return collection.size();
+                        }
+                        public Collection<T> getNextWork()
+                        {
+                            return collection;
+                        }
+                    },
+                    workerThreads, batchSize,
+                    applicationEventPublisher, logger, loggingInterval);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Instantiates a new batch processor.
+     * 
+     * @param processName
+     *            the process name
+     * @param retryingTransactionHelper
+     *            the retrying transaction helper
+     * @param workProvider
+     *            the object providing the work packets
+     * @param workerThreads
+     *            the number of worker threads
+     * @param batchSize
+     *            the number of entries we process at a time in a transaction
+     * @param applicationEventPublisher
+     *            the application event publisher (may be <tt>null</tt>)
+     * @param logger
+     *            the logger to use (may be <tt>null</tt>)
+     * @param loggingInterval
+     *            the number of entries to process before reporting progress
+     *            
+     * @since 3.4 
+     */
+    public BatchProcessor(
+            String processName,
+            RetryingTransactionHelper retryingTransactionHelper,
+            BatchProcessWorkProvider<T> workProvider,
             int workerThreads, int batchSize,
             ApplicationEventPublisher applicationEventPublisher,
             Log logger,
@@ -159,7 +191,7 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
         
         this.processName = processName;
         this.retryingTransactionHelper = retryingTransactionHelper;
-        this.collection = collection;
+        this.workProvider = workProvider;
         this.workerThreads = workerThreads;
         this.batchSize = batchSize;
         if (logger == null)
@@ -179,18 +211,16 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
         }
     }
 
-    /*
-     * (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.alfresco.repo.security.sync.BatchMonitor#getCurrentEntryId()
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public synchronized String getCurrentEntryId()
     {
         return this.currentEntryId;
     }
 
-    /*
-     * (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.alfresco.repo.security.sync.BatchMonitor#getLastError()
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public synchronized String getLastError()
     {
@@ -205,75 +235,67 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
         return buff.toString();
     }
 
-    /*
-     * (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.alfresco.repo.security.sync.BatchMonitor#getLastErrorEntryId()
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public synchronized String getLastErrorEntryId()
     {
         return this.lastErrorEntryId;
     }
 
-    /*
-     * (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.alfresco.repo.security.sync.BatchMonitor#getBatchType()
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public synchronized String getProcessName()
     {
         return this.processName;
     }
 
-    /*
-     * (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.alfresco.repo.security.sync.BatchMonitor#getSuccessfullyProcessedResults()
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public synchronized int getSuccessfullyProcessedEntries()
     {
         return this.successfullyProcessedEntries;
     }
 
-    /*
-     * (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.alfresco.repo.security.sync.BatchMonitor#getPercentComplete()
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public synchronized String getPercentComplete()
     {
-        int totalResults = this.collection.size();
+        int totalResults = this.workProvider.getTotalEstimatedWorkSize();
         int processed = this.successfullyProcessedEntries + this.totalErrors;
         return processed <= totalResults ? NumberFormat.getPercentInstance().format(
                 totalResults == 0 ? 1.0F : (float) processed / totalResults) : "Unknown";
     }
 
-    /*
-     * (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.alfresco.repo.security.sync.BatchMonitor#getTotalErrors()
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public synchronized int getTotalErrors()
     {
         return this.totalErrors;
     }
 
-    /*
-     * (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.alfresco.repo.security.sync.BatchMonitor#getTotalResults()
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public int getTotalResults()
     {
-        return this.collection.size();
+        return this.workProvider.getTotalEstimatedWorkSize();
     }
 
-    /*
-     * (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.alfresco.repo.security.sync.BatchMonitor#getEndTime()
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public synchronized Date getEndTime()
     {
         return this.endTime;
     }
 
-    /*
-     * (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.alfresco.repo.security.sync.BatchMonitor#getStartTime()
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public synchronized Date getStartTime()
     {
@@ -297,7 +319,7 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
     @SuppressWarnings("serial")
     public int process(final BatchProcessWorker<T> worker, final boolean splitTxns)
     {
-        int count = this.collection.size();
+        int count = workProvider.getTotalEstimatedWorkSize();
         synchronized (this)
         {
             this.startTime = new Date();
@@ -340,7 +362,7 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
                 threadFactory) : null;
         try
         {
-            Iterator<T> iterator = this.collection.iterator();
+            Iterator<T> iterator = new WorkProviderIterator<T>(this.workProvider);
             List<T> batch = new ArrayList<T>(this.batchSize);
             while (iterator.hasNext())
             {
@@ -420,7 +442,7 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
         {
             StringBuilder message = new StringBuilder(100).append(getProcessName()).append(": Processed ").append(
                     processed).append(" entries");
-            int totalResults = this.collection.size();
+            int totalResults = this.workProvider.getTotalEstimatedWorkSize();
             if (totalResults >= processed)
             {
                 message.append(" out of ").append(totalResults).append(". ").append(
@@ -501,6 +523,63 @@ public class BatchProcessor<T> implements BatchMonitor
         {
         }
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Small iterator that repeatedly gets the next batch of work from a {@link BatchProcessWorkProvider}
+
+     * @author Derek Hulley
+     */
+    private static class WorkProviderIterator<T> implements Iterator<T>
+    {
+        private BatchProcessWorkProvider<T> workProvider;
+        private Iterator<T> currentIterator;
+        
+        private WorkProviderIterator(BatchProcessWorkProvider<T> workProvider)
+        {
+            this.workProvider = workProvider;
+        }
+        
+        public boolean hasNext()
+        {
+            if (currentIterator == null)
+            {
+                if (workProvider != null)
+                {
+                    Collection<T> nextWork = workProvider.getNextWork();
+                    if (nextWork == null)
+                    {
+                        throw new RuntimeException("BatchProcessWorkProvider returned 'null' work: " + workProvider);
+                    }
+                    currentIterator = nextWork.iterator();
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    // The null workProvider indicates that it was exhausted
+                }
+            }
+            boolean hasNext = (currentIterator == null) ? false : currentIterator.hasNext();
+            if (!hasNext)
+            {
+                workProvider = null;            // No more work to get
+                currentIterator = null;
+            }
+            return hasNext;
+        }
+
+        public T next()
+        {
+            if (!hasNext())
+            {
+                throw new NoSuchElementException();
+            }
+            return currentIterator.next();
+        }
+
+        public void remove()
+        {
+            throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+        }
+    }
 
     /**
      * A callback that invokes a worker on a batch, optionally in a new transaction.