Adding Flows
Maybe the most important section in the portal, it allows the user to create new flows using all available triggers and actions.
To create a flow, simply click the "New flow" button in the footer toolbar:
We will see a new page divided into two sections:
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The section to the left: Defines the roadmap of the flow. It has five subsections:
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Trigger: Here the user can select and configure the trigger part of the flow.
- Filter: This section is dynamic, it can be defined or not and allows the user to stop a flow depending on the output of the previous step of the action associated with. This way the flow will react to more specific events.
- Condition: Also dynamic, this section can be defined or not and allows the user to conditionally skip the action it is associated with.
- Action: This is were you define how to act when an event is triggered. This section must contain, at least, one action.
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Overview: This is where you can find a summary of the state of the flow at any moment.
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The section on the right side will dynamically change depending on what section is chosen on the left, allowing the user to enter values relevant for the currently chosen area.
Naming your flow
You must give your flow a name in order to save it. Enter a name in the area at the top of the section on the left side after you have started to create a new flow. Consider a good, descriptive name as this will be its identifier inside the portal after you save it.
NOTE. The naming convention for the flows created in Preview and Production environments as shown in the example below must be followed:
[Owner]-[ShortName]-[FlowName]-[FlowType]-[Version]
Description of naming convention
- Owner - U4 (for example, if the flow was created by Unit4)
- ShortName - Short Name of the tenant Id given in the Portal
- FlowName - Short name of the trigger (for example, SE - Scheduler Event, MH - Message Hub Event, WH - Webhook)
- FlowType - Type of the flow (for example - employee, if the flow uses employee object in Public API of ERP)
- Version - Current version of the flow
End example of the flow name
U4-EUN-PLW-PREV-MH-EMPLOYEE-01.001
Triggers
The first step in creating a new flow is to select what type of trigger will be used. Your choice of trigger defines what will kick off your flow.
- First select the type of trigger.
- Set up the trigger by entering the relevant properties. These are dynamic and will differ according to the type of trigger you configure.
This is the screen where you select you trigger.
Notice that system administrators can add more triggers than the ones shown here.
In the second step, the required configuration for a given trigger can be defined.
You can go back and change the trigger type after having entered the configuration section, simply by clicking "Change trigger" in the upper right corner.
When all the required information is provided, the "Trigger" step will be marked with a green check-mark in the section on the left.
Actions
The action section is divided in two steps - just like the Trigger section:
- Action selection.
- Selected action definition.
The user can navigate across these two sections at any moment if he/she decides to change the action to use.
The action configuration section will show all the required fields needed to set up the action.
If the user needs to use some data from the input, he/she will just have to add the input name inside double curly braces (e.g. {{Step0:SomeData}}). When the focus is lost from the input, these input data fields will be rendered as chips. If the specified input is well known it will be light blue, otherwise it will be dark blue.
Additionally, suggestion will be added depending of the output of previous steps so the user doesn't need to remember the structure of the input data.
Overview
In this section the user will see a summary of everything he/she has configured during the creation process:
A flow can only be saved if name, trigger and all actions are properly defined.
Rename action name
At any time an action name can be changed. When the user adds a new action, a default name is set. To change it, just need to click on the name, write the custom name and press save flow button to save the changes.
Overview section will show the summary using custom labels.
Exiting flow creation
If the user decides to leave the creation process, he/she just has to click the cancel button and a confirmation dialog will be shown to check if he really wants to leave the process.
Extra data
If the triggers generates extra data for the flow to be run, it will be notified to the user after saving the flow.