This page is for application designers who want to create actionflows to add functionality to an application screen. For actionflow concepts, see Understanding Actionflows.

Input From a Screen

Actionflows can use data displayed on screens. This data can be manipulated within an actionflow and can be saved onto tables. Examples of data sources that can be used are:

• Forms
  The form fields displayed on the screen can be mapped into an actionflow to be manipulated/saved
• Grids
  Selected, edited, dragged, dropped and all displayed (page) records can be mapped into an actionflow.
• Card components
  Selected, edited, dragged, dropped and all displayed (page) records can be mapped into an actionflow.
  

Screens can display multiple data sources. Wire the data source you want to use to the input connection point of the actionflow.

To wire the data to the input connection points:

1. Click Connect.
   
2. PhixFlow lists the input sources available. Select the data you want to use in the actionflow.
   
3. PhixFlow lists the attributes available from the input source in the left panel. Drag attributes that you want to use into the actionflow onto the right panel. This creates attributes on the input connection points.
    
4. Click Confirm Mappings. You have now mapped data from attributes in an input source to attributes in the input interface connection points.
5. Add nodes to the actionflow canvas and wire them together; see Using Actionflow Nodes and Wiring Actionflows. Wire the first node in the actionflow to the connection points on the input interface. Map the attributes in the connection point to attributes in the node.

What If I Don't Need Data?

Sometimes an actionflow does not require any data from the screen from which it is initiated. In this case, use the event as the input for the actionflow. An event is triggered by mouse-clicks (On-Click, Double-Click)  or keyboard presses (On-Enter). Connecting an event to an actionflow means the actionflow runs in response to the event, regardless of any data supplied.

Actionflow Instances

Actionflows are reusable because the inputs to the actionflow are separate from the actionflow itself.

The examples above show how to map either data or an event to connection points on the input interface of the actionflow. You can then easily map a different input source to the attributes on the connection points. In this way you can resuse the actionflow in different contexts with data from many different sources. 

Each time you connect an actionflow to a different input, you are creating a new instance of the actionflow. that is:

• instance 1 = input 1 + actionflow
• instance 2 = input 2 + actionflow

What's next?

• Using Actionflow Nodes
• Wiring Actionflows