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This action is available in PhixFlow version 11.2+.

What is a Wait Action?

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 actions hold any records passed into them until all previous action nodes have finished processing. The Wait action then outputs a count attribute containing the sum of all records it has received but it does not pass through any of the attributes it has received. 

Action Setup

  • Input Connection Points: A single input connection point containing no mappings and no ability to create mappings

  • Output Attributes: A pre-configured count output attribute which automatically calculates the sum of all records it has received, once all previous action nodes have completed their processing
    • Always generate a single output record regardless of the number of input records (including 0)
  • Output Connection Points: can have any number of output connection point(s) which can be used to pass the count attribute to other action(s)
Loop
    • does not pass through any of the attributes it has received.

Considerations

When a

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 action is used inside of a 
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, it generates a single output record for each iteration of the loop regardless of the number of input records (including 0)once all action nodes in the iteration have completed their processing. This is regardless of the number of input records (including 0).

For more on Loops, see 3.08 Loop Action Configuration.

Creating Wait Actions

  1. Click and drag the 
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     icon in the toolbar onto the canvas
  2. Enter a name for the Wait action, then select Create Action
  3. Connect the 
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     node or other action node to the 
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     action's input connection point 
    The Mappings window will open but no attributes can be mapped into the Wait action
  4. Connect the 
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     node or other action node to the 
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     action's output connection point 
    1. The Mappings window will open where the count attribute can be mapped out

Example Uses

The 

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 action is useful in a number of use cases.

  • Where multiple records require complex processing and only once this has finished, a separate single process is required 
  • Handling special case logic for when paths where connectors receive no records - eg , e.g. 

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    actions, 
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    actions or 
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     actions returning no response records, or no records in a driving grid

  • With parallel paths+funnel - outputting a final trigger record after all the others have been processed (e.g. connectors and a 

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     action - where you need to output a final record after all other actions have completed, such as, to trigger the end of the a transaction, or to write out a final end record.  

For 

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 action 
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, see Wait Node Properties.

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Worked Example

Here is a worked example using the Retail Data (available from the Learning Centre).

Tip

If you are completing this chapter as part of the Actionflow course and using a training instance, the data and screens have already been pre-loaded into the Actionflow Intermediate Application. For these example, we'll be working on the Shop Stock screen

Weekly Timesheet Reminder Email

In this example, we'll set up an Actionflow that retrieves the email address for specific staff members and sends them an email to remind them to fill in their timesheets. We'll then add this Actionflow to a Task Plan and specify the frequency (weekly) and day (Friday) that we want the email to be sent on.

Create Actionflow

  1. On the Actionflow homepage, create a new Actionflow
    1. Name: Timesheet Email