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What
is an Actionflow?An Actionis a JSON Action?
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Creating JSON Actions
- Click and drag the
icon from the toolbar onto the canvasInsert excerpt _action_json _action_json nopanel true - Enter a name for the JSON action, then select Create Action
- In the JSON action
on the right, populate the following details:Insert excerpt _property_settings _property_settings nopanel true
| Field | Description | Example Value | ||||||||
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| Name | Name given to the JSON Node. This will be displayed on the Actionflow canvas. | MyJSONReader | ||||||||
| Input Expression | The input expression provides the JSON data to be operated upon. Typically, this will be a simple expression pointing at an incoming attribute, such as, the body from a HTTP Node. | // Consists of the name of the connector and mapped attribute
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| Use Strict JSON parsing | Defines the parsing of the JSON. Disabled is lenient and enabled is strict. Lenient parsing relaxes validation allowing the following to be present in the JSON data:
| // Leaving the default option
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| Path | The JSON Path expression is evaluated against the data provided by the Input Expression and returns a list of JSON elements. It determines which elements are extracted from the JSON. The path starts at the root element represented by $ and each element in the path is separated by a full stop. The ^ traverses up a node and a . traverses down the node. Note that the path determines the number of nodes that are processed, which directly correlates to the number of records returned by the JSON action. For example, if the path returns the route element of the JSON, only one record will be returned. Whereas a path that returns children nodes will return one record for each child element. | // JSON Path $.main_page.title |
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Use literal values or expressions encapsulated within ${} syntax, for example |
4.
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Path Syntax
| Expression | Description |
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| symbol refers to the root element. |
@ | symbol refers to the current element. |
. | is the dot-child operator, which is used to denote a child element of the current element. |
[ ] | is used to select a child element of the current element (by name or index number). |
* | a wildcard, returning all elements regardless of their name. |
| ^ | symbol is used to traverse up 1 element in the JSON hierarchy from child to parent. |
Output Attributes
JSON is converted into data objects that can be used by PhixFlow, this information is accessed using the syntax, _result.AttributeName.
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Worked Example
Here is a worked example using the Shop Data (available from the Learning Centre).
In this example, we are using:
- A Shop Staff screen containing a grid of the Shop Staff data and a blank tile - this screen was created using the Multi-Tile template
| Tip |
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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 blank tile on the Shop Staff screen. |
GIF/SCREENSHOT OF FINISHED RESULT
Calculate Working Days
In this example, we'll use the bank holiday data created in 2.05 HTTP Action Configuration to calculate the remaining working days in the current month and map this onto a screen.
Table Setup
- Create a new
on yourInsert excerpt _tables _tables nopanel true
to save the working days data to, and ensure it contains the following attributes:Insert excerpt _erd _erd nopanel true - Name:
UID
- Name:
Actionflow Setup
- On the Shop Staff screen, find the Working Days tile
the screen to expand the tileInsert excerpt _lock _lock nopanel true
the screen and click on the chevron (True/False Field) to open its PropertiesInsert excerpt _unlock _unlock nopanel true Create a new Actionflow on an Event Handler that will run when the chevron state is changed
Expand title How? - Connect the Shop Staff form as the Input and
Extract Actions From Actionflow
We will reuse the Actions created to retrieve the bank holiday dates.
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If you have not completed the worked example in 2.05 HTTP Action Configuration, follow the steps to create the actions required for this chapter, excluding the Open Screen action. |
- Open the Actionflow that retrieves bank holidays from the government website, created in 2.05 HTTP Action Configuration
- Hold down Ctrl and click on the
action, theInsert excerpt _action_http _action_http nopanel true
action and theInsert excerpt _action_json _action_json nopanel true
actionInsert excerpt _action_save _action_save nopanel true - Right-click and choose
Insert excerpt _extract_actionflow _extract_actionflow nopanel true - Name:
Get Gov Bank Holidays
- Name:
Working Days Actionflow
- Click back into the Calculate Working Days
Insert excerpt _actionflow _actionflow nopanel true - From the toolbar, click on
to open the list of Actionflows in the repositoryInsert excerpt _actionflow _actionflow nopanel true - Drag Get Gov Bank Holidays onto the canvas to create an embedded
nodeInsert excerpt _actionflow _actionflow nopanel true - Connect the input to the embedded Actionflow node
- Add a
action to the canvas and connect it to the the embedded Actionflow nodeInsert excerpt _action_calculate _action_calculate nopanel true