Overview

Using lookups in Actionflows allows users to return multiple records as an array and has many applications, which is useful in a number of scenarios. This page covers the following:

Lookup connections

Lookup connections are represented by dotted lines in an actionflow. When called, they pass blocks of data as a single dataset (array) instead of passing each record one-by-one through the connection. Imagine a screen contains containing the following grid:

Actionflows can lookup to this data and retrieve all the records displayed on the grid by mapping to its attributes. This will then return all 3 records as an array in the format:

UID 	[1001, 1002, 1003]
Object	['Table', 'Chair', 'Computer']
Colour	['White', 'Black', 'Silver']

Worked examples

See some worked examples below to see which illustrate how lookups can be used effectively in an actionflow.:

Counting

Selected Records

A user creates the above a grid on a screen: 

Image Modified

The user wants to create a button that counts the number of records that have been selected on the grid and display this in a form field. To do this:

1. Drag and drop a button from the palette onto the button bar
2. Name this Count Records
3. Drag and drop a String Form Field onto the tile
4. Name this RecordCount
   Image RemovedImage Added
   
5. Right-click on the button and select Add actionflow
6. Name the actionflow Count Records

7. Click Connect on the connections pane and select the Event input

   Note
   All actionflows require an input to run. The event input must be connected as this will run the actionflow once. The actionflow is then wired to lookup the number of selected records.

   
   

8. Click Add on the connections pane

   1. Name the connection CountRecords

   2. Select Lookup

   3. Click Create Connection Point

   4. Select the Objects grid

   5. Click Connect Input
9. On the mappings screen that appears drag the UID across to create a mapping.
   1. Make sure the data being used is set to Selected Records.
   2. Click Confirm Mappings Save
10. Create a 

    Insert excerpt
    _actionflow_calculate _actionflow_calculate nopanel true

     Node by dragging and dropping from the toolbar
    1. Name the node Count Records
11. Connect the Event Input to the calculate. This is what causes the actionflow to run.
12. Connect the Grid Lookup to the calculate
    1. Select Add Lookup
    2. Name the connection lu
    3. Drag and drop the UID field to create a mapping to the calculate.
    4. Click Confirm Mappings
13. Click on the Calculate node to open its editor.

    1. Add a calculate attribute:
       Name: Count
       Type: String
       Order: 1
       Expression:

       Code Block
       countElements(lu.UID) + " records"

       
       

    2. Save the attribute

Now we need to return the value back to the screen. To do this:

1. Click Add on the connections pane

   1. Name the connection return

   2. Select Output

   3. Click Create Connection Point

   4. Select the Objects form

   5. Click Connect Output
2. Connect the calculate to the return output of the actionflow
   1. Hover over the calculate node
   2. Select Out
   3. Drop the arrow onto the return output to create the connection.
3. Right-click on the connection between the calculate and return connection point and select Configure mappings
   1. Drag and drop the Count attribute from the calculate node to the return connection point.
4. Right-click on on the connection between the return connection point and the Objects form.
   1. Drag and drop the Count attribute onto the RecordCount string field to create a mapping.

The actionflow is now configured. Select records on the screen and try out the action.

Image RemovedImage Added

Checking for duplicates

A user has an edit form , for the Objects Object's table and wants to prevent duplicates from being added.

Image RemovedImage Added

The preconfigured save action connects the form to the actionflow and maps in the primary key. The primary key is then mapped to a

Image RemovedImage Added

The easiest way to add a check for duplicates is to add a new phase before the current processing phase. To learn more about phases, see Using Actionflow Phases.

To check for duplicates

1. Add a new phase before the current phase
2. Name the phase Duplicate Check
3. Connect the Edit Form as an input into the actionflow
4. Map in the Name and Colour attributes
5. Create a 

   Insert excerpt
   _actionflow_calculate _actionflow_calculate nopanel true

   node by dragging and dropping from the toolbar.
6. Connect the interface to the calculate and map in Name and Colour.
7. Hover over the calculate node and select Add Lookup
8. Name the connection point dup
9. Drop the arrow onto space in the canvas to create the

   Insert excerpt
   _action_view _action_view nopanel true

    node.
   1. Select the Objects table as the primary table
   2. Name the View Objects
10. An output attribute selection popup should appear. Add attributes to the view node by selecting all the attributes and dragging and dropping them onto the Output Attributes section on the View property editor.
    1. Click Next
    2. Incoming Mappings. In this example, Incoming Mappings are required to filter the records in the Object table by the colour and name attributes. Drag and drop the attributes Name and Colour to the Objects view node to create a mapping. This will be used to configure the filter later.
    3. Click Next
    4. Outgoing Mappings. An attribute is required to be used to map back to the calculate node. Drag and drop UID from the view to the calculate node. This will be used in the calculate attribute expression later.
11. Creating a filter. Click on the 

    Insert excerpt
    _action_view _action_view nopanel true

     node to open its editor. Under Data Retrieval Options click 

    Insert excerpt
    _add _add nopanel true

     next to the Default Filter to add a filter. Provide the following information
    1. Name: Filter by Colour and Name
    2. Private: false

    3. Select an option: Colour equals 

       Code Block
       req.Colour

       
       

       Note
       req is used to reference the incoming attributes. Make sure to click the 'abc' button to convert it to an expression.

       
       

    4.  Click the add button to add a new condition

    5. Select an option: Name equals

       Code Block
       req.Name

       
       

12. Click on the 

    Insert excerpt
    _actionflow_calculate _actionflow_calculate nopanel true

     node to open its editor and add a Calculate Attribute with the following settings

    1. Name: DuplicateCheck
       Type: Integer
       Order: 1
       Expression:
       

       Code Block
       do( $count = countElements(dup.UID), if($count > 0, do( error("There is already an Object with the name" + in.Name + "and colour " + in.Colour), stop() ), $count )

       This will display a user error and stop the actionflow immediately if any duplicates are found.
       Todo: check this is the right expression once implemented.

13. Hover over the 

    Insert excerpt
    _actionflow_calculate _actionflow_calculate nopanel true

     and click Out.
    1. Drag the arrow into empty space onto the actionflow and click where the new node should appear.
    2. Select 

       Insert excerpt
       _action_phase _action_phase nopanel true

        and select Processing Phase. This will then run the processing phase if the actionflow hasn't been stopped by the DuplicateCheck attribute.

Checking a value is in a list

To configure an actionflow to check if a value is in the list follow the steps for Checking for Duplicates. Instead of checking for duplicates and stopping the actionflow if a duplicate is found, the logic in the Calculate Attribute expression needs to be reversed. The logic should be something like

do(
	$count = countElements(dup.UID),
	if($count == 0,
		do(
			error("The colour provided is not valid"),
			stop()
	),
	$count
)

The