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Overview

Actionflows control the interactions users have with your application and its data.

An actionflow is a diagram in which you create the functionality of your application. An actionflow is made up of individual actions, or nodes, wired together. The actionflow is then wired onto the screen using connectors and attached to an event handler, such as a double-click, on a:

• Component, such as a button or area
• Grid view component and its attributes
• Card component.

Actionflows can affect data, by making changes to data records, such as update or delete. Actionflows can also move the application user through their task, by validating input or opening the next screen.

For example, a simple Contacts application would include an input screen where the user enters details for a new contact. When the user clicks a "save" button, PhixFlow runs the actionflow to:

1. Check the input provided is appropriate.
2. Ask the user to confirm they want to add the contact.
3. Add the new contact record to the table.

This page explains actionflow concepts. For details of how to create an actionflow, and reference information about its properties see: Creating Actionflows.

Actionflow Page Layout

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The illustration shows the layout of an actionflow diagram. The central white area with blue outline represents the reusable part of the actionflow. The outer grey area with pink numbers represent items related to the actionflow instance only. The numbered areas are explained below:

1. Toolbar 
   The toolbar is split into 2 sections: 

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• Action Nodes contains actions that you drag onto the actionflow canvas to create the different nodes, such as a calculate or open screen action. Clicking on Open Screen and View open the Repository pane to display a list of all available screens and tables in the application and associated packages. 
  • Dragging a screen from the Repository onto your actionflow canvas will create an open screen node.
  • Dragging a table from the Repository onto your actionflow canvas will ask you if you would like to create a Save, View or Analysis node.
• Canvas Properties contains options such as Refresh, Align and Save. It will also take you to the actionflow help page.

2. Instance Origin

The origin indicates the event that triggers the actionflow instance. It displays its location in a hierarchy showing:

• the name of the screen.
• the name of the component, such as a button, grid or card component.
• the event type, such as a double-click.

3. Instance Options
These options affect the actionflow instance:

• Show event location will take the user to the screen containing the actionflow instance and highlight where the origin of the action is.
• Close screen after action completes will close the screen that contains the actionflow instance that is running.
• Hide loading spinner will hide the toast that appears in the bottom left corner of the screen.

4. Actionflow Phases
Actionflows can be made up of multiple phases. The first phase will run automatically when the action is triggered. Any additional phases will only run when prompted to by a start phase node. See Using Actionflow Phases.

5. Instance Inputs
The inputs to an actionflow for that instance:

• Event starts the actionflow regardless of data. The actionflow always runs when triggered by the instance origin.
• Data provides data to the actionflow. The data displayed belongs to the same screen or component as the event handler. Data could be any data-bound component on a screen, including:
  • grid views
  • cards
  • forms

6. Input Interface
There are 2 connection points to wire the actionflow instance inputs to the action nodes:

7. Actionflow Canvas
The canvas represents the reusable actionflow. It contains actions, or nodes, that are wired together using connection points. Each action has a specific purpose. It can look-up data, processes data or pass data on unchanged. Data passes from one action to another via:

9. Instance Outputs
For an actionflow instance, connect to the specific data-bound components to which you want to send data when the actionflow has run. The instance outputs are similar to the instance inputs, without events. Data can be output to a data-bound component on a screen, including:

• grid views
• cards
• forms

Actionflow Nodes

In an actionflow diagram, the smallest action that PhixFlow can perform is represented as a circle, called a node. Nodes can be:

• data interactions, such as save, delete, add.
• data calls and calculations that connect to data views to look-up, use or process records.
• screen interactions, for example to open or close screens in the application.
• gateways, which are decision points with logic to determine the path that PhixFlow takes next.

As you add action nodes to the actionflow, you wire and map the output connection point of one node to the input connection point on the next. In this way, you create the logical steps needed to complete a specific piece of functionality. 

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Reusing Actionflows

Actionflows can be reused throughout your application. This means you only need to create one actionflow for functionality that occurs on different screens, such as to update records or to open a screen.

For each instance of an actionflow, you specify the data that the actionflow uses by wiring into connection points. This means you can connect to attributes with any name, and changing the names of these attributes will not affect the actionflow.

Reusability Example

The picture below shows an actionflow that validates the format of data to ensure it is a valid area code. Its input connection is called Area Code.

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The actionflow is reused by two applications, shown on the left. The actionflow is owned by a package that is shared between the applications. Each application has separate data with different fields. The actionflow takes data from:

• Postcode data in the Contact App
• Zip Code in the Asset Manager App. 

This shows that an actionflow can take its input from an attribute with any name. It also illustrates the 2 instances of the actionflow:

• Instance 1 is the actionflow with input from Postcode 
• Instance 2 is the actionflow with input from Zip Code

What's next?

Child pages (Children Display)styleh3

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What's Next?

If you are new to PhixFlow, the PhixFlow Fundamentals course provides a practical guide to using PhixFlow, including setting up Actionflows in your application. 

Already started PhixFlow Fundamentals? Return to Actionflow Fundamentals.

If you'd like more in-depth knowledge of Actionflows, take one of our Actionflow Courses.

Further Reading