TThis page provides details of the properties for the phase node. These are part of actionflows.

Overview

Actionflows process data one record at a time. However, sometimes you may want to process all records up to one point, before moving on to the next process. For example, you may first want to check all the data before starting to process the first record. One way to do this is to have separate actionflows, so that all the data is processed by one actionflow, saved to a table and then the table is used at the start of the next actionflow. The other way is to use a  Phase node.

Phase nodes act as an internal break in the actionflow. For example, you can have one phase in which records are read into the actionflow and checked one at a time. Once all records have been validated, the actionflow can then move to the next phase, where records are updated. Phase nodes are particularly useful if there the actionflow requires the user to make a choice as part of the actionflow. 

Example

Validation

A user wants to check some company fields before saving them in an actionflow. The simplest way to do this is to add a new phase before the existing processing phase. The new phase will contain all the logic to check the fields, and only pass on validated fields to the next phase.

To add validation to the fields checking that a company name has been provided and the phone number only contains numbers

1. Right click on the save button and click Display Actionflow
2. In the phase toolbar, click  Add New
3. Select Add phase before
4. Name the phase Validation
5. Add the form as an input into the actionflow
6. Map the fields that need to be validated, CompanyName and Number
7. Drag and drop a Calculate node onto the actionflow canvas
8. Name this Validate Fields
9. Connect the  Driving interface connection point to the calculate node
10. Map CompanyName and Number into the calculate node
11. Create a calculate attribute with the following properties
    1. Name: ValidRecord
    2. Type: TrueFalse

    3. Expression:

       do(
       	//set error message variable to use in the validation
       
       	$errorMessage = [],
       
       	//check the company name is populated
       
       	if(in.CompanyName == _NULL, 
       
       		$errorMessage = addElement($errorMessage, "Please provide a name")
       	),
       
       	if(contains(in.Number, [abc]),
       
       		$errorMessage = addElement($errorMessage, "Phone number should not contain any letter")
       	),
       
       	if(countElements($errorMessage) > 0,
       
       		do(
       			error(listToString($errorMessage, ", ")),
       
       			false
       		),
       
       		true
       	)
       )	
       
       

    4. Click  Save

12. Drag and drop a Start Phase node onto the actionflow canvas
13. Select Processing Phase (the second phase)
14. Hover over the calculate node and select the out connection point
15. Use the arrow and click on the canvas and create a Gateway node
16. Name this Valid Records Only
17. Right click on the connection point between the Calculate and the Gateway and click Configure Mappings
18. Map ValidRecord into the Gateway node
19. Click Confirm Mappings
20. Hover over the gateway node and click Add Output
21. Name this Valid
22. Connect this to the Start Phase node
23. Right click on the connection and select Show Properties

24. Add the expression 

    in.ValidRecord

    This ensures only valid records pass to the next phase.

    

Confirmation

They can be used in combination with  Open Screen nodes which contain Start Phase buttons. These buttons link directly to the outputs on the Open Screen node and can be connected to different phases. For example If the user chooses option 1, phase 1 can run. If the user chooses option 2, phase 2 can run instead. Especially useful if there is a requirement for user confirmation before processing. To add a confirmation phase

1. In the phase toolbar, click  Add New
2. Select Add phase before
3. Name the phase Confirmation
4. Either
   1. Add the form as the input into the actionflow if data is required to be mapped into the confirmation
   2. Add the event as the input into the actionflow if no data is required for the confirmation.
5. Click Screens to open the list of available screens
6. Drag and drop the default confirmation screen onto the actionflow
7. Connect this to the interface input connection point
8. Drag and drop a Start Phase node and select the right phase.
9. Hover over the default confirmation screen and select the correct output
10. Connect this to the Start Phase node.

Sarah todo: add video once working in product

 Properties Tab

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