What is a HTTP Action?
HTTP actions perform HTTP(S) requests to external APIs and return the response.
Creating HTTP Actions
- Click and drag the HTTP icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
- Enter a name for the HTTP action, then select Create Action
- In the HTTP action Properties on the right, populate the following details:
Field | Description | Example Value |
---|---|---|
Name | Name given to the HTTP Node. This will be displayed on the Actionflow canvas. | BankHolidays |
HTTP Method | The HTTP method. A drop-down field containing: GET, POST, GET or POST, HEAD, PUT, DELETE, other. If other is specified a text box will allow the entering of a custom value which is not empty and contains only uppercase letters. | Get |
URL Template | A template that computes the URL of the request. Expects literal values or expressions encapsulated within ${} syntax, for example | https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays.json |
Body Template | Optional. If this is provided then it is used to carry the HTTP request data. If a body is provided then usually Content-Type and Content-Length headers lines specify the nature of the body associated. In PhixFlow if this evaluates to whitespace only then it is not included in the request. The body expects literal values, or expressions encapsulated within ${} syntax, for example | |
Error Expression | Optional. A JEP expression to determine if the response is an error and so sent on the error output. The expression will have access to the input record (in) and the mapped output response (_result). | |
Log Traffic | Toggle on to logs the response of the HTTP request. | |
Maximum HTTP Log Length | Available if Log Traffic is toggled on . Restricts the size of the log traffic. | |
Use Raw URL | Toggle on to send the URL Template value in exactly the format it is provided to the HTTP Node. If toggled off PhixFlow will transpose values to form a valid URL, such as replacing spaces with %20. |
4. Apply and Close all settings
5. Hover over the HTTP action on the canvas to see the output connection points
Output Connection Points
A HTTP action has two outputs. One input request will generate one output record, which will be sent on either the out or error output. A HTTP request will be triggered for each input record and generate one output record.
The response from the server (headers and body) will be treated as the result record..
Output Connection Point | Description |
---|---|
Out | Contains the resulting record of the request. |
Error | Contains the resulting record of the request where it satisfies the error expression specified on the HTTP Node. |
The output records contain the attributes specified by the output connection point, successful records are passed down the out
connection point and records containing an error
are passed down the error connection point. The structure of the records by default are as follows:
body: The content returned by a successful request. For example, JSON content.
- contentType: The type of response provided by the target HTTP request. For example,
application/json; charset=utf-8
. status: the returned status code. For example,
200
.status message: the returns status message. For example,
OK
.
Headers
Headers are typically used to specify information for the request, such as character sets, session tokens or passwords. Headers can make use of the Secret Key Details. Here is a worked example using the Shop Data (available from the Learning Centre) and JSON data from the UK government website (https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays.json). In this example, we are using: 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 Search button on the Shop Shipping screen, and the Shop Shipping Popup screen. GIF/SCREENSHOT OF FINISHED RESULT In this example, we'll create an Actionflow that retrieves bank holiday dates in the UK from the government website in JSON format and map this onto a screen in a grid. On the Shop Shipping screen, add an Actionflow to the button ("GetDates") Add an Actionflow to the button that is triggered by the button click Output Attributes: Map across the JSON attributes to their relevant attributes on the Save action Tidy up your Shop Shipping Popup screen by hiding the UID column on the grid, adding a Default Filter to show only bank holidays in the future, and Default Sort Order to show the most recent bank holidays first.Worked Example
Identify Bank Holiday Dates
Table Setup
UID
String
50
_NULL
Name
String
200
_NULL
Date
Date
Country
String
50
Initial Configuration
HTTP Action Setup
JSON Action Setup
in.body
$..events
_result.^.^.division
toDate(_result.date, "yyyy-MM-dd")
toString(_result.date, "yyyyMMdd") + substring(_result.^.^.division, 1,1)
_result.title
Shop Bank Holidays
Save Action and Open Screen Action Setup
Testing
Background Filter and Default Sort Order