Glossary
The following is a list of all key terms within PhixFlow and links to relevant help pages.
Terminology changes in progress
As part of the redesign of PhixFlow, we are changing the following terms:
dashboard → screen
stream → table
stream attributes → attributes
stream item → record
stream set → recordset
stream view → view
stream item action → record-action
stream action → table-action
driver class → database driver
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
action, actionflow, table-action | Adds functionality to a screen. Actionflows (9.0 and later) or table-actions and record-actions (8.3 and earlier) define a set of operations that work on records or open screens. |
aggregate attribute | For an analysis model, where you need to combine data, use an aggregate attribute that reads data from a pipe. |
analysis model | A model that logically represents a business process / control flow using objects that represent data (tables) and processes. You can run the model to process the data. |
array | An object that contains an ordered list of other objects. |
attribute function | PhixFlow provides an extensive list of Attribute Functions which may be used within all expression strings. |
audit summary audit detail | PhixFlow records information about changes to data. You can see summary or more details. A summary of all audited action performed on PhixFlow objects. Can be viewed in the System Console. |
candidate set | Candidate sets are a fundamental concept of function calculation in PhixFlow. Every time a function calculation is carried out, all the required input data is brought together and organised into sets of data - one set for each Key group. The Key groups are worked out using the Pipe Grouping Attributes defined on input Pipe for each table. |
PhixFlow database | The database that stores the PhixFlow schema and all processed data. |
chart | A Chart displays data in table form, or in one of a number of graphs styles. |
comparator | Refers to the comparator types that can be used in a filter, e.g. greater than, starts with. |
collector | A modelling object that loads data. This can be a file, data from a database, or data from a external site. |
popup menu | In many places on the PhixFlow interface you can:
to display a popup menu with more options. |
CSV file | A CSV (comma-separated variable) file is a plain text file where each line in the file consists of a number of fields separated by commas ','. If fields may contain spaces, commas or double quotes, they should be enclosed in double quotes '"'. A double quote may be represented by 2 double quotes. A CSV file is always encoded using a specific character set. On Windows this is typically Cp1282, and on Unix/Linux US7ASCII, though the following are sometimes used: UTF-8, UTF-16, ISO-8859-1. A CSV file typically has an extension '.csv'. A CSV file can be created directly in a plain text editor (e.g. Wordpad/Notepad), in Excel (by saving as a CSV), or by some other application. |
cycle | Whenever an analysis model is run it will carry out a number of tasks e.g. read a number of files, generate a number of recordsets, export a number of files. It is possible to configure an analysis model so that in a single analysis session it will actually run several times. When a model is configured in this way, each time it runs is termed a 'cycle' and all of the items processed or generated during that cycle (i.e. the files processed, recordsets created, files exported etc) are flagged with the cycle number. This cycle number is visible in the Log File for that analysis run on each of the relevant tabs showing files and recordsets processed. The most common reason for configuring a model in this way is to allow a number of files to be processed in a single analysis session but to have the results from each file saved in a separate recordset. In this way, whenever a file fails to process the user can simply rollback the recordsets associated with that file rather than rolling back all of the recordsets associated with all of the files for the whole analysis session. To achieve this, a model is configured with a push pipe from the final table in the model pointing back to itself. This push pipe is then given positive offsets. The file collector at the start of the model is then configured to process a single file at a time. When this model is run the file collector will read in one file, process it to create a recordsets (or a chain of recordsets if there are several tables in the model) and will flag the file processed, the recordsets generated and any associated output files with the cycle number 1. When the last table in the model has finished producing its recordset it will send a notification to itself down the push pipe. This notification (because of the positive offsets) will be taken as a signal to create another recordsets which will effectively cause the whole model to run again. This second run of the model will be deemed to be cycle 2 and all files processed, recordsets produced or files output will be flagged with this cycle number. When later viewing the log files the user can see which items were processed in which cycle and can choose how many cycles to roll back. In the case where the last file processed was unsuccessful the user can therefore choose to only roll back the last cycle. |
screen | A screen allows the user to gather into a single view a set of charts. This grouping of related reports and statistics provides the user with preconfigured overviews of selected areas, making all the data that is required to view and monitor the health of the system both accessible and easy to read. |
data grid | A Data Grid is a particular type of view which displays the data in a table format. |
database collector | Used to gather information from a external database, defined as a datasource. It holds the SQL that will be sent to the datasource to retrieve data. |
database driver | The driver used to access the source database. |
database exporter | Used to write information from PhixFlow to external databases. |
datasource | Defines a connection to an external database. |
datasource instance | Allows for multiple connections for individual database instances to be configured for a specific datasource. |
directed pipe | A Directed Pipe is used as a secondary input to a Merge Table. Primary Pipes to a Merge are implemented by reading all input records from all Primary Pipes in a single operation, ordered by the Group-By fields. The primary pipes determine the key values of the Candidate Sets that will be generated. A Directed pipe is implemented after the Primary Pipes have run, by reading records matching each Candidate Set grouping key in turn. This can result in a significant performance improvement in certain circumstances. A Pipe can be marked as a Directed Pipe on the Pipe Details / Advanced tab. |
expression | An expression returns a value, usually by manipulating or transforming input data, although some expressions can be very simple: e.g. the expression "hello" always returns the string "hello" and requires no input. |
file collector file exporter | Modelling objects that you use to import or export files. |
filter | Filters are made up of a set of clauses; each clause in turn contains a number of conditions. These conditions must be satisfied for data to be passed through a pipe or returned in a filtered list. |
form bar | If you move your mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen the PhixFlow Form Bar will appear. Contains links to all open forms (both open and minimised). |
FTP site | A file system that is reachable via the FTP protocol. |
group by attribute | Groups the pipe data into candidate set, forms key for candidate set. However if data is coming from database or file collector, order by fields need to be specified in the collector SQL. |
HTTP | Hypertext transfer protocol - the language of the internet. In the context of PhixFlow, it means using standard internet communication as means of importing and exporting data. |
HTTP collector HTTP datasource HTTP datasource instance HTTP exporter | Modelling objects available for importing or exporting data from s web site, web service or some other target that allows XML, HTML or JSON communication. Configure import using a datasource/datasource instance to a collector. Configure export using an exporter and a datasource. |
internal variables | Pre-defined variables for use in PhixFlow Expressions. |
language | The display language of the user. |
log file | A record of a task or action completed in PhixFlow, including any messages output and details about recordsets created. |
log message | Within each log list, log messages are output by the Analysis Engine as it performs analysis. |
macro | A macro is a user-defined function that can be called from other expressions A macro can be called with parameters. These parameters are available within the body of the macro as $arg. |
model element | The individual objects that make up an analysis model, e.g. tables, file collectors etc. These elements are added via drag and drop controls and context menus. |
paging | Where a list is displaying more data than can be viewed in the display grid, paging allows the user to scroll through the whole list, e.g. log messages, recordset data. |
period | A period is set on a Table. This can be either a regular period, or variable. There are four possible settings:
|
pipe | A pipe is a connector that links two elements in a PhixFlow model. |
privilege | Privileges are used to define what actions can be performed in PhixFlow; see Privileges. |
| repository | The PhixFlow repository lists the files, modelling objects and application components to which you have access; see Using the Repository |
recordset | A record set is a list of records returned, usually by a pipe, where each record consists of named attributes, each with a value. |
refresh action | Represents an action that once completed will cause the enclosing view to be refreshed. |
role | Roles represent the type of access required to do specific tasks (e.g. Designer, Operator etc). Roles are assigned to User Groups (or vice versa); see Roles. |
rollback | Deletes a specified set of recordset from a table and updates the tidemarks for that table. |
sequence | A Sequence is used to generate a numeric sequence of values. The Sequence lets you define the properties of the sequence e.g. the starting value. The nextValue function returns the next value in the sequence each time it is called. The curValue function returns the most recent value returned by nextValue. |
SQL | SQL query used to retrieve data from, or SQL or PL/SQL statement used to update data in, a datasource. |
table | Represent a structured store of data within PhixFlow receiving data from one or more components, processing it then storing it. Tables have different types, that PhixFlow processes differently. The types are: aggregate, calculate, calculate by set, cartesian or merge. There is an equivalent table in the PhixFlow database schema.
|
table-action attribute | Each table-action attribute defines the new value to be assigned to a single field of a record. The new value is defined as an expression, which can refer to the original values of the record When a table-action is applied, each attribute's expression is evaluated in turn and the result is saved back to the record. |
attribute | Define the type, precision and expressions of how each individual attribute is calculated based on the inputs to the table. |
record | Like an Excel spreadsheet, a PhixFlow table has attributes that represent columns and records that represent rows. |
view | Used to customise the display of data in one or more recordsets.
|
view attribute | Attribute used in a view. Each attribute has a role that defines how the data will be displayed. |
recordset | A set of data items for a given period. |
system configuration | Where all general system wide properties are configured in PhixFlow. |
task system task task plan rollback task | Use a task plan to automate running an analysis model, actions or housekeeping tasks. You can also back-out data updates using a rollback task. You can configure how long to keep data or log messages. |
user | Users represent the individuals working in the organisation that will be logging onto PhixFlow and performing tasks. Users are assigned to User Groups. |
user group | Users belong to User Groups that represent the area of the business they work in (e.g. Customer Service, Finance, Billing Support etc.) User Groups are assigned to Roles (or vice versa). |
user notification rule | Specifies the PhixFlow user that will be notified of the completion of a task plan based on a set of rules. |
XML namespace | When parsing an XML response, the XPath on an HTTP collector determines the node in the XML response that will cause an output record to be generated. In general, XML node names are relative to namespaces, and are referred to by namespace aliases. An XPath can use any XML Namespace alias defined by the HTTP datasource linked to the HTTP collector. |
XPath | An XPath expression on an HTTP collector determines the node in the XML response that will cause an output record to be generated. An XPath is a '/'-separated list of node names. If any of the node names in the XPath use non-default namespaces, these may be defined in XML namespace. |