Overview

Use the input and output connection points on nodes in an actionflow to wire the nodes together.

From the Inputs pane on left, into the actionflow.
From one node to another within the actionflow.
Hover your mouse pointer over a node and click Add Output to add an connector to another node.
From a final actionflow node to the Outputs pane on the right of the actionflow.

Connection points available depend on the purpose of the node.

Output connection points:
- Calculate
- Gate
- View

Nodes without an output connection represent:

either the end of actionflow processing: Save, Open Screen and Open URL nodes
or processing out of the actionflow: Analysis node.

When you wire nodes together, you need to map which attributes pass through to the next node. To change the mapping, click on the connector to open the Mapping window.

Node properties have sections for Input Connection Points and Output Connection Points on the node. Double-click on a listed connection point to open its properties.

The properties available for connection points vary depending on the node on which they occur.

Driving and Lookup Connection Points

If you connect a node via a driving connection, records are returned individually to the connected node and flow one by one through the remainder of the actionflow.
If you connect a node via a lookup connection, the records are returned as an array within one recordset. Nodes wired via lookup connection points require both:
- Data Attributes: add attributes from the view. PhixFlow looks-up data from these attributes.
- Request Attributes: when the actionflow runs, PhixFlow returns the data to these attributes.

The following sections explain the properties for input and output connection points.

Connection Points

Open the

for each connection point (input, lookup, output) by clicking on the node.

Basic Settings

Field	Description	Connection Point Found On

Field

Description

Connection Point Found On

Name

The name of the Actionflow.

Action Phase

The

that the connection point is in. See 2.04 Actionflow Phases

Validation

Field	Description	Connection Point Found On

Field

Description

Connection Point Found On

Minimum Records

The minimum number of records that the Actionflow needs to run. If the received records are not above the minimum set, the Actionflow will not run.

Maximum Records

The maximum number of records that the Actionflow is permitted to run. If the received records exceed the maximum set, the Actionflow will not run.

Input Parameters

Field	Description	Connection Point Found On

Field

Description

Connection Point Found On

Name

The name of the input parameters (attributes) mapped into the Actionflow.

Type

The data type (e.g. integer) of each input parameter (attribute) mapped into the Actionflow.

Default Value

Available in PhixFlow 11.1.1+

A value or expression that is evaluated when no value is mapped to the attribute, or if the value is null or unavailable (e.g. if the user did not have permission to see it).

For referencing attributes, use the notation in.attributeName.

Note: Default value expressions do not use the order they are set in and are automatically resolved in the appropriate order based upon other attributes they reference.

Input Connection Points

See Input Connection Points.

Input Connections

A grid of Input Connections.

The following properties are available for Input Connections for open Screen Action nodes only.

Field	Description

Field	Description
Role	Specify whether the actionflow will provide data to the view or screen being opened. Primary: selected by default. The view or screen opens regardless of data. Component: The actionflow provides data to the view or screen when it opens.
Type	Available when Role is Component. Specify the type of connection: : there can be only one of these. : there can be multiple of these
Open Mode
Attributes	A list of attributes available on the input connection point. These directly link to the fields available on the form. Primary connection points display the screen properties as attributes. Component connection points display attributes available on the associated form.

Data Attributes

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons. The grid contains a list of the attributes that will pass through the wire into this node. All nodes can have a driving input connection, which passes data records one-by-one into the node.

To refer to these attributes in an expression, specify the names of the connection point and attribute with the syntax:

connectionpointname.attributename

Double-click on an attribute in the list to display tje properties related to this node and connection. This can include Name, Type, Component, Primary Key etc.

To create a new attribute: click
and set the Name and Type; see Attribute.
To add an existing attribute to this list, open the list of attributes and drag one onto the grid.
To open its properties, double-click one of the listed attributes.
To remove an attribute, select one and click

Request Attributes

Available for View, Gate and Calculate nodes, which can have Lookup connection points.

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons. The grid contains a list of the attributes that you want to lookup from another table. Lookup connections pass a complete set of records into the node.

To refer to these attributes in an expression, specify:

req.attributename

Double-click on an attribute in the list to display its properties related to this node and connection. This can include Name, Type, Component, Primary Key etc.

To create a new attribute: click
and set the Name and Type; see Attribute.
To change its properties, double-click an attribute in the list; see View Attribute
To delete an attribute, right-click and select
.

Output Connection Points

This section is not available for nodes that do not require output connections because: the node represents the end of actionflow processing: Save, Open Screen, Open URL, and Analysis nodes.

For all other nodes, the output connection point has an expression that specifies the logic to control whether or not records flow to the next action node. The syntax for a driving connection is:

connectionpointname.attributename

The syntax for a lookup connection is:

req.attributename

If the expression evaluates to true for the record flowing through the node, it will pass through the connection point onto the next node in the sequence.

Basic Settings

Field	Description

Field

Description

Name

Enter a name for the output connection point

Order

Enter a number to indicate the order in which this expression will be run.
Remember that an expression that generates a value must run before an expression that uses the value.

The order is very important for exclusive gateway nodes, as the records pass through the first output connection that meets the expression condition.

Expression

Enter an expression that evaluates to true or false to specify whether or not records pass through this connection point. To work in a larger popup window, click

.

Actionflow Wire Properties

Wire properties do not include the name.

Basic Settings

Field	Description

Field	Description
Input	The name of the node at the start of this wire.
Input Connection Point	The name of the connection point.
Output	The name of the node at the end of this wire.
Output Connection Point	The name of the connection point.

To remove a mapping, right-click and select

Delete Mapping

Input Mappings

The left grid contains a list of attributes available from the input.

Output Mappings

The right grid contains a list of attributes available to map to in the output.

Learn More

For links to all pages in this topic, see Understanding Actionflows.

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Learn More

For links to all pages in this topic, see Understanding Actionflows.