Using Actionflow Nodes


This page is for application designers who want to define a process using an actionflow diagram. It introduces the action nodes that make up an actionflow.

Overview

An actionflow diagram is made up of a series of nodes. Each node represents a specific action. By configuring different actions and wiring them together you can create complex functionality.

For information about connecting actionflow nodes together, see Wiring Actionflows.

Adding Action Nodes

The toolbar displays the available action nodes that can be dragged onto the actionflow canvas.

Actions can be added to actionflows in 2 ways:

  1. Dragging actions directly from the toolbar




  2. Dragging the following items from the repository using
    •  List Screens
      Will create an  Open Screen node.

    •  List Tables
      Will ask the user if they would like to create a  Save Records node or   View node.


The action nodes have connections, which are blue when connected and grey when not connected, see Wiring Actionflows. Action nodes have

  • Input connections, where data is passed into the node
  • Output connections, which pass data to the next node.

Usually, connections are  Driving connection. These pass data through to the next action node. Some action nodes can have   Lookup connection, which act like a lookup. These send out a request for data, which is returned to the action node data. The table below shows the types of connection available on an action node.

Nodes must be connected sequentially starting from the  Driving interface connection point. Records will then pass through each node and be manipulated accordingly.

Types of Action Node

The following table summarises the purpose of each type of action node, with a link to the reference page for the node.

IconDescriptionAvailable Connections         

 Open Screen
see Open Screen Node

Add an action to open a specified screen.

If the specified screen contains a start phase button the node can then be connected to a start phase node. The buttons can be mapped to each output of the node to trigger different pathways depending on what the user clicks. For example, this method is used if the process requires a confirmation by the user. A confirmation screen can appear with a message 'Are you sure?' with two options

  • Yes - the actionflow continues to the yes output.
  • No - the actionflow stops

 Driving connection

  View
see View Node
Add a node for a data view. The actionflow uses views for additional data to use when processing records.

 Driving connection

 Lookup connection

 Calculate
see Calculate Node

Add an action to manipulate the data that is passed to the calculate action. In the calculate action, write an expression using one or more of the 115+ functions available in PhixFlow.

 Driving connection

 Gateway
see Gateway Node

Add a node to specify decision logic. Gateways control the route that records take as they flow through the actionflow.

 Driving connection

 Lookup connection

 Save Records
see Save Node

Add a node to saves the specified records to their table.

 Driving connection

 Open URL
see Open URL Node
Add an action to open a specified URL.

 Driving connection

 Run Analysis
see Analysis Node

Add tables to run analysis.

 Driving connection

 Start Phase

see Phase Node

Starts the phase specified by the user on the node. Driving connection

 HTTP Action

See HTTP Action

Performs a HTTP request. Driving connection


The calculate and analysis nodes and their connection points, can have an attribute type of Structured Data. Use this if you need the actionflow to pass a list (an array of values), such as a list of identifiers.