Intermediate Actionflows - Training Exercise
- Zoe Baldwin
Training Exercise
You have now learnt how to create and configure Actionflows that require sophisticated processing logic in PhixFlow. To reinforce the techniques you have learnt, complete these assignments.
Don't worry, this is not an exam. You can use the Help to broaden your understanding and assimilate knowledge. A number of hints have been provided; use these if you are struggling as each hint gives you more information on the solution.
A training instance is required to complete these assignments. Use the application: Actionflow Intermediate Application.
.Remember to close and reopen your screen if you do not see the changes you expect.
Assignment 1
Difficulty Level: .png?version=1&modificationDate=1714486107045&cacheVersion=1&api=v2&width=30&height=30 "Hot"){kind=small}
Task 1
On the Government Organisations screen, create an Actionflow on the Run API button that retrieves the JSON data from this API: https://www.gov.uk/api/organisations, and record the results to the Output Attributes, as defined in the table below.
Ensure you open the above link to view the JSON. We recommend viewing the data in Google Chrome, using the 'Pretty print' option, or in Notepad++, using the JSONTools plugin, or in Visual Studio Code using the extension 'Prettier'.
Save the data to the table, Gov_Organisations.
| Attribute Name | JSON Element |
|---|---|
| Name | title |
| UID | content_id |
| ClassName | organisation_brand_colour_class_name |
| Status | govuk_status |
| URL | web_url |
Remember to use a 
HTTP action to make the request to the external API and return the response.
The table, Gov_Organisations, can be found in the 
Repository of your application if you would like to take a closer look at its setup. This table backs the screen, Government Organisations.
.
Actionflow Setup
HTTP Action Setup
Mappings - HTTP to JSON
JSON Action Setup
Mappings - JSON to Save
Save Action Setup
Task 2
Modify the Actionflow on the Run API button so that where the ClassName attribute receives the result, "ministry-of-justice", set the Justice boolean attribute to Y. Then converge both flows of data back together before completing the Save action.
Requirements
For the purposes of this training exercise, you must:
- Use a
Gateway action - Use a
Converge action - Not add any further Output Attributes to the
JSON action
If you weren't able to find the solution adhering to the requirements, you may have been able to achieve the result using a different method. For example:
- using an if statement on a Calculate action instead of using a Gateway and Converge
- adding a boolean Output Attribute to the JSON action
Actionflow Setup
Mappings - JSON to Gateway
Mappings - Gateway to Calculate
Calculate Action Setup
Mappings - Calculate to Converge
Mappings - Gateway to Converge
Converge Action Setup
Mappings - Converge to Save
Task 3
Modify the Actionflow on the Run API button to initiate a new phase after the Save action. In the new phase send an email to yourself stating that the API has been successfully called. Set the To field on the 
Email action to your own email so you can see it working.
To trigger the next phase, the last action node in the first phase (Save) must be connected to a Start Phase action node.
Assignment 2
Difficulty Level: .png?version=1&modificationDate=1714486104356&cacheVersion=1&api=v2&width=30&height=30 "Medium"){kind=small}
Task 1
Create an Actionflow on the Duplicate Check button on the Government Organisations Form screen that checks for duplicates. This Actionflow should:
- Take the value that the user has entered into the Title field
- Embed the Actionflow, Gov Org Validation to standardise the the Title format
- Look up into the Gov_Organisations data for matches
- Count the number of matches returned
- Output this count back onto the Government Organisations Form
Click 
Actionflow in the toolbar to display the list of Actionflows in the application. Then drag Gov Org Validation onto the canvas.
.
Actionflow Setup
Mappings - Input Connection Point to Input
Mappings - Input to Embedded Actionflow
Mappings - Embedded Actionflow to Calculate Action
Mappings - Incoming to View Action
Mappings - Outgoing from View Action
View Action Setup
Calculate Action Setup
Mappings - Calculate to Output
Mappings - Output to Output Connection Point
.
Assignment 3
Difficulty Level: 
Task 1
Modify the Actionflow on the Save button on the Government Organisations Form by embedding the Actionflow, Gov Org Validation, before the Save action.
.
Actionflow Setup
Mappings - Input Connection Point to Input
Mappings - Input to Embedded Actionflow
Mappings - Embedded Actionflow to Save
Testing
Ensure you test your Actionflows are working, and where relevant, test for both a positive and negative result. For example, on your form, enter a Title you know exists in your data to display a duplicate and a Title you know doesn't exist.
Once you have verified your Actionflows are working, the screens and data can be modified in any way you wish. For example, you may wish to enhance the Email phase of the Actionflow that runs the API to pass in more detail to the Email action, such as, the number of records returned from the API call.
