Connection Points 

Connection points can be inbound or outbound. (should we use the terms inbound and outbound? Should we use input and output instead? Are these used within phixflow? If not, remove them and replace with terms used within phixflow rather than introduce another term)

• Inbound connection points receive data coming into the Actionflow
• Outbound connection points return data out of the Actionflow

Inbound Connection Points

Inbound connection points can either be ‘driving’ or ‘lookup’. Every Actionflow must have only one driving input, which causes the Actionflow to run. 

• Driving
• Lookup

Inputs, such as grid data, mouse clicks and scheduled tasks are mapped onto Connection Points. The input/data available to be mapped onto the Connection Points of an Actionflow depends on where the instance of the Actionflow is being called from. For example, if a screen has a grid of data and a card container, an Actionflow on a button which exists on this screen will have access to both sources of data. 

To select the source of data, click the input box under Connections. Click the GIF below to enlarge it:

Action Nodes

Action nodes are represented as a circle with an icon and are the building blocks of Actionflows. They perform specific tasks, e.g. updating data, performing calculations, and API integrations, and are wired together.

Action nodes can be dragged from the toolbar onto the canvas to create a new action, and some can be clicked to see existing objects, e.g. click  Open Screen to list existing screens, then drag from the Repository onto the canvas.

Most nodes run once per record they receive on their driving connection point. However, some nodes only trigger once after receiving the final record or once per flow, e.g.  Open Screen,  Start Phase and  Open URL nodes.

Node Connections and Mappings

Connections link nodes together, and facilitate the mapping of data from the Output Attributes of one node to the Input Parameters of another. All previous node output attributes or inputs to the Connection Point are available for mapping and only attributes mapped into the input parameters of a node can be used by it.

In this way, we create the logical steps needed to complete a specific piece of functionality.

When two nodes are connected the mappings open, this mapping dialogue can also be opened by clicking on the line between two nodes. 

ex

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 connections 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.

Specific to nodes:

• Input Parameters: These are needed if you want to use an attribute in a node.
• Output Attributes: These return the values and make them available to the rest of the actionflow

Inbound

• No Data = On Click/On Enter
• Data = Datasource

Outbound

Mapping data between nodes on an action flow

• Pass-through and Join nodes (only attributes common to all paths leading to the Join can be passed through)

In an actionflow, individual actions have connection points to receive data from the previous action. This page explains the type of connection point, and their properties.

Overview

Everything in an actionflow is connected using connection points. They are blue when connected and grey when not connected. There are two types of connections:

•  Driving connection and
•  Lookup connection

For information about the concepts related to wiring actionflows together using connection points, see Wiring Actionflows. 

For most action nodes, data flow is configured when you map attributes to the input connection points. For gateway nodes, you can also control the data flow by mapping to output connection points. This is because the expressions in a gateway provide the logic for which path the data flows, and different paths may require different data to pass through the gateway.

Connection Point Types

Icon	Connection Point	Relevant to	Description
	Interface Driving Connection Point	Input Interface Output Interface	Defines the data attributes the actionflow is expecting as an input. This data is then used in the Actionflow using Driving connections and remains constant. Defines the data attributes the actionflow is expected to output. This data can then be mapped back onto components on the screen the action is being used. Each instance of the actionflow will map in its own set of data onto the expected data inputs/outputs of the connection point.
	Interface Lookup Connection Point	Input Interface Output Interface	Defines the data (and events) the actionflow is expecting as a requested input. This data is then used in the actionflow usingLookup connections and remains constant. Each instance of the actionflow will map in its own set of data onto the expected data inputs.
	Driving Output Connection Point	Input Data Components Calculate View Gateway Actionflow	A data source whichdrivesthe actionflow. Data is pushed through the actionflow using  Driving connections. Data flows from theDriving output connection point to theDriving input connection point. Has attributes which can be mapped to any Driving input connection point only.
	Driving Input Connection Point	Output Data Components Calculate View Gateway  Save Records  Open Screen Open URL  Run Analysis  Phase	A data receiver. Data is received from  Driving connections. Has attributes which can be mapped to anyDriving output connection point only.
	Lookup Output Connection Point	Input Data Components View	Provides lookup data to the actionflow using Lookup connections. Any node with a Lookup input connection point can perform a lookup to a node with a Lookup output connection point. Haslookup attributesanddata attributes Lookup attributesare used in filtering. They are mapped to lookup attributes on the node performing the lookup. Lookup attributes are referenced in the nodes filter using filter.[attributename] Data is flowing from the Lookup input connection point to the Lookup output connection point. Data attributesare mapped to data attributes on the node performing the lookup. These attributes are the actual data that is being returned from the lookup. Data is flowing from the Lookup output connection point to Lookup input connection point
	Lookup Input Connection Point	Calculate Gateway	Performs a lookup to Lookup output connection points. Haslookup attributesanddata attributes Lookup attributesare used in filtering. They are mapped to lookup attributes on the node being looked up to. Attributes that need to be sent to the node in order to filter the data must be added as lookup attributes. Data is flowing from the Lookup input connection point to the Lookup output connection point. Data attributesare mapped to data attributes on the node being looked up to. These attributes are the actual data that is being received from the lookup. Data is flowing from the Lookup output connection point to Lookup input connection point

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.

Icon	Description	How it runs	Available Connections
Actionflow See Actionflow Node	Embeds an actionflow within the current actionflow.	Once per record	Driving connection
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 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	Once per flow	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.	Once per record	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.	Once per record	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.	Once per record	Driving connection  Lookup connection
Open URL See Open URL Node	Add an action to open a specified URL.	Once per flow	Driving connection
Save Records See Save Node	Add a node to save the specified records to their table.	Once per record	Driving connection
Run Analysis See Analysis Node	Runs analysis on the specified tables.	Once per record	Driving connection
HTTP Node See HTTP Node	Performs an HTTP request.	Once per record	Driving connection
Send Email See Email Node	Sends an Email to specified recipients.	Once per record	Driving connection
JSON Node See JSON Node	Handles JSON data and returns record objects as defined by the configuration.	Once per record	Driving connection
Loop Node See Loop Nodes	Facilitates the ability to loop within an actionflow for tasks such as polling or paging through results.	Once per record	Driving connection
Start Phase See Phase Node	Starts the phase specified by the user on the node. To add a phase node there must be more than one phase in the actionflow.	Once per flow	Driving connection