Private vs Shared Flows In Form StepsLast Updated: 07/15/2016 Introduced in Verision: 3.0 |
This tutorial demonstrates how to use Private and Shared Flow modes in Form steps. This Flow modes are used in the Flow Designer in Form steps. If the Form is Assigned it is possible to perform some additional actions when Form is being assigned.
Example:
In this example we are going to create a Flow that will notify Admin user. We will trigger this Flow from our Main Flow with the Form Assignment. Moreover, we will show in this example the difference between Private and Shared Flow modes in the Form steps.
First, we are going to create our Notification Flow that will be triggered from the Main Flow. In the Designer Folder we click Create Flow on the Folder Actions Panel.
In the resulting window we Name our Flow and click Create to proceed to the Flow Designer.
First, in the Flow Designer we select Start Step on the workspace and Step Information Layer pops-up. In the Flow Input Data box we click Add New link to add input parameter to the Flow.
We define input data as following… Then, click Ok.
We add four inputs to this Flow: URL, Assignment ID, Step Tracking ID, and Flow Tracking ID.
Next, we add Send Notification step from the All Steps [Catalog] > Communication category. Then, we connect the outcome from this step to the End Step in our Flow.
Then, we select Send Notification step on the workspace. In the Step Information Layer we locate NotifyUser box and using Add New link we add Admin user.
Next, we define Constant Subject for the Notification and Text Merge.Plain Mapping type for Message field and click Show Editor.
In the Text Merge Editor we use our Flow Inputs for informational purposes. Click Ok to save and close Text Editor.
This completes our Flow. We can save and close Flow Designer.
Now, we can create our Main Flow.
In the Designer Folder we click Create Flow on the Folder Actions Panel.
Then, we Name the Flow and click Create to proceed to the Flow Designer.
In the Flow Designer we add Show Form step from Favorite Steps category.
In the resulting window we Name our Form and click Create.
Our Form for this example has only one Button component. When finished designing the Form we can save and close Form Designer.
Back in the Flow Designer we connect the outcome from Show Form step to the End Step in our Flow.
Then, we change the Assignment Type for the Form step from InSession to Assigned.
Next, we click [edit] Assignment.
In the Assignment window we locate Assign to Users box, click Add New, and pick an Assignee. Click Done when finished.
Then, in Form Step configurations we locate Start section and Show Flow to Run dropdown. Here we are able to choose Private or Shared mode for the Flow to Run.
We pick Shared Flow mode. Mention, that we have some additional Parameters available now (URL, Assignment ID, Step Tracking ID, Flow Tracking ID). This is Data that we can send to the Shared Flow. We use Flow picker to select a Flow to Run.
Then, we pick our Notification Flow that we created previously in this tutorial and click Ok.
Mention, that as soon as we pick our Flow, validation error pops up for the URL parameter. This is because none of the required inputs matches default URL Parameter Name (Form_AssignmentURL).
From the dropdown list we should be able to select our URL required input parameter into our Notification Flow.
In the similar manner we set other parameters…
This completes our Flow. We can save it and close Flow Designer. In the Designer Folder we locate a thumbnail for our Main Flow and Run it from the thumbnail’s Action menu.
Two Notifications pop-up. One that tells us about Form Assignment. Another is our custom, from the Notification Flow. It contains Data that was passed from the Main Flow. This is how Shared Flow mode works in Form Steps.
Then, we are going to Edit our Flow to switch Run Flow mode to Private.
In the Flow Designer we select our Form step on the workspace, locate Show Flow To Run dropdown menu and pick Private. Mention, that we are not able to pass parameters like URL, Assignment ID, Step Tracking ID, and Flow Tracking ID… This is how Private mode differs from Shared Flow.
Then, we can use Flow Picker to select the same Flow that we selected for Shared Flow mode. Save and close Flow Designer.
Back in the Designer Folder we locate thumbnail for our Flow and Run it.
Note, that we still have two Notifications popped up. Mention, that this time our custom Notification has Null values of URL, Assignment ID, Step Tracking ID, and Flow Tracking ID. This is because we used Private mode.
