Last Updated: 08/11/2016Introduced in Verision: 2.0
Flows can store and manage data inside of any storage scheme. As a convenience, the platform also offers internal tools for representing and managing persistent flow data within the portal. In the Flow Designer, components listed under the category Flow Management > Data can be used to create folders, store process data and states, save files and more.
The Setup Process Folder component creates a portal-embedded folder, into which process data, states, and files can be stored. Add it to a flow in the Flow Designer. In the Toolbox panel, expand the category Flow Management > Data and drag a Setup Process Folder component to the workspace.
Example
Our example flow will set up a process folder inside of the root-level folder called Insurance Requests. Inside this folder, we’ll save records of our flow’s starting and completed state.
First, create a root-level folder in which the process folders will reside. This becomes the parent folder. Every time the flow runs, a unique folder generates and stores data about that instance of the flow.
Begin by creating a new flow in a Designer Folder; click the Create Flow button and name the flow “Saving Process Data.”
In the Flow Designer start-up window, select the Setup Process Folder component. It is found under the category All Steps [Catalog] >Flow Management > Data. Click Add to add it to the workspace.
Next, connect the paths from the Start step to Setup Process Folder 1.
To configure Setup Process Folder 1, click on this step. In the Properties panel, provide a name and description to use for the process folder. Under the heading Inputs, change the mapping type of Folder Description to Constant and give it a value of “Insurance Request.”
Next, set Folder Name’s mapping to Merge Text Plain and open the editor. For example purposes, type “Insurance Request Submitted by” and from under Flow Data, drag the Initiating User Email variable into the Merge Text Editor. Notice the folder naming in the example Folder Data screenshot at the beginning of this topic. If this example had data upstream, such as insurance policy type and customer name, for example, it could be sensible to use that information in the folder name.
At this point we could also set the Folder Type Name, but that won’t be necessary for this example, so we’ll leave it set to Ignore.
Next, it is necessary to ensure that our new folder is uniquely identified in the portal. To do this, we’re offered the option of a few unique identification schemes – numeric, numeric (always appending, which simply adds “1” to the end of the name), and date-time-based. The DateTime option inserts the create date/time at the end of the name. For this example, select Number.
Also, check the box Save Flow Data to ensure that flow data is saved in the folder created. This saves a checkpoint of the flow data at this point.
The Flow Prefix value inserts a prefix before the ID generated; this is helpful for distinguishing the process. For example, notice the folder naming in the example Folder Data screenshot at the beginning of this topic. The prefix “IR-” is used to indicate “Insurance Request.” If using a prefix, enter a meaningful value in the Flow Prefix field.
The Include Flow Run ID in name field will include generate a unique number to identify the flow in the name. It is also helpful in identifying a specific instance of the process.
The Use Extension Data checkbox is relevant if the process will use the Flow Execution Extension custom data structure. Please see the Data Structures topics for more information.
Finally, specify the parent folder inside which our new process folder will reside. In the Properties panel, under the category Parent Folder, click the Parent Folder selector.
In the resulting Select Folder pop-up, select the folder Insurance Requests and click OK.
Connect the Setup Process Folder 1 step to the End step. With all of our paths connected and Setup Process Folder 1 completely configured, our flow is now complete.
Run the flow in the Debugger.
Note that in Decisions version 3.5 and above, you’ll need to click on Test Flow to access the debugger.
In the Portal, click the root-level folder Insurance Requests to see our new process folder, IR-0000001 Insurance Request Submitted by
The Process View page for the process appears, showing the flow data captured.
Click the Process Data View link below the address bar to see the contents of our process folder
including records of our process – specifically, details about our flow’s started and completed states.
