Using Reports As Flow Steps

Once a report is created and saved, it will be available to use in a flow.  For example, the user could create a flow that, when run, runs a report and displays the report data in a form.

To add a report to a flow, in the Flow Designer, in the Toolbox Panel, in the category Integration > Reporting, drag the component based on the report to the workspace.

Example

The goal of this example is to:

1. Create a flow.
2. Add a report to the flow.
3. Add a form to the flow that will be used to display the report.

The report, Document Report, and the form, Grid Form, were both created for this example.

Note: In order to be able to use Report as a Step in the Flow Designer we need to check Generate Step To Run Report check-box in the Report Designer.

To begin, navigate to a Designer Folder and click the Create Flow button.

Name the flow and click Ok to open it in the Flow Designer.

Start building the flow by adding the report.

In the Flow Designer start-up window, expand the category Integrations > All Integrations > Reporting and select Run Report component, for the desired report.  Click Add to add this step to the flow.

Then add the Grid Form to the flow by expanding the category Forms [Interaction] > [Current Folder] and dragging a Grid Form component to the workspace.  Connect the Report step to the [Form] Property Grid Form step, and the [Form] Grid Form step to the End step.

A red validation error displays on the [Form] Grid Form step because the user must map the inputs for the report that will display on the form.  Select [Form] Grid Form in the workspace, right click and select the Show Mapping Editor option in the menu.

Map the flow input data, the data contained on the report, to the report’s input and click Ok to save the mapping and close the Mapping Editor.

Since the report step is linked to the form step, the report will automatically output to the form without any additional configuration and the validation error no longer displays.

This completes the flow.  Save it and run it in the Debugger. 

Note that in Decisions version 3.5 and above, you will need to click Test Flow to access the Debugger.

The report will be generated and then automatically output to the Form tab.

We click the Diagram tab to see the flow’s execution.

Additional Resources

• Creating Your First Flow
• Using the Flow Debugger
• Creating Your First Report
• Creating Your First Form
• Using the Mapping Editor