App Xchange Help Docs

Flow Steps

Flow steps define specific functions that accomplish a variety of tasks. Steps carry out the actual work of a flow, and there are a variety of different types of flow steps. Steps can perform independent functions, or they can work with other steps.

For example, if you want to confirm that an RFI exists, you could use a Lookup flow step to check that an RFI ID exists. If you want to confirm that the RFI ID matches a given range of IDs before proceeding with the flow, you could pass the output of the Lookup flow step to a Conditional flow step, where you compare it against an array of expected IDs.

To add flow steps to your flow, see Add or Edit Flow Steps.

Processing Flow Data

Flow data is processed in the App Xchange flow engine. The step drawer UI (the Edit Step window) is a visual tool for writing the JSON that is passed into the flow engine.

The flow engine processes the flow and its steps. All steps have access to the flow’s trigger data, event info, and any steps that have previously run.

Some steps are more complex than others. For example, in a Parse CSV File to JSON Step, you supply it with the file contents. However, in a Connector Action step, you will need to write more code.

Validate that a Flow is Working

Flow writing is a lot like programming. Start small and test as you go. In most situations, you can run the flow and check the flow run results to verify that the step input and output are what you expect. For more information, see Test a Flow.

When steps fail, the entire flow will typically fail, and you’ll see an error in the flow run result. For more information about what to do when a flow fails, see Troubleshoot a Flow. For more information about flow run results, see Flow Run History.

Flow Step Index

Review the topics below for details about each type of flow step.

Assertion

An Assertion step is mainly a step a used for testing flows, and rarely finds its way into live production flows once they are complete. The success or failure of an Assertion Step will fail the flow making it useful for testing as once the Assertion step is set up the flow can be rerun until Assertion passes.

Build EDI

The Build EDI flow step is used to transform data into an EDI document. This is useful when a particular target system only accepts EDI.

Cache Write

A cache write is when data is created, updated, or deleted in a connector. Cache writes can occur in real time or on a schedule, depending on the implementation of the connector. The main goal of cache writing is to present connector data to the platform in a way that a user can interact with the cache write events in flow.

Call a Flow

Use the Call a Flow step to trigger another flow within the current flow.

Combine Delimited Files

Use the Combine Delimited Files flow step to combine two or more delimited files into a single delimited file.

Conditional

Conditional Steps work the same way in flows and programming languages. Use them to create if/then/else statements.

Connector Action

Use the Connector Action step to send data through the connector to a third-party system.

Create Delimited File

The Create Delimited File step creates a file from tabular data. This step is commonly preceded by a Lookup step or parse step to get the data, and followed by a Connector Action step to send the file to its destination. The output of the step is a pointer which includes the file’s ID as well as a URL for accessing it.

Create Text File

The Create Text File step is used to store text values. The output of the step is a pointer which includes the file’s ID as well as a URL for accessing it.

Create User Task

The Create User Task step is used to create remediation tasks when something goes wrong. This is commonly used in tandem with the Action Close Out trigger type to generate a task when an action fails.

Create Work Item

The Create Work Item step is useful for deferred processing of data. Creating a work item allows you to mark a piece of work as unresolved. This item can be fetched later to avoid needing to handle all data transfers in real time.

Email

The Email Step allows you to send an email to one or more email addresses. When using the Email Step you can send an email to more than one person, if it’s hard coded use Tab or , to delineate email addresses.

Encrypt File

The encrypt file step is used for taking a created or uploaded file and then encrypting the contents of that file. The output of this step is a file pointer of the encrypted file.

Extract Zip v2

The extract zip step is used to extract every file in a zip and then upload it to the file API. The output of this step is an array of file pointers for each file extracted from the zip.

Filter

Use the Filter step to identify a subset of data that you want to keep. The purpose of filtering is to refine the data that passes through to the next step.

For Each in a List

Use the For Each in a List step when you need to repeat a set of actions on a collection of items.

Get Work Items

The Get Work Items flow step lets you retrieve work items for processing or resolution.

Group By

Use the Group By flow step to aggregate data based on specified criteria.

Lookup

The Lookup step allows you to retrieve data from a connector.

Lookup Related Data Objects

Use the Lookup Related Data Object flow step to fetch records from a related data object while processing a different data object.

Map JSON List or Object

The Map JSON List or Object step helps you align data between connectors.

Parse CSV List to JSON

The Parse CSV File to JSON step outputs JSON from supplied CSV data. This step is commonly preceding by a Lookup step to get a CSV file. The output of the step is a JSON representation of the CSV data.

Parse Delimited File to JSON

The Parse Delimited File to JSON step outputs JSON from supplied delimited data.

Parse Excel File to JSON

The Parse Excel File to JSON step outputs JSON from supplied Excel file. Supported file types include XLS, XLSX, XLSB, CSV.

Read a CSV File

The Read a CSV File reads the contents of a .csv file.

Relate Data Objects

The Relate Data Object flow step is used to relate two data objects between connectors.

Remove Duplicates

The Remove Duplicates step is used to remove duplicate values from a list.

Resolve Work Items

The Resolve Work Items step is used to resolve multiple work items at once, marking them as complete. This is useful to indicate that the deferred work has been processed with a certain outcome.

Stop Flow

Use the Stop Flow step to halt a flow. The Stop Flow step gives the flow author the ability to define the status of the flow and provide an output message about the status.

Unrelate Data Objects

The Unrelate Data Object flow step is used to remove the relationship between two data objects between connectors.

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