RoboFlowHelp.1.11
!!! warning "Legacy Documentation" This page contains documentation for the original RoboFlow application. Some features described here may not exist in the new Damtoolkit WAP interface.
Creating a Workflow
Click Create new workflow and the window for defining it appears:
Depending on the workflow type, a workflow has different parameters. For example, in case of a workflow processing an SQL query, database connection settings and the SQL query to execute must be set via the workflow parameters.
If a workflow is enabled, it is started by an event. The following events exist:
• a timer
• called by another workflow
• started manually by a user
During the startup phase of a workflow, the workflow might check a pre-condition and stop running if the pre-condition is not met. A common example for such a pre-condition is whether a monitored file system path is accessible.
General settings
The General tab of a workflow has the following information you can set:
If a workflow is enabled, it is started by an event. The following events exist:
• Name: Each workflow must have a unique name. Which you can change when the workflow is not running
• Interval:
o if a number is specified from 1 to 99999, it defines the number of seconds it will sleep in between runs (if prefixed by !, it will not run at startup)
e.g. 300 means that the workflow will run at startup and run again and again with sleep periods of 5 minutes in between
e.g. !300 means that the workflow will go to sleep for 5 minutes at startup and run again and again with sleep periods of 5 minutes in between
e.g. 300;21:00 same as 300 but only until 9 pm
o if 0 is specified, the workflow is disabled and can not be started
o if -1 is specified the workflow will run once at startup
o if -2 is specified the workflow will not start but can be started by a user or another workflow
o -3 and !-3 can only be used for watchfolder workflow (file-event-driven)
o If a time is specified the workflow only runs at the specified time(s)
e.g. 09:00 means that the workflow will run at startup and run again at 9 am
e.g. !09:00 means that the workflow will go to sleep at startup and run at 9 am
e.g. !09:00;11:00 means that the workflow will go to sleep at startup and run at 9 am and again at 11:00
e.g. !D1:09:00 means that the workflow will go to sleep at startup and run on day 1 of the week at 9 am. (day 1 of the week is Monday in most of the world, but Sunday in the US)
e.g. !M5:09:00 means that the workflow will go to sleep at startup and run on day 5 of the month. If specified higher then number of days in a month, it will run on last day of the month.
• Next workflow: here the name of the next workflow can specified, if another workflow should be executed when this one has finished. Only workflows with interval set to -2 can be used as next workflow. If the workflow name is prefixed with !, the next workflow will only be called if this workflow had items to process.
• Logging: By default normal logging is enabled (and should be). Each workflow will create a daily logfile per workflow. The log-files can be downloaded via the RoboFlow Web Server Console interface. In case of a problem, debug-logging can be enabled. This will generate detailed logfiles that can help debug the problem.
• Help: is the standard help text that cannot be changed
• Comment: here the user can specify some information that might be useful for understanding the workings or purpose of the workflow.
Parameters
Each workflow will have a different set of parameters, depending on the type of workflow.
Items of a workflow
When a workflow executes, it starts by finding the items to process (records, categories, files …) For each item the corresponding action-script is executed. It gets tagged (stored with a variable name) as “hot”. So inside the action-script this item can be accessed by its variable name “hot”.
Action Scripts and Actions
Depending on the workflow type, each workflow consists of 1 to 3 independent action scripts. For example, a workflow processing the results of a SQL query has the following 2 action scripts:
• action script for SQL results
• action script for records
The available action scripts are shown in the user interface of the workflow as tabs.
Each action script may contain an arbitrary number and a collection of actions. Each action defines a step in the workflow like opening a catalog, moving a file to a different folder or substituting text in a string.
You need to define the actions and their order. You choose the action from the Actions drop down menu. Actions are grouped by categories, e.g. actions manipulating a file or actions able to create a notification.
Depending on the action selected, different parameters are available like input values. Information is passed between actions via variables. Variables created inside an action script are only visible within the action script they were defined in and only during the execution of each individual item of the workflow. Parameters defined in the “Global settings” and on the workflow’s Parameters-tab are persistently available for each item processed. Object created inside an action-script can be made globally available across all items processed by prefixing the variable name by #GLOBAL#
Canto RoboFlow also supports conditions allowing parts of an action script to be only executed if a certain condition holds. Conditions can be nested.
NOTE: Any "settings" window can contain several tabs. Don't forget to check them all before saving.
NOTE: RoboFlow version prior to Cumulus 9.2
Workflows created in a RoboFlow version prior to Cumulus 9.2 do not have action-scripts and thus cannot be extended in functionality.