About Data Structures
- 03 Jun 2022
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About Data Structures
- Updated on 03 Jun 2022
- 2 Minutes to read
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Overview
Data Structures within Decisions organize and represent business objects for internal logic processes with other Designer Elements such as Flows and Rules. Decisions boasts a variety of Data Structures to suit the needs of any project and Designer driven goals. Each Data Structure may communicate with one another for further functional flexibility.
Designers fill a Data Structure with data fields, data variables detailing the object's properties, as well as each data field's data type. An example Data Structure may be titled "Employee" with example data fields and data types involving "Name"(String), "Age"(Int), and "Work Email" (Email).
Additional Relevant Information
Please refer to the following documentation for further introductory information about Data Structures and its data fields.
Similar to other Decisions Elements, Data Structures along with its data may be imported/exported into other Decisions instances or to other external programs as a CSV file. For further information about this process, view our Importing and Exporting Data From Data Structures article.
User Defined Data Structures
We highly recommend understanding the differences between each Data Structure
Each Data Structure accomplishes certain goals due to the presence or absence of certain features such as storage, actions, or process tracking to name a few.
Please refer to the Differences Between Data Structures article for a full explanation of all features along with our Selection Matrix Diagram to help decide which Data Structure(s) best suit your needs.
Decisions offers a multitude of Data Structure options with each accommodating to both business needs and design considerations.
| Database Name | Short Description |
|---|---|
| Case Entity | For unstructured data in a repeatable process with variables outcomes; progresses via specified states |
| Database Structure | Creates a database table dependent on other components to be manipulated |
| Defined Data Structure | Creates a database table dependent on other components to be manipulated; more memory efficient so best for larger sets of data |
| Entity | Creates a persistent object and allows ability to create actions specific to that object |
| Entity Extension | Creates a persistent object that extends a preexisting type in Decisions |
| External Entity | Works with objects stored externally |
| Flow Execution Extension | Enables Flow data into process data to capture, display, and store data in motion; most commonly used |
| Flow Structure | Creates an object that lives solely within a Flow; therefore it cannot be stored |
| Folder Extension | Creates a Folder that represents an Entity; can perform actions |
| Value List | Creates an enumerated list of values that changes regularly |
Creating Custom Data Types
In addition to Decisions' pre-built data types, Designers may create custom data types from the following schema types:
- CSV
- JSON
- JSON Schema
- XML
- XSD
If wishing to create a custom data type, please refer to the links in the bullet list above for step-by-step instructions.
Data Structure CRUD Actions
Designers and specified end users/groups interact with Data Structure through CRUD Actions: Create, Read, Update, and Delete, for easily updating data in Decisions. Note that not every Data Structure contains these actions so please keep this in mind when deciding on a Data Structure.
These actions are visible as steps for the specified Data Structure in the Flow Designer. For further information for each applicable Data Structure, refer to the Data Structure CRUD Overview article.
Data Structure Name Space
When creating a Data Structure, Type Name Space under the Advanced settings allows Designers to configure the name space of the Data Structure. By default, this setting will populate with the folder path to the Data Structure such "MyApps.[ExampleFolderName]".
It is recommended to change this setting when working on large projects since this default folder path name will grow larger as the parent folder becomes further nested. Furthermore, multiple data structures with the same Name Space may exist. Changing the Name Space name may prevent future organization issues.
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