Flow Designer Overview
- 26 Oct 2021
- 3 Minutes to read
- Print
- DarkLight
This documentation version is deprecated, please click here for the latest version.
Flow Designer Overview
- Updated on 26 Oct 2021
- 3 Minutes to read
- Print
- DarkLight
Article summary
Did you find this summary helpful?
Thank you for your feedback
Overview
Flows are one of many Designer Elements in Decisions; they are responsible for providing the logic to most of the components used when building an application in Decisions.
To build Flows, users are provided the Flow Designer. The Flow Designer is one of many Designer Studios throughout Decisions that is used to create Designer Element respective to its name (in this case, Flows).
From the Flow Designer, the user can connect and configure visual steps that receive, manipulate, and move data in order to execute a specified process. Additionally, users can create Sample Data, Unit Tests, and Debug the Flow to ensure that it works as intended.
The following document provides insight into some of the panels and basics of the Flow Designer.
Designer Default View
When the Flow Designer is first launched, the Steps tab is populated with available Flow steps on the right, and the Start/End steps (disconnected) in the workspace. The base Flow properties can be accessed by selecting the Properties tab located on the far right of the screen.
Step Properties can be accessed by selecting a step icon in the workspace, the Properties will then populate on the right based on the selection.
Users may define Input Data or provide an action to hide the banner via the Show Editor link in the Properties tab. 
Additional Tabs
In addition to a Steps and Properties tab, the Designer offers five additional tabs. These are as follows:
| Tab | Function |
|---|---|
| Info | This tab allows the user to rename the Flow, provide a Description, or view some general information about the Flow. If Tags are configured in the Decisions environment, they can be applied within this tab, or a new Tag may be added. Comments, Files, and ownership assignments can be changed from this tab as well. |
| Data Samples | This tab contains sections for the user to add new Sample Data and Unit Tests. Here, Sample Data can be defined for testing purposes. Test configurations can be saved as Unit Tests for use later on. For more information about Unit Tests, please visit the About Unit Testing & Debugging article. |
| Data Explorer | This tab lists all of the data available within the Flow. By default, Flow Data and System Constants will always appear here. These sections can be expanded to access specific pieces of data that are typically always accessible for use with input definition. As data is introduced to the Flow, the structures will appear in this list with expandable properties. |
| Steps Explorer | This tab lists all of the steps that are currently in the Flow by name. If there are multiples of the same step, this list will show the steps listed out with the same name and a differentiating number. For example, if two Create Data steps are used in the Flow, it would list them as ‘Create Data’ and ‘Create Data 1’. |
| Steps By Type | This tab lists all of the steps that are currently in the Flow by the type of step that it is. For example, if two Create Data steps were used in the Flow then it would list them as ‘Create Data (2)’, indicating that there are two of them. Selecting the step highlights it with a box in the workspace. |
Top Action Panel
The following section details the included buttons that are displayed on the Top Action Bar of the Flow Designer. Furthermore, keyboard shortcuts may quickly perform certain Actions.
While not shown in the Action Panel, copy and cutting may be performed with the CTRL + C and CTRL + X shortcuts respectively.
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| Save | Save the Flow |
| Close | Prompts to Save and Close the Flow Designer |
| Checkpoint | Creates a backup entity in the history folder. Creating Checkpoints |
| Compare | Compares different flow versions, different versions are created with each save or checkpoint creation. |
| Debug | Allows users to test the flow for any logic errors. Using the Flow Debugger |
| Validate | Will check for any validation errors. |
| Dependencies | Shows what the Flow depends on and what depends on the flow. |
| Integrations | this page contains information on different ways to integrate with the Flow. View Integration Details |
| History | View a report of every saved version of the Flow Viewing the History of a Designer Element |
| Paste (CTRL + V) | Will paste any copied steps or templates |
| Undo (CTRL + Z) | Reverse the last design change |
| Redo | Remake the last design change |
| -/+ (CTRL + -/+) | Zoom |
| Grid On | Applies a grid to workspace canvas |
| Allow Rotation | Gives the ability to rotate steps |
Was this article helpful?
