Flow Overview

Why Do I Need Flows

With flows, the implemented and released scripts can be reused. After graphical orchestration and parameter configuration, service functions can be implemented in the form of processes, simplifying development and enhancing efficiency.

Basic Capabilities

• Drag-and-drop:

  Traditional service development requires variable declaration and logic coding. Flows allow you to drag and drop variables and functions to graphically display them in a process. Coding is no longer necessary.

• Graphical widgets of logic:

  Flows support logic processing and graphically displaying of value assignment, loop, loop exit, decision, and waiting.

• Graphical widgets of object:

  Flows offer graphical widgets for object management, helping you to efficiently create, search, update, and delete records. These widgets streamline processes for both custom and standard objects, enhancing overall work efficiency.

• Service unit combination scripts, native services, BOs, and third-party services:

  Flows offer graphical widgets for combined service units, facilitating the integration of scripts, sub-flows, native services, BOs, and connectors. By incorporating existing platform services into flows, you can rapidly expand and recombine functions to meet a variety of service needs.

Calling Relationships between Flows and Other Modules

Flows encapsulate some Astro Zero's functions and can be called by other function modules. The following describes the calling relationship between flows and other function modules.

• Scripts
  • In a flow, you can configure the script diagram element to select a script in the current application and call it.
  • In the script, you can import the sys database and execute sys.invokeFlow({Flow_Name}) to call the flow. Flow_Name indicates the flow name.

• Objects

  In a flow, you can create, query, update, and delete diagram elements by configuring records to add, delete, modify, and query object records in the current application.

• Standard pages

  In the model view of a standard page, you can create a service model and bind it to a flow, which allows you to call the flow.

• BPMs

  In a BPM, you can configure an activity to call a flow. Once such activity is configured, select the corresponding flow and call it.

• APIs

  When creating an open API, set Type to Flow. After that, select the flow you want and bind it to the service API. Finally, use the API to call the flow.

• BOs

  Call BOs in flows by referring to Adding a BO Diagram Element for a Flow.

• Connectors

  In a flow, you can call the APIs that interconnected with third-party systems, such as SMS messaging, cloud storage, and other system-defined actions. For details, see Adding a Connector Diagram Element for a Flow.

A flow can only call resources, including objects and scripts, within its own application. To call script B from flow A, both must reside in the same application. If they are in different applications, you have two options: either replicate script B into the application where flow A is, or use the Use an Existing Script feature to import script B before making the call within flow A.

Figure 1 Importing scripts using existing scripts

Constraints

• Flows and scripts within a BO cannot be called.
• Cross-BO calling is not allowed.

  For example, a flow of the personnel BO cannot call the flow and scripts in the space BO.