Workflow Activities

Overview

appConnector Base Activities are made up the most commonly used activity modules in the appRules product suite.

appConnector Base Activities

Control Flow Module

The Control Flow activities module provides activities for controlling flow of execution within your project.

Control Flow Activities

Note that while activities such as the Parallel and schedule multiple child activities for execution simultaneously, only a single thread is used for a workflow. Each child activity of these activities executes sequentially and successive activities do not execute until previous activities either complete or go idle. As a result, these activities are most useful for applications in which several potentially blocking activities must execute in an interleaved fashion. If none of the child activities of these activities go idle, a Parallel activity executes just like a Sequence activity.

Activities

The table below shows the activities in the Control Flow activities module and their key properties.

Activity	Description
FlowDecision	FlowChart Activity with Yes/No branches based on a Condition
If	Condition Activity which models an If-Then-Else action
Parallel	Executes all child activities simultaneously and asynchronously.
Sequence	Executes a set of child activities according to a single, defined ordering.
While	Executes a contained set of workflow elements while a condition evaluates to true.
Switch	Executes a contained set of activities depending on a value (can be a datafield read in a source, a variable, a parameter value)

Base Module

The appRules Base activities module includes activities that are used for initializing your project, closing the project, executing functions, calling other projects and more.

Activities

The table below shows the activities in the appRules Base module including their key properties.

Activity	Description
CallWebService	This activity is used to make a webservice call.
Delay	This activity is used to delay the workflow execution.
ExecuteCustomCode	Executes a custom function, expression or script
ExecuteConditionCode	Executes a condition function, a condition expression or a condition script.
ExecuteWorkflow	This activity executes a workflow WorkflowName The name of the project to execute Parameters Parameters to pass to the workflow. Parameters must match the workflow arguments. SaveResultIn If the job returns a value, this specifies where to save the returned value.
MapAndSaveRecords	Most appConnector activity modules contain a mapping activity. For example, the MapAndSetFields in the File module maps file fields to be saved to file. The MapAndSaveRecords activity is a generic mapping activity for bulk-loading of records since it automatically inserts all Source records into the Target. The “SQL -- Batch Export to File” project in the Samples database demonstrates the use of this activity
SendEmail	This activity is used for sending an email to one or more recipients. You can also use this activity to send bulk emails. FromEmail The Email address that will be used for sending the email FromName Optionally, the name to use for sending the email ReplyTo The ReplyTo email address Subject The subject of the email To Recipients of the email BCC The blind carbon copy recipients of the email CC The carbon copy recipients of the email. Body The body of the email. This can be defined using Text or Html.
SetValues	This activity sets selected values (source datafields, variables…) in the project to new values. The window below shows the properties of the collection items:
TransformValues	This activity transforms the values specified in a collection using the available transformation options (using preset transformations for strings, dates, numeric values or custom functions).
UpdateWorkflowState	This is an optional activity for updating the current state of a running job -- normally this is done automatically.
WriteLogEntry	This is an optional activity for logging entries in the project database: LogEntryType The type of entry to be logged DataSourceRecord, DataSourceStatistics, Error, Message, Warning, or SelectedValues LogText The message to display if LogEntryType is Message DataManager Specifies the Source or Target if LogEntryType is DataSourceRecord, DataSourceStatistics or SelectedValues. SelectedValues Values to log if LogEntryType is SelectedValues

Dialogs Module

The appConnector Dialogs activities module contains activities for entering or viewing values during runtime or test runs of your project.

Activities

The table below shows the activities in the Dialogs module. The activities display the values when the project is run. Viewers activities are displayed when the workflow is run in debug mode.

Activity	Description
EditRecord	Edit the content of a source or target record (et with a InitializeSource a LookupRecord or a InitializeTarget activity)
EditWorkflowValues	Edit preselected workflow values (Arguments, Variables, Datafields (from source or target)
MessageBox	Shows a Message Box that can display workflow values or constants If Cancel clicked = ends execution, if Yes or OK Clicked returns Valid, If No Clicked returns Invalid
ShowDialog	Calls an external assembly that displays the dialog
ViewRuntimeArguments	Displays the workflow arguments values.
ViewRuntimeValues	Displays a selected set of values (can be datafields, arguments, variables…)
ViewRuntimeStatistics	Displays the Source and Target stats (Read, Update. Insert, Delete)

Record Module

The appConnector Record activities module contains activities for managing the data field values of active records of Source and Target activities in your project. The module also contains the generic GetNextPreloadedRecord activity which can be used to get the next record from a preloaded list of records.

Activities

The table below shows the activities in the appConnector Record module including their key properties.

Activity	Description
ClearRecord	Removes the field values of the active record of a Source or Target.
CopyRecord	Copy a record from one Source or Target to another.
FormatFields	This activity formats the field values of a Source or Target record.
GetNextPreloadedRecord	Gets the next record from a preloaded list of records in a Source activity.
InitializeRecordFromCustomValues	Initialize a target record with preset values
InitializeRecordFromDelimitedString	Initialize target records from file records
InitializeRecordFromFunction	Initialize target records with a custom function
UnformatFields	This activity removes all formatting from the field values of a Source or Target record.
ValidateRecord	This activity validates the fields in a Source or Target record.

List Module

The appConnector List activities module contains activities for creating ad-hoc lists that can be used in the project. This module also contains activities for managing pick lists that are created in the metadata for systems such as Dynamic CRM, Salesforce.com and others.

Activities

The table below shows the activities in the appConnector List module including their key properties.

Activity	Description
InitializeList	This activity used for defining the list (table). A list can be typed directly or can be loaded from a CSV file (see below) FieldNames Used for specifying the column names of the list Each list contains a uniquekey field and n columns (indicated in the NumberOfFields property) ListEntries Click to display the List creation/update window LoadFirstListItem Check this option in order to preload the first record of the list InitializeFromCsvFile Use this option to load the list from a CSV file.
InitializeListFromCustomValues	Initializes a list from custom values.
InitializeListFromDelimitedString	Initializes a list from a delimited string.
InitializeListFromFunction	Initializes a list from a custom function. The function must return list values in List<string>
CloseList	Closes an open list defined by an InitializeList activity
LookupList	To Lookup a list record List The InitializeList source to lookup ListFilters Collection of filters to query the list records to load ValueNotFoundAction Specifies the action to perform if no record is found ContinueWorkflow: Continues running the process LogNotFoundError: Logs a “RecordNotFound” error ExecuteFunction: Executes an extension function ValueNotFoundFunction Specifies the function to execute if the List item is not found
GetNextListItem	Gets the next List item as a record that can be used in the project
IsPickListValueValid	Checks to see if a PickList Value is valid
LookupPickListRecord	Looks up a picklist record
GetNextListItem	Gets the next list item as a record when iterating a list
IsPickListValueValid	Validates if a picklist value is valid
IsValueInCustomValuesList	Checks to see if a value is in a custom values list
IsValueInDelimitedStringList	Checks to see if a value is in a delimited string list
IsValueInFunctionList	Checks to see if a value is in a function list
LookupPickListRecord	Looks up a picklist as a record