Web SDK (Angular renderer)

Angular project requirements

Your app MUST be created using the NG app from the @angular/cli~15 package. It also MUST use SCSS for styling.

npm install -g @angular/cli@15.0
ng new my-flowx-app

To install the npm libraries provided by FLOWX you will need to obtain access to the private FLOWX Nexus registry. Please consult with your project DevOps.

The library uses Angular version @angular~15, npm v8.1.2 and node v16.13.2.

If you are using an older version of Angular (for example, v14), please consult the following link for update instructions:

Update Angular from v14.0 to v15.0

Installing the library

Use the following command to install the renderer library and its required dependencies:

npm install \
  @flowx/ui-sdk@3.35.18-5\
  @flowx/ui-toolkit@3.35.18-5 \
  @flowx/ui-theme@33.35.18-5 \
  event-source-polyfill@1.0.31 \
  paperflow-web-components@latest \
  vanillajs-datepicker@1.3.1 \
  moment@^2.27.0 \
  @angular/flex-layout@15.0.0-beta.42 \
  @angular/material@15.2.0 \
  @angular/material-moment-adapter@15.2.0 \
  @angular/cdk@15.2.0 \
  ng2-pdfjs-viewer@15.0.0 \
  marked@^5.0.0

A few configurations are needed in the projects angular.json:

in order to successfully link the pdf viewer, add the following declaration in the assets property:

{
  "glob": "**/*",
  "input": "node_modules/ng2-pdfjs-viewer/pdfjs",
  "output": "/assets/pdfjs"
}

the rendered components will use the @flowx/ui-theme and the paperflow-web-components libraries for styling. In order properly to set up styling, add the following declaration in the styles property:

"stylePreprocessorOptions": {
  "includePaths": [
    "./node_modules/paperflow-web-components/src/assets/scss",
    "./node_modules/@flowx/ui-sdk/src/assets/scss"
    "src/styles",
  ]
},

Using the library

Once installed, FlxProcessModule will be imported in the AppModule as FlxProcessModule.forRoot({}).

You MUST also import the dependencies of FlxProcessModule: HttpClientModule from @angular/common/http and IconModule from @flowx/ui-toolkit.

Theming

Component theming is done through two json files (theme_tokens.json, theme_components.json) that need to be added in the assets folder of your project The file paths need to be passed to the FlxProcessModule.forRoot() method through the themePaths object.

themePaths: {
    components: 'assets/theme/theme_components.json',
    tokens: 'assets/theme/theme_tokens.json',
  },

The assets/theme/theme_tokens.json - should hold the design tokens (e.g. colors, fonts) used in the theme.

The assets/theme/theme_components.json - holds metadata used to describe component styles.

For Task Management theming is done through the ppf-theme mixin that accepts as an argument a list of colors grouped under primary, status and background

@use 'ppf-theme';

@include ppf-theme.ppf-theme((
  'primary': (
    'color1': vars.$primary,
    'color2': vars.$secondary,
    'color3': vars.$text-color,
  ),
  'status': (
    'success': vars.$success,
    'warning': vars.$warning,
    'error': vars.$error,
  ),
  'background': (
    'background1': vars.$background1,
    'background2': vars.$background2,
    'background3': vars.$background3,
  ),
));

Authorization

Every request from the FLOWX renderer SDK will be made using the HttpClientModule of the client app, which means those requests will go through every interceptor you define here. This is most important to know when building the auth method as it will be the job of the client app to intercept and decorate the requests with the necessary auth info (eg. Authorziation: Bearer ...).

It’s the responsibility of the client app to implement the authorization flow (using the OpenID Connect standard). The renderer SDK will expect to find the JWT saved in the browser localStorage object at the key named access_token.

import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { HttpClientModule, HTTP_INTERCEPTORS } from '@angular/common/http';
import { FlxProcessModule } from '@flowx/ui-sdk';
import { IconModule } from 'paperflow-web-components';

import {AppRoutingModule} from './app-routing.module';
import {AppComponent} from './app.component';

@NgModule({
  declarations: [
    AppComponent,
  ],
  imports: [
    BrowserModule,
    AppRoutingModule,
    // will be used by the renderer SDK to make requests
    HttpClientModule,
    // needed by the renderer SDK
    IconModule.forRoot(),
    FlxProcessModule.forRoot({
      components: {},
      services: {},
      themePaths: {
        components: 'assets/theme/theme_components.json',
        tokens: 'assets/theme/theme_tokens.json',
      },
    }),
  ],
  // this interceptor with decorate the requests with the Authorization header
  providers: [
    { provide: HTTP_INTERCEPTORS, useClass: AuthInterceptor, multi: true },
  ],
  bootstrap: [AppComponent]
})
export class AppModule {}

The forRoot() call is required in the application module where the process will be rendered. The forRoot() method accepts a config argument where you can pass extra config info, register a custom component, service, or custom validators.

Custom components will be referenced by name when creating the template config for a user task.

Custom validators will be referenced by name (currentOrLastYear) in the template config panel in the validators section of each generated form field.

// example with custom component and custom validator
FlxProcessModule.forRoot({
  components: {
    YourCustomComponentIdenfier: CustomComponentInstance,
  },
  services: {
    NomenclatorService,
    LocalDataStoreService,
  },
  validators: {currentOrLastYear },
})

  // example of a custom validator that restricts data selection to 
  // the current or the previous year 
   
  currentOrLastYear: function currentOrLastYear(AC: AbstractControl): { [key: string]: any } {
    if (!AC) {
      return null;
    }

    const yearDate = moment(AC.value, YEAR_FORMAT, true);
    const currentDateYear = moment(new Date()).startOf('year');
    const lastYear = moment(new Date()).subtract(1, 'year').startOf('year');

    if (!yearDate.isSame(currentDateYear) && !yearDate.isSame(lastYear)) {
      return { currentOrLastYear: true };
    }

    return null;
  }

The error that the validator returns MUST match the validator name.

The entry point of the library is the component. A list of accepted inputs is found below:

<flx-process-renderer
  [apiUrl]="baseApiUrl"
  [processApiPath]="processApiPath"
  [processName]="processName"
  [processStartData]="processStartData"
  [debugLogs]="debugLogs"
  [keepState]="keepState"
  [language]="language"
  [httpVersion]="httpVersion"
></flx-process-renderer>

Parameters:

Name	Description	Type	Mandatory	Default value	Example
baseApiUrl	Your base url	string	true	-	https://yourDomain.dev
processApiPath	Engine API prefix	string	true	-	/onboarding
processName	Identifies a process	string	true	-	client_identification
processStartData	Data required to start the process	json	true	-	`{ "firstName": "John", "lastName": "Smith"}`
debugLogs	When set to true this will print WS messages in the console	boolean	false	false	-
language	Language used to localize the application.	string	false	ro-RO	-
keepState	By default all process data is reset when the process renderer component gets destroyed. Setting this to true will keep process data even if the viewport gets destroyed	boolean	false	false	-
isDraft	When true allows starting a process in draft state. *Note that isDraft = true requires that processName be the id (number) of the process and NOT the name.	boolean	false	false	-
legacyHttpVersion	Set this to `true` only for HTTP versions < 2 in order for SSE to work properly. Can be omitted otherwise.	boolean	false	false	-

Data and actions

Custom components will be hydrated with data through the $data input observable which must be defined in the custom component class.

@Component({
  selector: 'my-custom-component',
  templateUrl: './custom-component.component.html',
  styleUrls: ['./custom-component.component.scss'],
})
export class CustomComponentComponent  {
  @Input() data$: Observable<any>;
  }

Component actions are always found under data -> actionsFn key.

Action names are configurable via the process editor.

# data object example
data: {
   actionsFn: {
      action_one: () => void;
      action_two: () => void; }
   }

Interacting with the process

Data from the process is communicated via Server Send Event protocol under the following keys:

Name	Description	Example
Data	data updates for process model bound to default/custom components
ProcessMetadata	updates about process metadata, ex: progress update, data about how to render components
RunAction	instructs the UI to perform the given action

Task management component

The flx-task-management component is found in the FlxTaskManagementModule. In order to have access to it, import the module where needed:

import {FlxProcessModule} from '@flowx/ui-sdk';
@NgModule({
  declarations: [
    ...,
  ],
  imports: [
    ...,
    FlxTaskManagementModule
  ],
  
})
export class MyModule {}

Then in the template:

<flx-task-management [baseUrl]="baseUrl" [title]="'Tasks'">
</flx-task-management>

Parameters:

Name	Description	Type	Default	Mandatory	Example
apiUrl	Endpoint where the tasks are available	string	-	true	https://yourDomain.dev/tasks
title	Table header value	string	Activities	false	Tasks
pollingInterval	Interval for polling task updates	number	5000 ms	false	10000

Development

If you want to start the designer app and the flx-process-renderer library in development mode (no need to recompile the lib for every change) run the following command:

npm run start:designer

When modifying the library source code and testing it inside the designer app use the following command which rebuilds the libraries, recreates the link between the library and the designer app and recompiles the designer app:

./start_with_build_lib.sh

Remember to test the final version of the code by building and bundling the renderer library to check that everything works e2e.

Trying to use this lib with npm link from another app will most probably fail. If (when) that happens, there are two alternatives that you can use:

Use the build-and-sync.sh script, that builds the lib, removes the current build from the client app node_modules and copies they newly build lib to the node_modules dir of the client app:

./build-and-sync.sh ${path to the client app root}

# example (the client app is demo-web):
./build-and-sync.sh ../../demo-web

NOTE: This method uses under the hood the build-and-sync.sh script from the first version and the chokidar-cli library to detect file changes.

Use the build-and-sync:watch npm script, that builds the library and copies it to the client app’s ** node_module** directory every time a file changes:

npm run build-and-sync:watch --target-path=${path to the client app root}

# example (the client app is demo-web):
npm run build-and-sync:watch --target-path=../../demo-web

Running the tests

ng test

Coding style tests

Always follow the Angular official coding styles.

Below you will find a Storybook which will demonstrate how components behave under different states, props, and conditions, it allows you to preview and interact with individual UI components in isolation, without the need for a full-fledged application:

SDKs

​Angular project requirements

​Installing the library

​Using the library

​Theming

​Authorization

​Data and actions

​Interacting with the process

​Task management component

​Development

​Running the tests

​Coding style tests

Storybook