Through the FlowX Designer, you can create, edit, import, or export these generic parameters. You can also assign the relevant environment(s) to these parameters, ensuring they are applied exactly where they are needed.
Important Note on Variable Precedence: If a process variable and a generic parameter share the same name, the process variable takes precedence at runtime. If the process variable is null or undefined, the generic parameter’s value is used as a fallback. To avoid unintended behavior, ensure distinct naming conventions for process variables and generic parameters.
Generic parameters can be defined and used in many scenarios. Here are a few examples of useful generic parameters:
ParameterDescription
baseURLThis parameter can be used to define the base URL of an API or website, which can be utilized across multiple environments
redirectURLThis parameter can be used to define the URL to which a user should be redirected after completing a certain action or process. This can save time and effort by avoiding the need to hardcode multiple redirect URLs.
envFilePathThis parameter can be used to define the path of the environment file that stores a document uploaded
To add a new generic parameter, follow the next steps:
  1. Go to FlowX Designer and select the General Settings tab.
  2. Select Generic Parameters from the list.
  3. Click New parameter.
  4. Fill in the details.
  5. Click Save.

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Configuring a generic parameter

To configure a generic parameter you need to fill in the following details:
  • Key - the key that will be used in a process to call the generic parameter
  • Value - the value that will replace the key depending on the defined parameters
  • Environment - set the environment where you want to use the generic parameter (❗️leave empty to apply to all environments)
  • Add a new value - to add a new value for the same key but for a different environment
For example, if you want to set a baseURL generic parameter (the URL will be different, depending on the environmaent).

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Using generic parameters

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Key Considerations

  1. Variable Precedence:
  • Process variables with the same name as a generic parameter will override the generic parameter at runtime.
  • If the process variable is null or undefined, the generic parameter’s value is used as a fallback.
  1. Naming Best Practices:
  • To prevent unintentional behavior, use distinct names for process variables and generic parameters.

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Use case

Imagine that you need to create a process in which you need to upload an image or a document. We will define a generic parameter called envfilePath that will represent the path where the document/image will be uploaded. The minimum requirement to build an upload doc/image process:
  • A start node.
  • A task node.
  • A user task node.
  • An end node.

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Configuring the task node

Set a business rule action on the task node with the following properties:

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Action Edit

  • Name - used internally to make a distinction between different actions on nodes in the process - example getGenericParameters
  • Order - if multiple actions are defined on the same node, the running order should be set using this option
  • Action type - should be set to Business Rule
  • Trigger type - Automatic - choose if this action should be triggered automatically (when the process flow reaches this step)
  • Required type - automatic actions can only be defined as mandatory

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Parameters

  • Language - we will choose MVEL for this business rule example
  • Message body - MVEL expression
output.put("envfilePath", additionalData.applicationConfiguration.get("envfilePath"));
This MVEL business rule assigns a value to a key, envFilePath (our defined generic parameter) in the “output” map object. The value assigned to the key is retrieved from another object, additionalData.applicationConfiguration, using the “get” method and passing the key envFilePath as the parameter. In other words, this rule extracts the value of the envFilePath generic parameter from the additionalData.applicationConfiguration object and assigns it to the envFilePath key in the “output” map object. It is important to note that the additionalData.applicationConfiguration object and the “output” map object must be previously defined and accessible in the current context for this rule to work.

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Configuring the user task node

On this node we will define the following:
  • an Upload File action with two child actions:
    • a Business Rule
    • a Send data to user interface action
Child actions can be marked as callbacks to be run after a reply from an external system is received. They will need to be set when defining the interaction with the external system (the Kafka send action).
For example, a callback function might be used to handle a user’s interaction with a web page, such as upload a file. When the user performs the action, the callback function is executed, allowing the web application to respond appropriately.

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Configuring Upload file action

Set an Upload file action on the task node with the following properties:
Action Edit
  • Name - uploadDocument
  • Order - if multiple actions are defined on the same node, the running order should be set using this option
  • Action type - should be set to Upload File
  • Trigger type - manually (triggered by the user)
  • Required type - optional
  • Repeatable - yes - should be checked if the action can be triggered multiple times
  • Autorun Children - when this is switched on, the child actions (the ones defined as mandatory and automatic) will run immediately after the execution of the parent action is finalized
Parameters
  • Address - the Kafka topic where the file will be posted - ai.flowx.in.devmain.document.persist.v1
In this example we used an environment called devmain, topic naming convention is different depending on what environment you are working.
  • Document Type - other metadata that can be set (useful for the document plugin) - example: BULK
  • Folder - allows you to configure a value by which the file will be identified in the future - example: 1234_${processInstanceId}
  • Advanced configuration (Show headers) - this represents a JSON value that will be sent on the headers of the Kafka message
{"processInstanceId": ${processInstanceId}, "destinationId": "Upload document", "callbacksForAction": "uploadDocument"}
  • callbacksForAction - the value of this key is a string that specifies a callback action associated with the Upload document destination ID (node). This is part of an event-driven system (Kafka send action) where this callback will be called once the uploadDocument action is completed.

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Configuring Business rule action

envfilePath = input.?envfilePath;
uploadedDocument = input.?uploadedDocument;
if(uploadedDocument.?downloadPath != null && uploadedDocument.?downloadPath != ""){
    filePath = envfilePath + uploadedDocument.?downloadPath;
    uploadedDocument.filePath = filePath;

    output.put("uploadedDocument", uploadedDocument);  
}
  1. The business rule is expecting two inputs: envfilePath and uploadedDocument.
  2. It is checking if the downloadPath property of the uploadedDocument input is not null and not an empty string. If it’s not, then it proceeds to the next steps.
  3. It concatenates the envfilePath and the downloadPath to form the full file path (filePath) where the uploaded document is expected to be located.
  4. It updates the uploadedDocument input by adding a new property called filePath with the value of filePath.
  5. It puts the updated uploadedDocument object into the output object as a key-value pair, with the key being “uploadedDocument”.
In summary, the code seems to be processing an uploaded document by checking its download path, constructing a full file path, and updating the document object with the new file path. Finally, it outputs the updated document object.

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Configuring a Send data to user interface action

{"uploadedDocument": 
    {
        "filePath": "${uploadedDocument.filePath}"
    }
}
  • filePath: This is a key in the object which holds the value ${uploadedDocument.filePath}. The syntax ${...} suggests that it’s a variable placeholder that will be replaced with the actual value at runtime.
After configuring all the nodes and parameters, run the process: