Reusable UI Templates

What are Reusable UI Templates?

Reusable UI Templates are self-contained UI component hierarchies that you design once and instantiate multiple times throughout your application. They solve common UI development challenges:

Repetitive styling: No more redoing component styles and properties for similar UI patterns
Manual updates: Reduce the need to manually change components across multiple locations
Template management: Centralized configuration and management of UI templates

Reusable UI Templates focus on visual components and layout. They cannot include reusable business rules or complex business logic.

Key benefits

Consistency

Ensure uniform UI patterns across your entire application

Efficiency

Design once and use many times - no more recreating similar patterns

Maintainability

Update templates in one place to affect all instances automatically

Omnichannel support

Templates work across different platforms and channels

Template types

FlowX.AI supports two main types of reusable UI templates:

Dynamic Templates (with inputs)
Static Templates (without inputs)

Characteristics:

Include input parameters that receive data from the process
Support output parameters that send data back to the process
Contextualized based on runtime data
Ideal for forms and data-driven interfaces

Use cases: User registration forms, data collection cards, feedback forms

Template structure

A reusable template consists of:

Root component: A single container (Card, Container, or Custom Component)
UI hierarchy: Child components arranged in a hierarchical structure
UI actions: Interactive elements that can trigger process actions
Data model: Input and output parameters for template configuration
Configuration: Name, description, and resource metadata

Before you begin

Make sure you have:

Access to FlowX.AI Designer
Appropriate permissions to create and manage reusable resources
A clear understanding of the UI pattern you want to standardize

Create a reusable template

Access template management

In FlowX.AI Designer, go to your project
Navigate to Reusable Resources > Templates
Click + New Reusable Template

Configure basic settings

Enter a descriptive name for your template (required)
Template names cannot contain spaces. Use UpperCamelCase or underscores instead.
- ✅ Good: PersonalDetailsCard, User_Registration_Form
- ❌ Avoid: Personal Details Card, user-form

Add an optional description explaining the template’s purpose
Choose your root component type:
- Card: Best for content needing visual separation and styling
- Container: Ideal for layout and grouping without visual styling
Configure the data model with input and output parameters

Define the data model

Set up the internal data structure that your template will use:

Set the root element (e.g., applicationUI)
Define field attributes with appropriate data types:

Example: Personal Details Template

applicationUI:
├── firstName_UI – string
├── lastName_UI – string  
├── emailAddress_UI – string
├── phoneNumber_UI – string
├── dob_UI – date
├── gender_UI – string
├── consent_UI – boolean
└── ssn – string

Use descriptive field names with consistent naming patterns (e.g., fieldName_UI) to clearly identify template-specific data.

Configure input and output parameters

Define the data contract between your template and the process:Input Parameters:

Data that flows INTO the template from the process
Example: ssn (pre-filled from existing process data)

Output Parameters:

Data that flows OUT of the template back to the process
Example: firstName_UI, lastName_UI, emailAddress_UI, phoneNumber_UI, dob_UI, gender_UI, consent_UI

Parameters control data flow only. They don’t determine field visibility or editability - you can still edit input parameter fields unless explicitly made read-only.

Once parameters are defined, click Done to establish the template’s data contract.

Design the UI hierarchy

Use the template UI designer to build your component structure:

Root Component (Card/Container)
├── UI Components (Text, Input, Button, etc.)
├── Layout Components (Containers, Flex containers)
└── Interactive Components (Forms, Actions)

The template UI designer focuses on screen parts without navigation concepts or process-related navigation.

Configure UI actions (optional)

Define interactive elements within your template:

Template-defined actions
Form-centric actions

Define UI actions within the reusable template
Assign node actions when instantiated in User Tasks
Use for standard actions like “Save”, “Submit”, or “Cancel”

Test your template

Use Preview Mode to see how your template renders
Verify component hierarchy and basic functionality
Test with different themes and configurations
Save your template when testing is successful

Preview Mode provides visual-only testing. Templates are not functional until embedded in a live process with proper parameter mapping.

Use templates in User Tasks

To integrate reusable templates into your processes, follow this complete workflow:

Prerequisites: Set up data models

Configure Project Data Model

In your project, define the main entity (e.g., Application)
Add child objects that match your template structure (e.g., Client)
Include all fields from your template’s data model:
- firstName, lastName, emailAddress
- phoneNumber, dob, gender, consent, ssn

Configure Process Data Model

Reference the project entity in your process
Select application as the root entity
Include Client as a child object
The data model will automatically populate with the correct entities

Add and configure templates

Add template to User Task

Open the UI Designer for your User Task
In the component panel, locate Reusable Templates
Drag and drop your desired template into the UI hierarchy
The template will appear with red warning icons indicating unmapped parameters

Map input parameters

Select the template instance in the UI hierarchy
Navigate to the template settings panel
Click Define Parameters for Input Parameters
Map each input to process data using dynamic keys: Example mapping:
```
Static value: "123-45-6789"
Dynamic key: ${application.client.ssn}
```
Use dynamic keys like ${application.client.fieldName} to pull data from your process context automatically.

Map output parameters

Click Define Parameters for Output Parameters
Select all fields that should return data to the process

Map each output to the corresponding process data structure: Example mappings:

applicationUI.firstName_UI → ${application.client.firstName}
applicationUI.lastName_UI → ${application.client.lastName}
applicationUI.emailAddress_UI → ${application.client.emailAddress}

Test the parameter mappings to ensure data flows correctly

Connect template actions to process

Define process action: In Process Designer, create a new UI action (e.g., saveData)
Link to template: Return to UI Designer, select the action button within the template
Configure action: Click Add UI Action and select your process action
FlowX.AI automatically fills in the action identifier and establishes the connection

Runtime behavior

At runtime, the process engine expands reusable templates by:

Replacing the REUSABLE_TEMPLATE placeholder with the actual component hierarchy
Maintaining proper parent-child relationships
Ensuring unique identifiers for each instance
Preserving configured UI actions and data bindings

Manage templates

View template usage

To see where a template is used:

Go to Reusable Resources > Templates
Select your template
Click the Usages tab
Review all processes and User Tasks using the template

Update templates

When you modify a reusable template:

Changes automatically propagate to all instances
Existing process instances may need to restart for updates
Instance-specific configurations are preserved
The system validates changes to prevent breaking existing implementations

Template updates affect all instances immediately. Test changes thoroughly before saving to avoid disrupting active processes.

Template dependencies

Reusable templates can reference these project resources:

Enumerations

Use for dropdown menus and selection components within your templates

Media items

Include images, documents, and other media assets in your templates

Substitution tags

Add dynamic content that updates based on process context

Themes

Apply consistent styling across all template instances

UI actions in templates

Current capabilities

UI actions in reusable templates support basic interactive functionality. The system handles:

Action context management: Unique identification for template instances
Form submission: Automatic identification of form elements within template context
Data mapping: Proper mapping of data keys to process variables
Validation preservation: Template validation rules are maintained across instances

Planned scenarios

Template-defined actions
Form-centric actions

How it works:

Define a UI action within the reusable template
Assign the node action when instantiated in a User Task
Use for standard actions needing different backend connections

Best for: “Save”, “Submit”, or “Cancel” actions that need process-specific handling

Current limitations

Data model: Input/output parameters are not yet fully available
Complex validation: Advanced data validation scenarios are limited
Cross-template actions: Actions cannot span multiple template instances
Template nesting: Cannot use reusable templates inside other reusable templates

Troubleshooting

Template not displaying

Possible causes:

Invalid template hierarchy
Missing dependencies (enumerations, media, themes)
Insufficient permissions
Invalid component configurations

Solutions:

Verify template structure in the designer
Check all referenced resources exist
Confirm user permissions for template access
Validate component property settings

UI actions not working

Possible causes:

Incorrect action context configuration
Invalid form submission setup
Data model compatibility issues
Missing action permissions

Solutions:

Verify action context is properly set
Check form submission configuration
Ensure data models match between template and process
Review user permissions for action execution

Data binding issues

Possible causes:

Invalid key mappings in template instances
Mismatched process data model structure
Data type incompatibilities
Incorrect substitution tag usage

Solutions:

Validate key mappings match expected data structure
Check process data model compatibility
Ensure data types align between components and data sources
Review substitution tag configurations