How to Create and Run Workflows in Gen 2

How to Find an Automation

To find an existing workflow, click the search icon (magnifying glass) on the Automation Studio homepage. The Collection dialog opens.

Figure 1: Automation Studio Homepage

From the dialog, you can search or browse the collection to select an existing workflow to open. Workflows that have an hourglass icon in their card or list view were built in the Automation Builder Gen 1 interface, while workflows without an icon in their title were built using Automation Builder Gen 2. Each will open in the appropriate editor version when clicked.

Figure 2: Workflows Collection

Below is a sample of the Generation 2 Automation Builder canvas, along with a reference table that highlights the various menu views and functions.

Figure 1: Gen 2 Automation Canvas

Creating Automations

In this example, the Gen 2 Automation Builder interface will be used to produce an automation that performs simple data manipulation and displays the result to the user.

Create a new automation by clicking New Component in the Generic Actions Menu (labeled 1 in the Automation Canvas overview above). Fill out the creation dialog by selecting Automation as the component type to create. Enter a name and click the Generation 2 option for builder generation.

Figure 2: Create Automation

After clicking Create, you will be redirected to the Automation Studio Editor Page with a new tab containing a blank automation.

Figure 3: Blank Automation

Hover over the second Transition Arrow to reveal the Transition Edit Widget. Click the widget to open a fly-out menu, and select the Insert Node option.

Figure 4: Widget Menu

This option will create a new empty task between the End task and the empty task that was provided with the empty automation.

Figure 5: Inserted Node

Click the first empty task to select it, and the Task Browser menu will populate the right-hand sidebar. This menu contains all tasks that are currently available in IAP. Use the Search Bar to find the arrayConcat task from Workflow Engine.

Figure 6: Search Task Browser Menu

Click the arrayConcat task to assign it to the currently selected empty task node.

Figure 7: Assign First Task (arrayConcat)

Repeat this process for the second task node to assign the ViewData task.

Figure 8: Assign Second Task (ViewData)

Select the arrayConcat task on the canvas. The Edit Task menu will populate the right-hand sidebar. Select the Variables tab. This will display the inputs available on the task in expandable accordion panels. The first variable (arr) will be expanded by default; leave its Reference Task setting on Static, select the radio button next to the text editor, and enter the input [1,2,3] into the text editor.

Figure 9: Configure Task Variables

Next, select the arrayN panel, and then select Static in the Reference Task dropdown. Enter09 the input [4,5,6] into the text editor.

Figure 10: Set Reference Task

With arrayConcat configured, move on to ViewData. Click the ViewData task on the canvas to select it, and choose the Variables tab again. Enter a value for the header (string), body (string), and btn_success (string).

Figure 11: Edit ViewData Header

For the input body and btn_success variable, select the name of the arrayConcat task in the Reference Task dropdown to use its output as the incoming value. Leave the Reference Variable setting as the default,combinedArray. Click the Save Button to retain all your inputs.

Figure 12: Edit ViewData Body

Running the Automation

At this point, the automation is ready to run by clicking the Save & Run button. A green success toast will pop-up and confirm the action in the top-right of the screen, and a Job Options dialog will open.

Figure 13: Save & Run Automation

From the Job Options dialog, complete the optional Description and Groups fields, if desired, and then click Start to launch the job.

Figure 14: Start Job

In the resulting confirmation dialog, click View Job to open the Jobs (formerly Job Manager) interface within Operations Manager.

Figure 15: View Job

From here, the execution of the job is visible, and the ViewData task may be worked. Click the Work Task button on the ViewData task line to open the ViewData dialog.

Figure 16: Work Task in Jobs (Operations Manager)

Confirm that the body contains an array from one through six, then click the button containing the array [1,2,3,4,5,6] to confirm the ViewData task and allow the automation to complete, as indicated by the green status indicator in the upper-right corner.

Figure 17: Confirm Task

Figure 18: Automation Complete

Automation Metadata

To edit your automation settings, click the ellipsis button (labeled 6 in the Automation Canvas view) and select the menu option View metadata. The Automation Metadata drawer will open from the top, allowing you to enter a new name and description, and add or remove groups and tags.

Figure 19: Automation Metadata

Input and Output Schemas

The Input and Output Schema tabs in the Console Drawer each display a JSON schema describing the expected structure of input parameters to the automation as well as the expected structure of the output of the automation. Job variables can also be masked from here.

Figure 20: Input Schema

Figure 21: Input Schema with Masking

Figure 22: OutPut Schema