This article provides the information and resources to support the task of using the flow designer.

What Is A Data Flow?

Fuuz data flows are flow-based programming models used to implement business logic. 

Data flows can run behind the scenes on a schedule or in response to events.

They can call Fuuz APIs to create, update, or delete data.

They can call out to external systems

They can publish events that execute other flows. 

In this way, complex business processes can be implemented in a way that is simple to understand, enhance, and maintain.

Data Flow Designer

The Flow Designer is an integrated drag-and-drop system used to create, edit, and configure data flows.

Visually, a data flow consists of nodes (the colored boxes) connected by links (the gray lines). 

The nodes each perform some action on the data moving through the flow.

The links indicate how the data moves through the flow.

The Flow Designer interface is made of four major sections:

• Toolbox

• Diagram

• Editor Panel

• Console

Toolbox

The Toolbox is on the left side of the Flow Designer. 

To create new nodes in the flow, find the type of node to create and drag it onto the diagram. 

Nodes are organized and color coded by category. 

If the Toolbox is not needed, it can be collapsed using the vertical gray bar on the right side of the Toolbox, or through a hotkey (alt-1).

Diagram

In the center of the Flow Designer is the Diagram. It supports interactions and hotkeys to make editing a diagram simple. 

Change the view by using the scroll wheel to zoom in and out, or by clicking and dragging on the background to pan.  

Select and move nodes by clicking and dragging.

Clicking will select a node, selecting nodes while holding the Shift key will add more nodes to the current selection. 

Create links clicking and dragging between the gray ports. 

Use standard hotkeys to cut (Ctrl-X), copy (Ctrl-C), and paste (Ctrl-V) your selection, including between different windows and between entirely different flows. It is possible to copy common sets of nodes between flows, rather than re-creating each node each time.

Editor Panel

The Editor Panel is to the right of the Diagram. 

This panel displays data about the currently selected node. The information includes documentation on what the node does and how to configure it. The information also includes details such as the name and the node's configuration data, which controls the behavior.  

As with the other panels, this panel can be resized or collapsed using the handle on the left or by using a hotkey (alt-2).

Console

On the right side of the Editor Panel is the Console. The console displays debugging information for the flow, including the input and output data for each node. 

The console can be filtered by text or by entry type. It can be configured to automatically filter by selected nodes. 

Like the other panels, the console can be resized or collapsed using the gray handle or a hotkey (alt-3). 

In addition, the console can be popped out into a new tab using the button in the upper right corner, which allows the console to be moved to a secondary monitor.

Deploying Flows

Deploying a flow runs the version being deployed in the back-end, so it will continue to run after closing the designer.

Deploying a version creates a new deployment record for that flow. 

Each data flow can have many versions, including undeployed versions. That means two people could have different versions of a flow or could create and deploy a quick fix while keeping bigger changes separate.

Once a version is deployed, that version is locked, which means any edits must be saved as a new version. Locking the version ensures the administrators can always look through the deployment history and see exactly what was deployed, when, and by whom, without worrying about any changes made since it was deployed.

At any point, a flow can be deactivated, which will disable the deployed version. Deploying an inactive flow will have no effect until the flow is enabled.

Importing And Exporting Flows

Exporting a flow downloads the definition of the flow in a JSON file, which can be placed in source control or an external backup. 

That flow definition can then be imported into other flows or other Fuuz instances.

Flow Designer Settings

The Flow Designer settings affect the behavior of the visual designer, but have no impact on the flow after it is deployed.

Node Execution Delay 

• Adds an artificial delay to the execution of each node

• It can sometimes be useful to slow down flow execution to make the flow easier to follow

Auto-Clear Console

• When checked, the console will automatically be cleared each time a Debug Source node is executed 

• The data displayed in the console will be from the most recent execution

Auto-Filter Logs 

• When checked, the console automatically filters to display only output from the currently selected node or nodes

List Of Node Types

• Conditional Data Flow Node Types

• Data Flow Node Types

• Integration Data Flow Nodes

• Flow Control Data Flow Nodes

• Event Data Flow Nodes

• Context Data Flow Nodes

• Debugging Data Flow Node Types