Overview
Flow is the engine that runs your integrations. A flow’s purpose is to read data from external sources, transform it, and output it to external destinations. The use of one or more flows is used to build an integration. Integrations are business processes that can be solved by configuring flows.
There are two main aspects of Flows in the Chain.io portal. Configuring Flows to meet integration needs, and reviewing Flow Executions to ensure data is transmitting as expected.
Before we dive in deeper with Flows, it is important to understand that there are two different types of Flows and it is important to distinguish between the two before configuring your Flows.
Send Flow Type
The send flow type is from the perspective of the Workspace host system sending data to another source, therefore it is considered the source system.
Receive Flow Type
The receive flow type is from the perspective of the Workspace host system receiving the data from a source connection, therefore will be the final destination system.
Flow Configuration
After you have selected an Integration that you would like to use, you must add a new Flow. Select Add Flow from the Integrations Setting screen:
From here you are presented with a list of Integration specific flows that you are able to configure. Select the Flow that is applicable for your business needs.
In order to create a valid flow to be used as part of an Integration, you must configure a series of steps which help instruct the flow on how to handle and manage your Integration’s data. Regardless of the flow selected, there will always be a core set of configurations that must be setup before the flow can be put to use.
General
This is where you can name your flow and provide notes and additional support instructions so that users can quickly identify the flow and its intended purpose.
Source System/Source Connection
This is where you identify how to connect the flow to the source system. Prior to flow configuration, you will need to establish Workspace Host Systems (Workspace Settings>Host Systems) and Integration Connections (Settings>Connections>New) to be used.Common ways to connect a flow to a system is API (HTTPS), SFTP, Email, S3, and system specific communication protocols.
Source File Type
This is where you can decide what file type you want to interact with.This is the source system’s data structure that will be invoking the flow to run. Each system’s file type will have its own unique set of configurations that are applicable to the system and flow type being used.
Destination File Type
This is the destination system’s data structure that the final output will end up as. Similar to Source File Type, Destination File Types have their own set of unique configurations.
Destination System/Destination Connection
Similar to Source connection, this is the configuration section in which you are identifying what communication protocol you want to use in order to send the data to the destination system.
Data Store
This unique configuration allows you to interconnect and save data from different flows(and integrations?) and allow them to be retrieved and processed by other flows.
Notifications
This gives you the ability to subscribe so that you can receive notifications for the status of your flow executions. You have the ability to receive emails and/or webhook notifications.
(Should probably link to a user guide on subscribing)
Advanced Options
This gives you additional control over your flows and how frequent they can be executed. Additional features can be found here (link to Advanced Options article).
Save and Deploy Flow
Upon configuring your flow to meet your company’s needs, you have the ability to save and deploy the flow.
Saving Flow
By saving the flow, you are ensuring that the configuration changes are stored within our system so that we remember what settings you have configured. Saving a flow does not mean the flow is in operation. See Save/Deploy Flow Feature for more information.
Deploying Flow
Deploying a flow puts the flow into operation and leverages the configurations to process, transform, and send data out to the destination system.
Related Article: Flow Executions