Creating flows from templates

To create a flow from a template, complete the following steps:

1. From the navigation pane in App Connect Designer, click the Discover icon to open the Discover page. (In a Designer instance at version 13.0.4.2-r1 or earlier, click the Templates icon to open the Templates gallery.)

   Each template is represented as a tile with a title that summarizes the purpose of the template.

   

2. To search for an appropriate template, use the search field to filter by application name, object, event, or action. As you type your search query, the list of matching templates is updated.

   For example, type Salesforce to show all templates that contain a Salesforce event or action. Or type sync to show all templates that help to synchronize your data between applications.

   You can click any tile to view the following details about the template: the template title and description, a preview of the flow (in App Connect Designer 12.0.12.4-r1 or later only), and the usage instructions. To return to the Discover page, you can either click the Discover breadcrumb or the Discover icon . (To return to the Templates gallery in a Designer instance at version 13.0.4.2-r1 or earlier, you can either click the Templates breadcrumb or the Templates icon .)

   

   Tip: If you want to refer to an external copy of the usage instructions while editing the flow, click the GitHub page link in the How to use this template section to open the GitHub page where the instructions are stored.
3. To create a flow from the template that you are viewing, click Use this template (or Create flow in older Designer versions).

   If you imported an event-driven flow, the flow opens in the flow editor. If you imported an API flow, the API editor displays any defined models (and operations) in the Designer tab in an IBM Cloud Pak for Integration deployment, or the Define tab in an independent deployment of the IBM App Connect Operator. The flow name is inherited from the template title. If a flow with an identical name is present in your Designer instance (for example, Add a card to a list in Trello when a new lead is added in Marketo), the new flow is renamed by appending _n to its name, where n is a number starting from 1 (for example, Add a card to a list in Trello when a new lead is added in Marketo_1).

   The imported flow is automatically validated and highlights any validation errors with a warning icon on any application or toolbox nodes. Validation errors typically indicate that you need to connect to an account, or to complete the configuration of a node.

4. Event-driven flow: Validate the flow definition and customize the flow if required.
   1. Resolve any validation errors as described in Validating that your flow is ready to run. Also ensure that the preferred accounts are selected for the event and each action.
   2. Optional: Customize the existing nodes and add more nodes to the flow if required.
      Tip: You can use auto-generated or custom sample data to try out (or test) any configured action and verify its effect. To verify that the configured nodes in a flow collectively produce the expected results, you can also try out the flow before you start it. For more information, see Testing a non-running flow with sample data.
   3. Start the flow by clicking the Start flow button (or by selecting Start flow from the flow menu in older Designer versions).
5. API flow: Validate the settings for each model and its operations, and customize the flow if required.
   1. From the Define or Designer tab, click the Operations tab for a model.
   2. For each operation, edit the flow as follows to review its configuration and resolve any validation errors:
      1. Click Edit flow.
      2. Ensure that the preferred accounts are selected for each action.
      3. Resolve any validation errors as described in Validating that your flow is ready to run.
      4. Optional: Customize the existing nodes if required.
      5. After updating the operation, click Done.
   3. Optional: Add more operations to the flow if required.
      Tip: You can use auto-generated or custom sample data to try out (or test) any configured action and verify its effect. To verify that the configured nodes in a flow collectively produce the expected results, you can also try out the flow before you start it. For more information, see Testing a non-running flow with sample data.
   4. After you validate all your models and operations, start the API as follows:
      • If your App Connect Designer instance is running in an IBM Cloud Pak for Integration deployment, set the Stopped/Started switch to on. A Test tab is automatically added after the Gateway tab to use for testing the API within your Designer instance.
        
      • If your App Connect Designer instance is running in an independent deployment of the IBM App Connect Operator, click the Start API button (or select Start API from the flow menu in older Designer versions). The status of the flow is updated to Running.
        
6. Test the running flow as follows:
   • Event-driven flow: In your source application, complete the event activity that triggers the flow and then verify that you can see the expected results in the target applications. For more information, see Testing a running event-driven flow.
   • API flow: Test each operation by using the built-in test facility, and review the responses to verify the behavior of the flow. You can optionally check for the expected results in the target applications. For more information, see Testing a running API flow.