Managing flows
You can complete a range of tasks to manage your event-driven flows and API flows.
Each event-driven or API flow that you create is added as a tile to your App Connect on IBM Cloud® dashboard. A flow’s tile contains an options menu [⋮] that you can use to manage that flow.
As you accumulate more flows, you might also want to search for a particular flow on occasion, or sort your flows in a useful way. You can use the search and sort widgets in the banner area.
You can also share your flows with other App Connect users by exporting flows and importing flows. For example, you can move a flow from one developer to another, or from a test to a production App Connect instance. You can also export API flows from IBM® App Connect on IBM Cloud to App Connect Enterprise in a containerized environment. For more information about sharing flows, see Exporting and importing flows.
Event-driven flows and API flows are hosted on a multi-tenant environment that uses a number of replicas that are managed by IBM.
As a normal part of on cloud operations, regular updates are applied without prior customer notification; these updates do not affect usage or availability of your App Connect service. In the rare case that there is to be a major outage, where the hosting environment will not be available for a long time, a maintenance notice is sent to all customers at least 7 days before the outage is to occur.
Information about common basic tasks is given in the following sections. For information about other tasks for managing flows, see the subtopics.
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If all the nodes in a flow pass validation, you can start the flow directly from the Dashboard, or from the flow editor. Flows marked as incomplete cannot be started. You can also stop a running flow (from the Dashboard or flow editor) if you need to edit the flow, no longer want it to be triggered, or want to delete it. To start or stop a flow, complete either of the following actions:
- From the App Connect Dashboard, locate the flow that you want to start or stop. Then, open the
flow’s options menu [⋮] and select the action that you want to take:
- From the flow editor, start or stop the flow by using the flow editor’s options menu [⋮]. The
following example shows the options to stop a running flow. If the flow is in edit mode; you can use
the options that are shown to start the flow.
- From the App Connect Dashboard, locate the flow that you want to start or stop. Then, open the
flow’s options menu [⋮] and select the action that you want to take:
To change the configuration of an existing flow or complete a draft flow, complete the following steps:
- Complete either of these actions:
- From the App Connect Dashboard, locate the flow that you want to edit. If the flow is shown as
running, stop the flow by using the flow’s options menu [⋮]. To open the flow in edit mode, either
click anywhere on the flow’s tile, or open the flow’s options menu [⋮] and select the option to edit
the flow.
- If you are currently viewing a running flow, stop the flow by using the flow editor’s options
menu [⋮].
- From the App Connect Dashboard, locate the flow that you want to edit. If the flow is shown as
running, stop the flow by using the flow’s options menu [⋮]. To open the flow in edit mode, either
click anywhere on the flow’s tile, or open the flow’s options menu [⋮] and select the option to edit
the flow.
- For an event-driven flow, change the apps, the events and actions, the fields that are matched, or the name of the flow. Changing the name of the flow does not create a new copy of the flow. For an API flow, click the Operations tab, and then click the Edit flow button for the operation you want to edit. Then, change the apps, the actions, or the fields that are matched. Also, change the name of the flow if required.
- Complete either of these actions:
If you want to examine how a running flow is configured without first stopping the flow, you can view the flow’s configuration in read-only mode as follows:
- From the App Connect Dashboard, locate the flow that you want to view.
- Click anywhere on the flow’s tile. Alternatively, open the flow’s options menu [⋮] and select
the option to view the flow:
- For an event-driven flow, select View.
- For an API flow, select Open, click the Operations tab, and then click View flow for the operation you want to view.
If you want to edit the flow, you need to first stop the flow by using the flow editor’s options menu [⋮].
By default, flows in the App Connect Dashboard are sorted alphabetically in name order, but you can change the sort order to view flows in date order. To sort your flows in the Dashboard, click Sort flows
, and then
choose the required option: - Name: Sorts flows in alphabetical name order.
- Date created: Sorts flows in the order in which they were created, with the most recent displayed first.
- Date modified: Sorts flows in the order in which they were last edited.
You can also use the Search box to filter your flows by name; for example, as shown in the following figure.
To delete a flow that is no longer required, complete the following steps:
- From the App Connect Dashboard, locate the flow that you want to delete. If the flow is shown as running, stop the flow by using the flow’s options menu [⋮].
- From the flow’s options menu [⋮], select the option to delete the flow.