Running and debugging service flows

You can develop your service flow as an iterative process that includes several playback sessions. If errors occur, you can debug the service flow in the Inspector.

Before you begin

Important: Ensure that your browser is configured to allow pop-ups from the host on which the Business Automation Studio is installed. Because the playback window opens as a pop-up window, you might receive an error message if your web browser is configured to block pop-ups.

Running service flows

About this task

Each playback session runs the service flow from the beginning to the end. The playback window informs you when the service flow completes.

Procedure

To run the service flow, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the service flow that you want to run.
  2. Click Run Run in the toolbar.

Results

A playback window displays a confirmation message that the service flow completed successfully.

Debugging service flows

About this task

If an error occurs while the service flow is running, you can debug the service flow in the Inspector and examine how the service flow operates in each step of its execution.

Using the Inspector, you can step through the service flow activities to observe how the service flow behaves as it runs. The Inspector pauses the execution of the service flow before each step and displays the variable values at each point. If an error occurs, the debugging capability helps you to identify which step is at fault. The error message is displayed in the playback window and on the sidebar in the Inspector.

Procedure

To debug the service flow, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the service flow.
  2. Click Debug Debug in the toolbar.
    The Inspector opens in the browser window, pausing on the first step after the Start event.
  3. Examine the variable values at that point. When you are ready to move on to the next activity in the service flow, click Step Over Step Over.
    As the execution progresses, indicators mark the progress of the service flow execution in the diagram.
  4. If the service flow includes a linked service, when the service flow execution stops at the linked service node, you can click Step Into Step Into to step into the linked service and debug it.
    When the linked service flow completes successfully, the execution moves to the next step in the parent service flow.
    Tip: If you are interested in the execution state at a particular step and don't want to follow the progress of the execution up to that step, you can use breakpoints. This saves you from pressing Step into or Step over several times. See Debugging flows by using breakpoints.
  5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 until you complete the service flow. Or, you can click Run and stop on breakpoint to continue the debugging session until an enabled breakpoint is encountered or the service flow terminates. You can also click Terminate to cancel the debugging session before the service flow reaches the end.
  6. When you're done, or you want to edit the service, click "Inspector mode" icon in the status bar.