Automations
Automations allow you to design JSON messaging workflows that support a rich set of communication protocols. With a simple set of tools, you can leverage yourFME Flowto receive and send messages, and runworkspaces on demand. This powerful combination allows you to control complex data flow patterns in your enterprise.
Automations are comprised of three primary components:
- Triggers: Listen for and receive messages from external clients or from withinFME Flow.
- External Actions: Send messages to external clients or insideFME Flow.
- Actions: Process messages between triggers and external actions, either in an FMEworkspace, or through another tool.
的example below illustrates a simple workflow comprised of a trigger that receives an email, an action to run aworkspace, and an array of external actions that sends emails depending on theworkspaceresults. AnEmail Received (IMAP)trigger sends messages to aRunWorkspaceaction whenever an email from a specified IMAP server host is received. Theworkspacevalidates features in a file attached to the email, and reads features that pass validation into a database. The automation proceeds with separate年代end an Emailexternal actions based on the results of the validation in theRunWorkspaceaction. One email sends details about features that passed validation and were read into the database, including details on feature type attributes. Another email sends details about features that failed validation. As well, two additional emails are sent depending on whether theworkspacecompleted successfully or not. Finally, metadata about anyEmail Receivedtriggers that fail to fetch emails is logged.
Mouse-over to view:
Getting Started with Automations
年代tart a new Automations workflow from the Get Started, Create Automation, or Manage Automations page. (To use an existing automation as a starting point, select it from the Manage Automations page, clickActions>Duplicate, and open the duplicated automation.)
To start, one undefined Trigger and "Next Action" (which can be either an action or external action) are placed on the workflow area. As you continue to define the workflow, additional "Next Action" components are added.
Alternatively, to add additional components, expand. Double-click or click-and-drag from one of the applicable icons.
- Define Components
- Parameters: The settings required for the Trigger to function as desired.
- Output Attributes: The JSON key-value pairs to include in the outgoing message. By default, all attributes are included. Optionally, you can create your own attributes. For more information, seeWorking with Output Attributes in Automations Workflows.
- Parameters: The settings that are required for the action to function as desired.
- Output Attributes: The JSON key-value pairs to include in the outgoing message. By default, all attributes are included. Optionally, you can create your own attributes. For more information, seeWorking with Output Attributes in Automations Workflows.
- Advanced: Run options forworkspaces.
- Retry: Settings that control attempts to run the action again in case of failure to connect to an external resource.
- Parameters: The settings required for the External Action to function as desired.
- Output Attributes: The JSON key-value pairs to include in the outgoing message. By default, all attributes are included. Optionally, you can create your own attributes. For more information, seeWorking with Output Attributes in Automations Workflows.
- Retry: Settings that control attempts to run the action again in case of failure to connect to an external resource.
- 年代ave, Name, and Tag the Workflow
- 年代tart the Workflow
Define triggers, actions, and external actions, as desired.
Double-click the trigger icon you want to define. Under Trigger Details, expand年代elect a Trigger Eventand make a selection. For information about each trigger, including how to configure, seeAutomations Triggers.
Configure the following:
For more information, see the documentation for the specified trigger underAutomations Triggers.
Double-click theNext Actionicon. Under Next Action Details, expand年代elect an Actionand make a selection under Actions. For information about each action, including how to configure, seeAutomations Actions.
的canvas automatically connects your action to the previous component in the workflow. However, if connections are not specified, click an output port of an upstream component and an input port of the action. Alternatively, click and drag a connection line between ports.
Configure the following, where applicable:
For more information, see the documentation for the specified action underAutomations Actions.
Double-click theNext Actionicon. Under Next Action Details, expand年代elect an Actionand make a selection under External Actions. For information about each external action, including how to configure, seeAutomations External Actions.
的canvas automatically connects your external action to the previous component in the workflow. However, if connections are not specified, click an output port of an upstream component and an input port of the external action. Alternatively, click and drag a connection line between ports.
Configure the following:
For more information, see the documentation for the specified external action underAutomations External Actions.
Click the Save icon, or SelectMenu>年代ave As. In the Save As dialog, specify aNameand one or moreTags(optional), and clickOK.
Workflows do not listen for incoming messages or run until you click年代tart Automation. Alternatively, you can start or stop workflows on the Manage Automations page.
Other Tasks - Building Workflows
To run a workflow on demand
You can create a workflow that does not respond to any incoming message or schedule, but runs on demand, and allows you the option to pass in sample JSON data. This type of workflow uses aManual Triggerin place of one of the other trigger options. Manual triggers are useful when you want to test a workflow before you create one that receives real, incoming messages.
To enable looping in workflows
When looping is enabled, you can draw connections from downstream output ports back to the input ports of upstream components. Looping is a useful mechanism for creating process manager patterns in your workflows. For more information, seeLooping Data between Workspaces. On the canvas, loops appear as dotted connection lines.
To enable looping, select使循环from the canvas menu. This setting applies to the current workflow, as well as subsequent workflows that you open.
To disable looping, selectDisable Loopingfrom the canvas menu. Any existing loops remain in place.
To annotate a workflow
Annotate your workflow with comments. Select a component, right-click, and selectAdd Annotation. Alternatively, expandand drag from the Annotation icon onto the component. To add an annotation that is not connected to a component, unselect all components, and add an annotation onto a blank area of the canvas.
To add bookmarks to a workflow
Group related components together in bookmarks. Right-click on the canvas and select添加书签, or expand并从书签图标拖放到画布上。Update the text of the bookmark header, drag the bookmark over the components you want to group, and resize as desired. To change the color of the bookmark, right-click and selectChange Color.
To cut, copy, paste, or remove components in a workflow
On the canvas, right-click on the components and selectCut,Copy,Paste, or删除. Standard browser-based keyboard shortcuts, such as Ctrl + c, may also apply.
To disable or re-enable components in a workflow
Disabled components do not run as part of a workflow. On the canvas, select one or more components, right-click and selectDisable. To re-enable, right-click and selectEnable.
To add or remove a tag from a workflow
On the canvas, selectMenu>年代ave As. In the Save As dialog, configure the tags as desired, and clickOK.
Alternatively, on the Manage Automations page, select one or more worflows, and selectActions>Edit Tags.
Managing Automations
To start or stop a workflow
Workflows do not listen for incoming messages or run until they are started, and they cannot be edited until they are stopped. On the Manage Automations page, select a workflow, and selectActions > Startor停止.
To view event counts
FME Flowrecords asevent countsthe number of times a node in your automation runs. Event counts are visible on connection lines. In this example, both theFME Flow年代chedule trigger and the Run aWorkspaceaction have run ten times since the automation started:
Event counts automatically refresh every ten seconds. To expedite a refresh, clickRefresh.
Once an automation is stopped, the final event counts display. These final event counts are removed and reset when any of the following occurs:
- 的automation is restarted.
- A connection is updated or removed. Only event counts of downstream nodes are affected.
- 的parameters of a node are updated, or a node is removed, disabled, or enabled. Only event counts of downstream nodes are affected.
To open or edit an existing workflow
On the Manage Automations page, click on the workflow you want to open or edit.
To change the name of a workflow
- On the Manage Automations page, select a workflow, and selectActions > Rename.
- On the Create page of a workflow:
- Click on the workflow name (besideMenu) to edit.
- 年代electMenu > Rename.
To remove a workflow
On the Manage Automations page, select a workflow, and selectActions > Remove.
To share a workflow
On the Manage Automations page, click the Share with Others icon. Or, on the Create page of a workflow, selectMenu>年代hare. Through sharing, you can grant levels of permissions on an item to other users. You can share an item if you own it, or if you are a user with Manage permission in Security, such as an administrator. For more information about sharing and ownership, seeRole-Based and User-Based Access Control.
年代haring an automation may require granting additional permissions to other components in the automation, such as access to a repository to run aworkspace. If these permissions are not already granted,FME Flowattempts to grant them. On the Sharing Options dialog, you can view the additional permissions that are required on the automation.
To view jobs triggered by a workflow
- On the Manage Automations page, select a workflow, and selectActions > View Triggered Jobs.
- On the Create page of a workflow, selectMenu > View Triggered Jobs.
To create an automation app from a workflow
年代elect an automation that contains aManual Trigger, clickActions, and selectCreate Automation App.
Viewing Automations
的Manage Automations page lists all the automations created on yourFME Flow.
的columns displayed on this page are:
- Name: The user-defined name of the automation.
- Tags: The tags assigned to the automation, if any. For more information, seeTo filter the list of workflows, below.
- Last Updated: The time when the automation was last updated, using the following syntax:
- 年代tarted: Whether the automation is started or not. Automations do not listen for incoming messages or run until they are explicitly started.
- 老板: The user who created the automation and has full permissions on it.
- 年代tatus: The current status of the automation.
- 年代hare: To share an automation, click the Share with Others icon. For more information, seeTo share a workflow.
- Id: The system-generated ID of the automation. To copy, click the Copy to Clickboard icon.
year-month-day hour:minute:second
To filter the list of workflows
- To apply a filter: On the Manage Automations page, expand theFiltersbar.
- To add (or remove) tags: Use tags to organize workflows into meaningful categories on which you can filter. On the Manage Automations page, selectManage Tags.
Working with Automation Logs
Automation logs record all activities performed on workflows.
To view an Automation log
You can view all activity of an automation. You can view the full contents of an automation log, or only since the automation was last started.
- On the Manage Automations page, do one of the following:
- 年代elect a workflow and clickActions>View Log File.
- Click an Error or Warning icon under the Status column of a corresponding workflow. The log opens with "Filter errors" or "Filter warnings" set, respectively.
- On the Create page of a workflow, selectView Log Filefrom the menu.
On the Automation Log page, use the toolbar to filter the log onLog a Messageaction, error, warning, or information messages. You can also:
- Display only log messages from when the automation was last started.
- Hide or display timestamps.
- Reverse the chronological order of log messages.
- Refresh the log display.
To download an Automation log
On an Automation Log page, clickDownload Logand select:
- Download Full Log: Downloads the full automation log
- Download Filtered Log: Downloads the log according to any filters you applied to the log view (see above).
To configure how long to keep Automation logs
On the年代cheduled Cleanupspage, you can configure how long, in general, to keep Automation log messages. By default, messages in Automation logs older than two weeks are removed.