Basic operations

Change the name of a Flow

To change the name of a Flow, double-click on the Flow canvas to open its properties window, or go to File → Edit Properties. Enter the new name and click Apply.

Open a Flow

If this is the first time accessing Flow, go to Open… from the homepage.

If you already have a Flow open, click File → Open option in the toolbar to access the open menu.

You will see a list of all the Flows, Instances, and Templates in your domain. Tick those you wish to open. Alternatively, expand the filters to filter by Name, Creator, Type, or Status (Running, Stopped, or Unloaded).

When you already have a Flow open, the Open on a new tab option is checked by default. Uncheck it if you want to open the chosen Flow on the current tab.

You can also reopen recent Flows using the Recents button in the File menu.

Save a Flow

Make the necessary changes in your Flow and click Save to record the last version. A confirmation message will appear at the top left corner of the window.

Alternatively, go to File → Save flow on server.

Work with multiple Flows

To allow users to switch between different Flows, compare content from different Flows or show specific related information in different graphs, The Flow Editor allows you to add as many Flows as needed on different tabs.

• When you access the Flow Editor in a new session, you will see a single Unnamed tab, in Scratch status (orange). You can start working on this tab and then rename it and save your Flow.

• When you clone a Flow or create a new Flow on the current tab, you will be able to choose if you want to create it in the current tab or in a new one. If you do not choose this option, the new Flow will replace the current content. For this reason, remember to save your Flow before creating a new one on the current tab. Otherwise, the current content will disappear.

• When you open an already existing Flow on the current tab, you will be able to choose if you want to open it in the current tab or in a new one. If you decide to open it on the current tab, it will replace the current content. For this reason, remember to save your Flow before opening another Flow on the current tab. Otherwise, the current content will disappear.

• You can drag and drop these tabs to reorder them as desired.

• Right-click a tab to close tabs in two ways:

  • Close others: click this option to close all other tabs except the one you have selected.

  • Close to the right: choose this option to close all tabs to the right of the one you have selected.

Start and stop a Flow

Once you have defined your Flow, click the Start button in the toolbar to run it and start streaming and processing your data. The Flow status will turn to Running. To stop it, just click the Stop button next to it. The Flow status will turn to Stopped.

Reset a Flow

Some Flow units have an internal status that defines their current condition. For example, the status of the DevoSource unit is the date of the last event it processes.

You can click the Reset button in the toolbar to reset the internal status of all the units in your Flow. This means that all the units that have an internal status will return to its default condition.

Unload a Flow

You can click the Unload button in the toolbar to unload a saved Flow from the server. This may come in handy if you have multiple Flows and you want to free some resources in the server by unloading Flows that you are not currently using. When you unload your Flow, its status will switch to Unloaded.

Delete a Flow

To delete a Flow from your domain, just click the Delete icon in the toolbar. The flow status will automatically turn to Scratch and it will not be available to choose it from your flow list the next time you try to access it.

Clone a Flow

To clone your Flow, go to File → Save as → Flow. A window will appear prompting you to enter the name for the clone. Enter the name, click Apply and the cloned Flow will open.

Alternatively, you can clone a Flow from the Flow Manager.

Import a Flow

Go to File → Import from JSON to import a new Flow from a JSON file from your local machine.

A window will appear prompting you to enter the name for the new Flow. The new Flow will be created on a different tab by default. Uncheck the Open on a new tab option if you want to replace the current Flow. Remember that it will be deleted if you don't save it before. 

Export a Flow

Go to File → Export to JSON in the toolbar to export the current Flow in JSON format.

Create variables

instead of having to write out a value every time you want to use it, Devo Flow allows you to create variables that you can insert into free text fields of units.

For example, let's say you already know you are going to use a query various times in your Flow. Create a variable for this by:

1. In your Flow window, click File → Variables.

   

2. In the Variables window, click Add variable to create a new one.

3. Give it a name, description and choose a Type.

4. In the Value field, enter the value that will be inserted into any free text field.

5. Select Confirm to save and the variable is ready to use.

   

Insert variables

Once your variable has been created, it is ready to use in free text fields of any unit. To do so:

1. Drag and drop the unit to the workspace.

2. Open the unit properties by double-clicking it.

3. Find where you wish to enter the variable and use the following syntax, replacing variable with the name you provided it:

#{variable}

In this way, we can streamline the process without having to rewrite the value one by one in various units.

Undo and redo actions

Use the Undo and Redo options in the Edit toolbar to undo changes in your Flow or redo any action.

Clear your Flow

Remove all the units and links from your Flow by clicking the Delete option in the Edit toolbar.

Print your Flow

Click the Print option in the File toolbar to print a static version of your Flow diagram.