Running the Debugger From a Process Flow

One of the ways you can use the Process Flow Debugger tool to test a process flow is to run it directly from the Process Flow record. When running the tool from a Process Flow record, you do not need to create an Event Handler to confirm that a process flow is working as expected. When the tool is launched, a window appears that displays the inputs specified on the Process Flows record's Input Properties tab. You can then provide a value for each input, just as if you were configuring an Input Map for a process flow on an Event Handlers or Scheduled Tasks record. The tool executes the process flow using the input values you specified and displays the result code. If the process flow fails, any failure information is saved in the Session Exception viewer.

You can launch the tool from either the Process Flow service or directly from with the Process Flows record itself.

To launch the tool from within a Process Flows record, click the Run icon in the toolbar or select Debug > Run from the main menu.

The Aptify Process Flow Debugger Dialog appears, displaying the input properties for the current process flow.

To launch the tool from a view, click the Run Process Flow icon in the view toolbar.

If you have a process flow already selected in the view, then that process flow automatically appears in the Process Flow field. If applicable, you can clear this field and specify a different process flow in the Process Flow field.

Follow these steps to use the debugger tool from a Process Flows record:

1. Launch the Process Flow Debugger tool either from a Process Flows record or view of Process Flows.
   • When running the tool from a Process Flows record, save the process flow first to ensure that the debugger is using the latest information. If you made changes to the process flow and did not save the record before running the debugger, then the debugger may continue to use the old settings.
     
     
2. If you launched the tool from a view, specify the process flow to run in the Process Flow field. 
   
   
3. Follow these steps to use the debugger tool:
   • Launch the Process Flow Debugger tool either from a Process Flows record or a view of Process Flows.
   • When running the tool from a Process Flows record, save the process flow first to ensure that the debugger is using the latest information. If you made changes to the process flow and did not save the record before running the debugger, then the debugger may continue to use the old settings.
     
     
4. Enter a test value for each of the process flow's inputs.
   • Note that the debugger enforces data type validation for input map values and prompts you if a value you enter is inconsistent with the input property's data type when you attempt to execute a process flow test run.
     
     

5. Click the Run the process flow without stopping icon (the green arrow head in the toolbar) to execute the process flow.

   Note that any action performed by the process flow is applied to the database so this tool should not be run on a production server. 

   
   

   • Alternatively, you can use the debugger tool to set up breakpoints in the process flow and then step through process flow to review the results of a particular step.

   • When you select Run the process flow without stopping, the tool runs the process flow and displays the result code it obtained based on the values you entered. Note that the displayed result code is the Process Flow Result Code for the specific step the test ended on (and not the step's result code).

     

6. Click OK to close the message and return to the debugger tool and review the Step Log information as necessary.

If the process flow failed, follow these general steps to correct the error:

1. Review the Step Log to determine where the error occurred.
2. Close the debugger tool.
   
   
3. If necessary, open the Session Exceptions viewer to review the data log messages generated for more information about this process flow's execution.
   • The Session Exceptions viewer can be accessed from the Aptify > Session Exceptions menu item. See Using the Desktop Client Session Exception Viewer for more information.
     
     
4. Modify the process flow as needed based on the error information.
5. Save the process flow.
6. Rerun the debugger tool to test the process flow again.