Configuring Element Specific Properties

Each element in a Process might include element specific configuration which changes depending on the element type you are using, and example of this could be for example configuring the location of a file that you want to read.

Frends provides multiple different ways to enter element specific properties, which depend on the element used.

Entering Element Specific Properties

For each property you will be provided with a field for the property input and a label describing what the input should be for each property. This description label can also be hovered with a mouse to reveal additional information on how to correctly configure said property.

Parameter Input Modes

When entering the input for a parameter you will be given the option to specify what kind of data you are giving as an input using the input type selector.

Text Input Mode

When using the text input mode you can enter free-form text as your given input. This input can be modified using the standardised {{ handlebar }} notation of Frends. For example one could give a file name with the current day in the format:

file_{{DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd")}}.xml

Which would result in an input of for example file_20230317.xml.

XML Input Mode

The XML input mode allows you to enter valid XML as the input instead of free-form text. The advantage of this is that it provides on the fly validation for the given XML and allows for easier editing of the formatted data. The XML input mode can also be modified using the standardized {{ handlebar }} notation. For example you could inject the current date to a structured XML with the following input:

<note>
    <to>Tove</to>
    <from>Jani</from>
    <heading>Reminder</heading>
    <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
  <date>{{DateTime.Now.ToString()}}</date>
</note>

Which would result in an XML input of:

<note>
    <to>Tove</to>
    <from>Jani</from>
    <heading>Reminder</heading>
    <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
  <date>2023-03-17T12:00:00.000Z</date>
</note>

JSON Input Mode

The JSON input mode works exactly the same as the XML input mode in that regard that you can enter structured JSON data which can then be modified by injecting dynamic data using the {{ handlebar }} notation. For example:

{
  "note": {
    "to": "Tove",
    "from": "Jani",
    "heading": "Reminder",
    "body": "Don't forget me this weekend!",
    "date": "{{DateTime.Now.ToString()}}"
  }
}

Would result in a JSON input:

{
  "note": {
    "to": "Tove",
    "from": "Jani",
    "heading": "Reminder",
    "body": "Don't forget me this weekend!",
    "date": "2023-03-17T12:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

SQL Input Mode

As with the JSON and XML input modes the SQL input mode allows you to enter structured SQL as an input which can then be modified using the {{ handlebar }} notation.

Expression Editor Input Mode

The expression editor input mode gives you full control over the input you are giving to a specific Task. This means that you can enter C# code in the expression editor to convert other incoming dynamic data to a format that is supported by the Task. The {{ handlebar }} notation does not work with the expression editor, but you can instead access all of the Process related variables straight in the editor without the handlebars.

Using the Parameter Editor

References

JSON to JSON mapping using Handlebars Task

Introduction to Handlebars

Example on Handlebar use cases