Frends Tasks are configured in the user interface, stored in the database and executed as a part of a Process on the Frends Agent.
Frends Tasks are the building blocks with which you build Frends Processes. They are meant to be reusable microservice like components which can be utilized for connector like actions by parametrization.
For example, a Frends Task could read files from a directory and another Task could write something to a database. By then connecting these two Tasks together you can create an integration Process which reads files and writes the contents to a database consisting of two Tasks.
When developing Frends Processes, Tasks are added from the Toolbar on the left choosing Create Task and dragging the Task to the Canvas. Tasks can be also added from an existing Element on the Canvas by selecting Append Task from the Tooltip.
Configuring Frends Tasks
Before you can use Frends Tasks to build an integration Process, you need to configure them according to the specific Task you are using. This configuration changes depending on what Task you are using.
As an example configuring a Task to read files would require you to give the file name and directory location while a Task to write to a database would require you to specify the SQL query that will be used for the write operation.
All the configuration is done using the Frends Parameter Editor.
Available Tasks
There is a good amount of ready made Frends Tasks that cover many common use cases. The list of provided Frends Tasks and their source code can be found on GitHub. The easiest way to access compiled NuGet packages, outside of Frends is through Gallery in MyGet.
In addition, anybody can release their packages to use with Frends. Collection of these packages can be found on GitHub too. Only limited support is provided for these community packages. Also, a Community Task can be found in MyGet.
In some Frends Environments old Task packages called common components and simple Tasks are installed. They are documented here. However, it is strongly advised to use newer Frends Task or Community Tasks.
Custom Tasks
If ready made Tasks don't cover your needs, you can easily create your own. Read more here.
Referencing Task results
The Task result or output depends on the functionality and it can be referenced by using the #result reference. Task result information can be found on the Task Parameter Editor.
The next article is Introduction to Code Statement