Flow Builder

Learn About Flow Resources and Variables

• In flows, Resources are placeholders similar to merge fields in an email template or formula.
  • Ex: starting an email with “Hi {!User.FirstName}”, so that when it is sent it displays the actual first name of the user.
• Basic kinds of flow resources:
  • Constant: fixed value
  • Choice, Picklist Choice Set, or Record Choice Set: represent an option in a screen component
    • Choice sets generate choices for you by using a filtered list of records or the values of a picklist (or multi-select picklist) in your org
  • Variables: placeholders for values that aren’t known yet
    • Create variables when a vlaue can differ based on certain conditions. For example, when the value depends on which record the flow operates on or the result of some logic in the flow.
    • We can’t reference a field from Salesforce records directly, so the field needs to be stored in a flow using a variable.
• A choice set can generate options with: Filtered records or Picklist field values
• A variable: stores a value that you can change in the flow

Create a Variable

• Many types of data can be stored in variables:
  • Text: IDs, descriptions, text or long text data
  • Record: Field values from a record
  • Number, Currency, Boolean, Date, Date/Time, Picklist, Multi-Select Picklist, Apex-Defined
• By default, variables store one value. If multiple values need to be stored, enable it with the “Allow Multiple Values” checkbox, which turns the variable into a collection variable.
• Variables can get their value from inside or outside the flow:
  • If a flow is distributed on an Account record page, you can pass the account’s ID into the flow using the flow’s input variables.
    • If whatever starts the flow should be able to set the value of a variable, need to make sure the variable is “Available for Input” using the “Available for Input” checkbox
    • When in doubt, make the variable available for input
  • Available for Output means the variable is accessible to something outside the flow using the “Available for Output” checkbox
    • When in doubt, don’t make the variable available for output
• Create a Text variable to store: Descriptions, Long Text data
• When in doubt, you should configure a variable to be: Available for input, not available for output

Add Screens to Your Flow

• Three categories of screen components:
  • Input: request info from user
  • Display: display info to user
  • Custom: include components you or someone else created (from AppExchange or a developer)
• Radio buttons, picklists, checkbox groups, and multi-select picklist components require a choice or choice set resource to identify the options. Choice resources should be used as last resort.
  • Record choice set: generates options by using a filtered list of records
  • Picklist choice set: generates options by using values of a picklist or multi-select picklist
  • Choice: represents a single option with label and value set manually
• Flows have two runtime experiences: Lightning runtime (looks like Lightning Experience) and Classic runtime (looks like Visualforce). Use Lightning runtime.

Add Logic to Your Flow

• Rules determine actions in most business processes. Decision elements are used to evaluate the rules of business processes.
• Decisions answer a question and the outcomes provide the possible answers
  • The first outcome that meets the conditions is the branch that is taken
• When checking a Boolean value, like a toggle or checkbox, use the global constants for true or false ({!$GlobalConstant.True, {!$GlobalConstant.False}}), not the word true or fales
  
• Assignment elements are used to change a variable’s value
  
• Loop and Pause are not covered in this module

Add Actions to Your Flow

• The power of a flow is that it can automatically do things for the user (update data, send emails, send info to an external system, with integration with Apex and local actions - anything else)
• Get Records elements specify which object to look up, how to filter the object’s records, and how to sort the filtered records.
• Update Records elements identify which elements to update and how to update them.
• Create Records elements create records
  • To create multiple records, values from a record collection variable must be used
  • For each record that’s created, the flow stores the ID of the created record in the ID fields of the record collection variable
  • To specify values in the newly-created records, two options:
    • Use values from the record variable(s)
    • Manually map values from various resources in the flow. Can use a combination of variables, resources, and literal values.
• Action Element is one of the interaction elements. They include:
  • Without additional configuration, following actions are available:
    • Post to Chatter, Send Email, Submit for Approval, Activate/Deactivate a Permission Set, Global or object-specific actions
  • Actions created with clicks:
    • Other flows available in Subflow element
    • Custom global or object-specific actions are available in the Action element
  • Actions created with code:
    • To do something in the Salesforce database, build or install an Apex action
    • To do something in the browser, build or install a local action