Working with subflows

STANDARD PREMIUM ULTIMATE

A subflow in the workspace has two different options for customization. The first one will affect the selected subflow as a node in the project. You can set environment variables, add a description or alter the appearance of the node. The second option of customization affects the subflow template which will be the default appearance when a new node of this subflow is used. To access the subflow template, go into the node option like every other node. There is a button labeled Edit subflow template. This will open a new flow for this subflow which gives you access to the node in the subflow as well as the subflow properties.

Subflow Properties

The workspace of a subflow has an additional menu bar at the top. There you can access the subflow Properties. This option opens a different window for node options. This one also lets you create environment variables. Those environment variables will affect every node of this particular subflow that is used in the project. The Properties tab lets you change the name for this subflow. It can be overwritten for single nodes if this subflow by setting a name in the options tied to this specific node. The subflow template can also be moved to a specific existing or new category. The remaining setting options hardly differ from the usual set of options for a node.

Editing nodes in a subflow

The menu bar in the workspace lets you add inputs and output. They appear as a node and can be placed in the workspace to connect to. There can only be one input. You can also add a status node that will display a status outside of the subflow whenever it is triggered. The status display can be created with a shape of the indicator, its color, and a status text.

msg.payload = {fill:"green",shape:"dot",text:"hi"}

msg.payload = {fill:"red",shape:"ring",text:"status"}

You can add nodes to the workspace of the subflow just like a normal flow. There are a few limitations to the subflow environment. As mentioned before, a subflow can only have one input. You have the option to add in- and outputs. The number of outputs has no limit.

Node buttons are disabled inside subflows. The node will still work, but you can't trigger an inject node or enable or disable a debug node.

Deleting a subflow

Subflows have different states of being deleted. You can delete a subflow inside the workspace like any other node. This means the copy of the subflow template was deleted. The subflow template still exists and can be used again. This means to completely get rid of a subflow, you have to delete the template in the template menu bar.