Questions about private vs shared flows

Unknown

Questions about private vs shared flows

Unknown

I’ve recently had several private flows implemented as [Form] objects (private assignment flows).

In order to grasp fully the behavior and purpose of these flows, I’ve reviewed the Decisions help document “Private vs Shared Flows In Form Steps.” and have some questions:

1. Why do we require a private or shared flow?
2. What distinction sets a private flow apart from other more typical navigational flows?
3. Why are we unable to locate them in the folder tree?
4. Is there a way to use a non-private flow as a substitute?
5. How do these behave in relation to the Designer Repository?

I would be grateful for any help/clarification in this area.

Unknown

Hi Leo,

To answer your questions:

1. A private or a shared flow are not required. They are generally used to run a flow when an assignment form is triggered.

2.  Private flows can pull data from the parent flow, they are tied to a specific form component, and will not be visible in folder tree. Shared flows will have assignment data available to them (i.e. Assignment ID, Assignment URL, etc.) unlike regular flows.
   

3.  Private flows will not visible because they are marked as hidden. To view it in the portal, navigate to the location the private flow was created in (typically, this will be where its parent flow will be). Click folder view -> click Gear icon -> change -> select All Folder Entities(Including Hidden)
   

4.  Yes, the alternative to a non-private flow would be a shared flow, or a sub-flow 
   

5.  There would be no change to the shared and private flow behavior in the repository. When you push changes to the repository, Decisions will attempt to include it as part of the project as a dependency.
   

Let us know if you need any further assistance!
-Ryan S.
[i]edited by ryan.strasnick@decisions.com on 8/8/2019[/i]