Open Flow Panel

Overview

The Open Flow Panel feature lets you easily embed other flows within side panels inside any Avonni Component. This creates a smoother, more dynamic user experience within your Salesforce apps.

Features

• Dynamic Data Refresh: This feature keeps the data on your main screen in sync with actions taken within the panel, ensuring real-time accuracy.

• Section Management: Overcome nesting section limitations in the standard flow builder. Embed flows within the panel for flexible layout design.

• Optimized Space Utilization: Conserve screen space by presenting additional information or actions in a compact side panel.

• Endless Possibilities: Integrate the Open Flow Panel with a wide range of Avonni components to build sophisticated, tailored user interfaces.

Tutorials

How to setup an Open Flow Panel Interaction

This tutorial explains the basics of configuring the Open Flow Panel interaction.

Settings

Accessing the Open Flow Panel interaction

You can access the Open Flow Panel feature within the interaction panel of any supported Avonni Component. Choose "Open Flow Panel" as the interaction type you want to create, and then customize the settings as needed.

Panel Configuration

Customize the appearance and behavior of your panel to integrate it into your user interface seamlessly.

• Header: Provide a clear and descriptive title for the panel to guide your users.

• Position: Choose whether the panel should slide in from the left or right side of the screen.

• Overlay (Outer): Enable this option to display the panel as an overlay on top of your existing content instead of removing it.

• Size: Select a panel size (small, medium, large, or x-large) based on the content you want to display.

• Hide Close Icon: If you want to programmatically control the panel's visibility, you can choose to hide the default close icon.

Panel Interactions

Define how your panel interacts with your main flow and responds to user actions.

• Input Variables: Pass data from your main flow into the embedded flow to initialize values or filter results.

• On Finish: Set actions to occur after the panel flow completes, such as refreshing data or triggering a celebratory animation.

• On Close: Define actions to perform when the user manually closes the panel, like navigating to another screen or updating data.

• On Error: Prepare for potential errors during the panel flow's execution. You can display an error message or redirect the user to another screen.

Capture Output Variables

The "Open Flow Panel" interaction now allows you to capture output variables from the flow you launch. This means you can pass information from the launched flow back to your original screen flow, making your flows more dynamic and efficient.

Step-by-step guide

1. Launch a Flow Within a Flow: Use the "Open Flow Panel" to embed another flow within your current screen flow. This is the flow from which you'll get data.

2. Prepare the Launched Flow

   • In the launched flow, create a variable to hold the information you want to pass back.

   • Important: Make sure this variable is marked as "Available for Output" by checking the corresponding checkbox.

3. Configure the "Open Flow Dialog"

   • Find your original screen flow's "Open Flow Panel" interaction element.

   • In the interaction's properties, locate the "Output Variables" attribute.

   • Add a new output variable and enter its API Name. This name must exactly match the API name of the variable you created in the launched flow.

   • Select a variable number from the list. This number helps you identify the variable later.

4. Use the Captured Variable

   • In your original flow, you can now access the captured variable. Look for it under the flowInteractionOutputVariables attribute of the "Open Flow Panel" component and select the chosen variable number above.

   • Use this variable in subsequent elements and logic within your flow, just like any other variable.

Styling

When you set a component to open a flow panel, you'll get extra styling options to customize how that panel looks. These options let you change:

Flow Panel

Control the overall appearance of the panel itself, like its background color, border, and size.

Flow Panel Header

Adjust the look of the panel's header, including its text, background, and more.

Advanced Usage: Refresh All Queries with Open Flow Panel

Combine the Open Flow Panel interaction with the "Refresh All Queries" to keep your data up-to-date. For instance, if you open a panel containing a Record Detail component that updates a record, you can use "Refresh All Queries" to automatically update other components on the page with the latest information when the panel closes or this flow is finished.

Use Cases

• Record Creation/Editing: Present detailed input forms or additional information related to the main record.

• Approval Processes: Display relevant details for review and approval within a convenient side panel.

• Related Data Display: Show associated records or contextual information alongside the main flow.

• Guided Workflows: Guide users through a sub-process without navigating away from the main screen.

• And more: Leverage the Open Flow Panel for virtually any scenario where you must present supplementary information or actions within your screen flow.

The Open Flow Panel interaction provides a powerful interaction to create richer and more engaging user experiences.