Control Flow
Control flow is about the order in which tasks are executed. The YAML format provides tools to decide which task is executed when.
Sequences#
In a sequence, a task is executed after the previous one is completed. By default, tasks are executed top-down as they are declared in the YAML file.
In the example above, the workflow starts with collect-money, followed by fetch-items and ends with ship-parcel.
We can use the goto and end attributes to define a different order:
In the above example, we have reversed the order of fetch-items and ship-parcel. Note that the end attribute is required so that workflow execution stops after fetch-items.
Data-based Conditions#
Some workflows do not always execute the same tasks but need to pick and choose different tasks, based on variables of the workflow instance.
We can use the switch attribute and conditions to decide on the next task.
In the above example, the order-process starts with collect-money, followed by fetch-items.
If the variable totalPrice is greater than 100, then it continues with ship-parcel-with-insurance. Otherwise, ship-parcel is chosen. In either case, the workflow instance ends after that.
In the switch element, there is one case element per alternative to choose from. If none of the conditions evaluates to true, then the default element is evaluated. While default is not required, it is best practice to include to avoid errors at workflow runtime. Should such an error occur (i.e. no case is fulfilled and there is no default), then workflow execution stops and an incident is raised.