While there are many ways to customize individual flows, you may also want to configure custom behavior outside of a flow for submissions processed through certain blocks. For example, you may need to send submissions' state-change information to your downstream systems mid-flow. With the Notification Flow field in Submission Initialization and Manual Supervision Blocks’ settings, you can link Notification flows to specific blocks in your Document Processing flow.
Linking from pre-built vs. custom flows
If you are linking from one of the pre-built flows in your instance (e.g., "Document Processing V37"), you can only link to Notification flows. However, you can create customized blocks with the Flows SDK that allow you to link to any flow in your instance, regardless of whether it's a Notification flow or a Document Processing flow. The examples in this article show Document Processing flows linking to Notification flows, as that functionality is available "out of the box."
Flow groups
When you link one flow to another flow’s block, you create a flow group. A flow group consists of all flows that are linked together to automate a single set of tasks.
Your flow groups appear as cards at the top of the Flows page, and a list of all your flows appears underneath.
To view a list of flows included in a flow group, click on the flow group’s Open → link.
To learn more about managing flows and flow groups, see Managing Flows.
Linking one flow to another
To link one flow to another flow:
Do one of the following:
To create a new flow group:
Go to Flows, and in your list of flows, click on the name of the flow you want to link from.
In this article, this flow is called the "main flow."
To link a flow to a flow in a flow group:
Go to Flows, and click the flow group’s Open → link.
Click Edit Flows.
If you want to link from a subflow in the flow group, click on that flow’s View link to open that subflow in Flow Studio. Depending on how many levels your flow group has, you may need to complete this step multiple times to reach the subflow you want to link from.
In Flow Studio, click on the block you want to link from, and click on it to reveal its settings.
You can link from the following blocks in pre-built Document Processing flows:
Submission Initialization
Manual Classification
Manual Identification
Manual Transcription
Flexible Extraction
In the Notification Flow drop-down list, select the flow you want to link to.
In this article and in the application, this flow is called a "subflow."
If you are linking from a custom block, the name of this field and its available options may be different. For details, reach out to your organization's flow developer.
Click Save.
The subflow appears as a linked flow in Flow Studio. In the example below, the subflow “Submission State Notifications V37” is linked to the main flow’s Submission Initialization Block.
Making changes to a subflow
You can make changes to a subflow while viewing its main flow in Flow Studio.
Open the main flow in Flow Studio, and click on the View link subflow you want to edit.
Click on the subflow block that you want to change, make your changes, and click Save above the subflow in the canvas.
The Save Subflow dialog box presents options for saving the subflow.
Click Save for everyone who has used this subflow and update these flows: to have your changes applied to all occurrences of the subflow in your instance. A list of the flows using the sublow is provided.
This option is only available if the subflow is used in other flow groups.
Click Save everywhere this subflow is used in this group to create a copy of the subflow that is specific to the flow group you are currently editing.
This option is only available if the subflow is connected to multiple flows in the flow group.
For example, if the Submission State Notifications V37 subflow is connected to a flow’s Manual Identification and to another flow’s Manual Transcription Block, and those flows are in the same flow group, a copy of Submission State Notifications V37 containing your changes is created and connected to those blocks.
If Submission State Notifications V37 is a subflow in other flow groups, the Submission State Notifications V37 subflows in those groups remain unchanged.
Click Save for only 1 subflow to create a copy of the subflow that is specific to the subflow’s connected block.
For example, if the Submission State Notifications V37 subflow is connected to a flow’s Manual Identification and Manual Transcription Blocks, and you edit the subflow connected to the Manual Identification Block, a copy of Submission State Notifications V37 that contains your changes is created and connected to the Manual Identification Block. By default, this new subflow is called “Submission State Notifications V37 (Copy).” The subflow connected to the Manual Transcription Block remains unchanged.
If Submission State Notifications V37 is a subflow in other flow groups or is connected to other blocks in the flow group you’re currently editing, those Submission State Notifications V37 subflows remain unchanged.
Click Save everywhere this subflow is used in this parent flow to create a copy of the subflow that is specific to the flow containing the subflow’s connected block (i.e., this subflow’s parent flow).
This option is only available if the subflow is connected to multiple blocks in the parent flow.
For example, if the Submission State Notifications V37 subflow is connected to a flow’s Manual Identification and Manual Transcription Blocks, a copy of Submission State Notifications V37 containing your changes is created and connected to those blocks.
If Submission State Notifications V37 is a subflow in other flow groups or for other flows in the current flow group, those Submission State Notifications V37 subflows remain unchanged.
You can also change the name of the subflow or the copy of the subflow you create by saving your changes. To do so, edit the name in the Subflow Name text box.
Click Save.
If you’ve created a copy of the subflow as a result of saving your changes, the copy appears on the canvas with a different colored bar than the original subflow.
Creating multiple levels of linked flows
You can also link flows to your subflows, creating additional levels of linked flows.
While there is no limit to the levels of linked flows you can create, Flow Studio only shows one flow and its immediate subflows. To view additional levels of linked flows, open each of the individual flows in Flow Studio. There, you can configure that flow and how it’s linked to its directly linked flows.
Deploying and disabling connected flows
When you deploy a flow group, you deploy the main flow in the group, and all of its subflows are automatically deployed along with it. Similarly, when you disable a flow group, you disable the main flow in the group, and the system automatically disables its subflows.
If a flow is a subflow in any flow group, you cannot deploy or disable that flow individually.
Exporting and importing connected flows
When exporting flow groups, you need to export each flow in the group separately. After you import the flows to a new instance, the connection between the flows remains intact.
To learn how to import and export flows, see Managing Flows.
Troubleshooting connected flows
Each flow shows errors only from that flow, not from any flows linked to it. To view errors for a flow's subflows, you need to open those individual flows in Flow Studio.
Removing a linked flow
To unlink a flow:
Go to Flows, and click on the Open → link for the flow group you want to unlink a flow in.
Click Edit Flows. If the flow you want to unlink is linked to a subflow, click View for that subflow. You may need to complete this step multiple times to find the parent flow of the flow you want to unlink.
In Flow Studio, click on the block linked to the subflow you want to remove, and click on it to reveal its settings.
In the Notification Flow drop-down list, select None.
If you are unlinking a flow from a custom block, the name of this field may be different. For details, reach out to your organization's flow developer.
Click Save.
The flow no longer appears as a linked flow in Flow Studio.