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"), 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 instructions in this article are for linking Notification flows to Document Processing flows, as that functionality is available "out of the box." Contact your organization’s flow developer for instructions on linking custom flows.
Top-level flows
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.
In v38, the Document Processing flow included with the application is a top-level flow. For more details, see Document Processing Flow in V38.
Your top-level flows appear as cards on the Top-level Flows page (Flows > Top-level Flows). You can view all of your flows on the All Flows page (Flows > All Flows).
To view a list of all dependent subflows included in a top-level flow, click on the top-level flow’s Open → link.
To learn more about managing top-level flows and other flows, see Managing Flows.
Linking a notification flow to another flow
Document Processing flows from v38
To link a notification flow to the top-level flow:
Go to the Top-level Flows page, find the Document Processing flow you want to link a Notification flow to, and click its Open → link.
Click the Start Document Processing Subflow Block.
In the Settings Type drop-down list the right-hand sidebar, click on the name of the setting type that matches the block that you want to link a notification flow to.
Click Submission Bootstrap to see settings for the Submission Initialization Block.
Click Classification to see settings for the Manual Classification Block.
Click Identification to see settings for the Manual Identification Block.
Click Transcription to see settings for the Manual Transcription Block.
Click Flexible Extraction to see settings for the Flexible Extraction Block.
In the Notification Flow drop-down list for the block (e.g., Submission Initialization Notification Flow), select the notification flow that you want to link to (e.g., Submission State Notifications V38).
Click Save.
The notification flow appears as linked to the top-level flow. In the example below, there are a total of five notification flows linked to the top-level flow.
Document Processing flows from v37 and earlier
Go to the Top-level Flows page, and find the card for the Document Processing flow you want to link a notification flow to, and click its 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."
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 Document Processing V37’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 subflow 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 group you are currently editing.
This option is only available if the subflow is connected to multiple flows in the 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 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 top-level flows, 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 for other top-level flows or is connected to other blocks in the 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 for other top-level flows or for other flows in the current 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. Doing so may require the creation of custom blocks by your organization’s flow developer.
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 top-level flow, the flow and all of its dependent subflows are automatically deployed along with it. Similarly, when you disable a top-level flow, the system automatically disables its dependent subflows if they’re not used by other flows.
If a flow is serving as a subflow for any top-level flow, you cannot deploy or disable that flow individually.
Exporting and importing connected flows
When exporting top-level flows, you export all of its flows to a single ZIP file. You can then upload that ZIP file to another instance to import your flows to that instance.
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.
Unlinking a notification flow
The process for removing a linked notification flow depends on which version your flow was created in.
Removing linked flows in custom flows may require different steps. Contact your organization’s flow developer for more information.
Document Processing flows from v38 and later
To unlink a flow from a Document Processing flow or from a copy of one:
Go to the Top-level Flows page, and click on the Open → link for the flow group you want to unlink a flow in.
Click the Start Document Processing Subflow Block.
In the Settings Type drop-down list the right-hand sidebar, click on the name of the setting type that matches the block that’s linked to the subflow you want to remove.
Click Submission Bootstrap to see settings for the Submission Initialization Block.
Click Classification to see settings for the Manual Classification Block.
Click Identification to see settings for the Manual Identification Block.
Click Transcription to see settings for the Manual Transcription Block.
Click Flexible Extraction to see settings for the Flexible Extraction Block.
In the Notification Flow drop-down list for the block (e.g., Submission Initialization Notification Flow), select None.
Click Save.
The flow no longer appears as linked to the block in Flow Studio.
Document Processing flows from v37 and earlier
To unlink a flow from a Document Processing flow or from a copy of one:
Go to the Top-level Flows page, and click on the Open → link for the top-level flow 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 on the canvas. 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.
Click Save.
The flow no longer appears as a linked flow in Flow Studio.