You can create a flow hierarchy in a service template by defining a flow in another existing flow. The Flow Tree view shows the hierarchy of the flow.
You also can create a flow hierarchy by deploying flow plug-ins, and repeating a unit of processing that consists of several steps by deploying repeated-execution plug-ins as shown in the following figure.
The following table shows the plug-in roles and their relationship to the various steps in the flow.
Dragged and dropped plug-in | Type of step | Role |
---|---|---|
Flow plug-in | Hierarchical step | Creates a flow hierarchy. |
Repeated Execution plug-in | Repeated step | Repeats execution of the specified flow. To create a hierarchy on a flow subordinate to the repeated step, you must use a flow plug-in. If you try to create a hierarchy on a flow you copied and pasted that includes a repeated step, an error occurs. Use the Repeated Execution plug-in to create a nested loop to a maximum of three levels. |
Other plug-ins | Ordinary step | Runs the plug-in normally. |
You can view a list of the steps in a flow from the Flow Tree view where it shows the name of the service template as the first step of the flow. Lower levels are represented by the step name associated with the step that runs the flow plug-in or repeated-execution plug-in. When you run a service template that includes a hierarchical flow, only the top-level steps in the flow appear in the Task Details dialog box. Steps in subordinate flows and in flow plug-ins and repeated-execution plug-ins are not visible.