Eventless Workflows
The sendToWorkflow API makes it possible for you to initiate a named workflow from the Graze API or from the Workflow Engine. This means that you can trigger an "eventless workflow" that does not require an event, alert, or Situation object.
Eventless workflows let you modify the system without modifying a specific event object within it. For example, you can “script” a workflow that performs a series of topology API actions using a workflow. You can call the workflow directly without writing an external Graze API script. See Graze API for more information.
sendToWorkflow API
The sendToWorkflow API accepts a “context” object that is copied into the workflowContext of the target workflow. This way, you can pass reference data to use in the target workflow. The following example illustrates how you can use this for a topology source that advertises connectivity between two nodes:
{
"application" : "APP001",
"linkEstablished" : "Resource server001 connected to resource db001"
}See sendToWorkflow for more information.
Example
In this example, we create a workflow called "Build Topology link" in a workflow inform engine named "Alert Inform Engine" using the Graze API.
workflowSearchAndReplace
The sendToWorkflow method has the following body:
{
"engine_name" : "Alert Inform Engine",
"workflow_name" : "Build Topology link",
"context" : { "application" : "app001", "linkEstablished" : "Resource server001 connected to resource db001" }
}This method triggers the target workflow (Build Topology link) and extracts the data from the context passed into the workflowContext from the sendToWorkflow API call.
addTopologyLink
The addTopologyLink action, which follows the workflowSearchAndReplace action, can use the original details passed into the workflowContext and the newly extracted data.
{
"application": "app001",
"linkEstablished": "Resource server001 connected to resource db001",
"extract": {
"1": "server001",
"2": "db001"
}
}
The newly extracted data can then be used subsequently through substitution. See addTopologyLink for more information.
Eventless Workflow actions
A list of eventless workflow functions:
between
mooletInform
logWorkflowContext
createTopology
deleteTopology
checkTopology
cloneTopology
activateTopology
deactivateTopology
addTopologyLink
deleteTopologyLink
checkTopologyLink
addTopologyNode
deleteTopologyNode
checkTopologyNode
sendToWorkflow
workflowContextSearchAndReplace
See Workflow Engine Functions Reference for descriptions of the preceding actions.