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Create and manage chains

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To automate workflows in the Workiva platform and across other data sources, workspace owners can create and manage linear sequences of tasks as chains. For example, you can create a chain to automatically refresh financial information from a data source in a table, and then push that data to another data source to generate a report.

                                                                     Additional training available

Unlock the power of chains with our self-paced course in the Workiva Learning Hub! This comprehensive course guides you through the process of creating a chain from start to finish, providing hands-on experience and a deep understanding of the Chain Builder platform.

                                                                  Visit the Workiva Learning Hub

Requirements

The following Wdata user roles can create and manage chains:

  • Workspace Owner with the Editor, Professional, or Standard role
  • Chain Owner with the Editor, Professional, or Standard role
  • Chain Builder with appropriate permissions

Access chains

Click Chains => Chain Builder in Wdata to view and manage your chains. From Admin => Security, you can track audit events about the creation and management of chains.

Create a chain

To define the sequence of command and events to occur with a chain, you can:

  • Build the chain from scratch
  • Create the chain from a template
  • Start with a copy of a similar chain
To ease reuse, we recommend you also create variables to use within your chains or at runtime.

From Chain Builder, you can drag and link the steps—or nodes—within a chain.

Step 1: Add the chain and set up its details

  1. From Chains, click Create => Create Chain.
    2022-07-11_08-33-56__1_.gif
    Note: You can also create a chain directly from the Chains tab by hovering over the Build icon device_hub at the top right.
  2. Under Setup, enter a unique name and description to help identify the chain and its intent.
  3. To enable the chain to run multiple times simultaneously, such as with different runtime inputs for each instance, select Allow concurrent runs.
  4. To prevent the chain from being run, such as to postpone its usage, select Disable execution.
  5. Define any shared or dynamic values used in the chain:
    • Under Variables  code, define values that appear in multiple commands and many change frequently.
    • Under Dynamic Variables  code, define values to set when the chain starts to run or during its execution, such as based on the outputs of earlier commands.
    Note: To prompt collaborators to enter values for dynamic variables, include a Runtime Inputs trigger event or Set Dynamic Chain Variables event.
  6. To automatically run the chain on regular intervals or during a specific date range, under Schedules  alarm, specify when and how often it should start.
  7. Click Save.

Step 2: Define the nodes of the chain

When you build a chain, you include and link its multiple nodes:

  • Commands, or the tasks executed by the chain to interact with the Workiva platform or another data source.
  • Chain Events that occur within the chain, such as to enable an approval workflow or manual upload of files.
  • Trigger Events, such as runtime inputs to set variables—such as to specific accounts, regions, or time periods—when you execute the chain, or to automatically start the chain based on changes in connected sources.

When you add a node, move it to where it occurs in the chain, and link it to its next and previous steps.

Add command node to chain

  • To add the first node of the chain, move it to Start.
  • To add a node as the start of a new branch of a logic tree, link the previous step in the chain to the first node of the multiple branches.
  • To run commands in parallel with each other or together as part of a serial process, move them on top of each other to create a command group as the step.
Note: By default, a node runs when the linked previous node succeeds. To enable conditional logic, such as to run a node only when the previous node fails, double-click the link and select its condition—success  check_circle, failure  error, warning  warning, or any  check_circle.

After you define the nodes of the chain, click Publish to enable it to run.

Note: While you can publish a chain with unlinked nodes, only those linked to one another—beginning with the Start node—run when you execute the chain.

To ease creation of a chain, you can start with a template that provides the framework of its commands, events, and variables.

Step 1. Create the chain

  1. In Chain Builder, from either the Templates dynamic_feed or Chains  device_hub tab, create the chain from the template: 
    • From Templates, click the template's name, and then click New Chain.
      using-chain-templates_04.png
    • From Chains, click the Build icon device_hub and then Create Chain from Template. You can then select the template to use.
      2022-07-12_14-02-08.png
  2. Enter a unique name to help identify the chain.
  3. Select the workspace and environment to use the chain, and click Next.

Step 2. Map the template's variables and connections

  1. For each template variable, select the value to replace it in the chain:
    • For a variable value set within the chain, select a Variable Type of Chain, and enter a name for the new chain variable. 
    • For a variable value set within the workspace, select a Variable Type of Workspace, and select the workspace variable to use.
    • For a file uploaded as a resource within the workspace, select a Variable Type of Workspace Resource, and select the resource to use.
    • For a dynamic variable value set when the chain runs, select a Variable Type of Chain Dynamic, and enter a name for the new dynamic chain variable.
    • For a value generated when the chain runs, select a Variable Type of Runtime, and select the runtime variable to use.
    Note: If you select Dynamic or Resource when you add the variable to the template, you can't select a different variable type.
  2. After you map the template's variables to their new variables or resources, click Next.
  3. For each connection used in the template, select the connector and runner to perform its commands, and click Submit.

Step 3. Finalize the chain

  1. Click View Your New Chain.
  2. Customize the new chain as necessary:
    • Update any chain variables used by the template's variables.
    • Add any additional commands or events to start or complete the chain.
  3. Click Publish.

To create a chain similar to another chain in the workspace, you can use a copy as a starting point.

Tip: If you frequently use a chain as a starting point for other chains, create a template based on its sequence of nodes.
  1. In Chain Builder, from the Chains  device_hub tab, select Copy   file_copy from the existing chain's menu.

    2022-07-12_14-07-32.png

  2. For the new copy, click Edit  create, and update its nodes or properties as necessary.

Promote a chain to a different environment

As part of your development lifecycle, you may build chains in an environment separate from where collaborators run them. For example, you may create chains in a DEV environment until they're ready for use in a PROD environment. To move a chain from one environment to another, you can promote it.

  1. In Chain Builder, from the Chains  device_hub tab, select Promote trending_up from the chain's menu.2022-07-12_14-12-44.png
  2. In Name, edit the chain's name for its new environment as necessary.
  3. In Promote to, select the chain's new environment.
  4. Select whether to enable schedules on the promoted chain, and click Next.promote-chain_01.png
  5. For each connection in the chain, choose the connection to use in the new environment, and click Next.
  6. Review the connection mapping, and click Promote.

Edit a chain

To update the steps or properties of a chain:

  1. In Chain Builder, from the Chains device_hub tab, click Edit create for the chain, and update its commands and events as necessary.
  2. To update the chain's properties, click Chain Settings, and adjust its schedules, variables, and notifications as necessary.

  3. To bulk update the chain's command connections, click the three-dot menu, and adjust its Commands.
Tip: You can easily arrange your chains by selecting multiple nodes at once. Simply press Shift and drag your mouse cursor across the canvas. Learn more.

Revert a chain to a previous version

To return a chain to a previously published version, such as to undo changes or create a new chain from a previous version of another:

  1. In Chain Builder, from the Chains  device_hub tab, select Versions assignment_return from the chain's menu.
  2. Under Past Versions, select the version to revert to, and click Revert Chain history .
    automate-workflows-with-chains_04.png
  3. Select the connector and runner for each connection, and set any variables.
  4. Click Submit, View Reverted Chain, and Publish.

Chain Tags

Chain Tags provide the ability to group related Chains together and provide insight into Chain content. Once a tag is created, it can be used as a filter for Chains within the Chain List view and the Scheduler.

Adding a Chain Tag

  1. Select the Chain to expand the view
  2. Click on the plus icon (+) to enter a new tag name or select an existing tag
  3. Optionally, set the color of the tag by clicking on the tag and choosing a color

mceclip1.png

Removing a Chain Tag

  1. Select the Chain to expand the view
  2. Hover over the tag and click the gray (x)
Note: Refresh the browser view after deleting a tag. The tags will disappear if all Chains in a tenant have been disassociated with that tag.
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To automate workflows in the Workiva platform and across other data sources, workspace owners can create and manag...