Manual Trigger

You can create an Automations workflow that does not respond to any incoming message or schedule, but runs on demand, and allows you the option to pass in sample data. This type of workflow uses a manual trigger in place of one of the other trigger options. Manual triggers are useful when you want to test a workflow before you create one that receives real, incoming messages.

The manual trigger has two output ports. The success port (✔) can send a message if the trigger initiates successfully. The failure port (x) can send a message if the trigger fails to initiate.

To run an automation with a manual trigger

There are two ways to run an automation with a manual trigger:

  • From the Manage Automations page, select the automation, and:
    1. If the workflow is not already started, start the workflow.
    2. Click Trigger.
  • As an Automation App, which allows any authorized FME Flow user to run the automation as an "app" in a web browser. For more information, see Automation Apps.

Parameters

Note  See also Working with Parameters in Automations Workflows.
  • Prompt for JSON on Trigger: When checked, a Trigger Automations dialog opens when the trigger runs. This dialog prompts you to provide either of the following:
    • JSON Form: Drag and drop a JSON file or enter a valid JSON schema. The schema must match the Manual Parameters added under Output Attributes (below).
      • Note  The dialog parser only parses top-level attributes. To access the contents of nested arrays and objects from a workspace, use JSON manipulation transformers in an FME Form workspace.
    • Manual Parameters Form: Enter values directly for each Manual Paremeter added under Output Attributes (below). This option is useful for generating input data without requiring knowledge of JSON.

Output Attributes

See Also

Attribute Description
time Event time
source Event type
error.type

(Failure port only) Error type:

  • InvalidMessage: An error occurred while configuring this component, such as missing or malformed values.
  • DeadLetter: An error occured while connecting to an external resource. Examples may include connection issues, invalid credentials, or generic external resource exceptions.
error.message (Failure port only) Error message
message (Success port only) Message content

manual.user

(Success port only) The FME Flow user that runs an automation with the manual trigger.

Manual Parameters

(Success port only) If Prompt for JSON on Trigger is checked (see Parameters, above), the trigger expects additional JSON data in the form of a JSON-formatted request body that matches these parameters.

To create Manual Parameters manually, click Manage to open the Manual Parameters Editor.

To create Manual Parameters automatically:

  1. Click Import Parameters from JSON.
  2. Drag and drop a JSON file or enter a valid JSON schema on the Import Parameters from JSON dialog.
  3. Overwrite Existing Parameters: If checked, the JSON content on this dialog will replace any existing Manual Parameters when it is parsed. To add parameters from this JSON content, when parsed, to any existing parameters (without replacing them), leave this box unchecked.
  4. Click Parse.
Note  The dialog parser only parses top-level keys. To access the contents of nested arrays and objects from a workspace, use JSON manipulation transformers in an FME Form workspace.