Description:

The SendMessageToSlack step belongs to the Slack category in FlowWright. Its XML definition identifies the step as sendmessagetoslack, with the label "Send messages to Slack, which brings all the communication in one place." and the display name "Send Msg." This step sends a message to a specified Slack channel.

The step is defined as a Process step with two input connections and two output connections. The step provides two properties:

• Message to send – specifies the message content to send to Slack.
• Channel to send to – specifies the Slack channel that should receive the message.

Typical uses include:

• Sending workflow notifications to a Slack channel.
• Informing a team when a workflow reaches an important stage.
• Posting process completion or status messages.
• Sending alerts to an operational or support channel.
• Communicating workflow events to users through Slack.
• Providing team visibility into workflow activities.
• Sending business-process notifications without requiring users to open FlowWright.

Usage:

The SendMessageToSlack step is typically placed in a workflow when an event, status, or business result needs to be communicated to users through Slack.

During execution:

1. Configure the Message to send property.
2. Specify the Channel to send to property.
3. Execute the step.
4. Continue workflow processing through the True or False path according to the operation result.

Although the XML definition marks both properties as optional, a useful configuration normally requires both a message and a destination channel.

A typical workflow might look like:

Typical workflow suggestions:

• Workflow completion notification - Send a Slack message when an important workflow or business process has completed.
• Approval notification - Notify a team when an approval has been completed, rejected, or requires attention.
• Operational alert - Use the step to notify an operations or support team when a workflow reaches an important operational condition.
• Exception notification: Send a message to the appropriate Slack channel when a workflow encounters an error or requires manual intervention.
• Process status notification - Communicate significant workflow status changes to a team channel so users can monitor business activity without opening FlowWright.
• Team collaboration - Send workflow-generated information to a Slack channel where the responsible team can review the information and coordinate their next actions.
• Business-event notification - Use the step after a significant business event to make it visible to the appropriate team in Slack.

To use this step, we need to configure Slack settings in the FlowWright Configuration:

For more info: https://slack.com/

Example:

Let’s build and execute the “sendMessageToSlackDef” example.          

• Create a new process definition named “sendMessageToSlackDef” and open it in designer mode.
• Drag a “sendMessageToSlack” step to the canvas. 
• Connect the dots between the “Start” and “sendMessageToSlack” steps, as shown above. 
• Click the “sendMessageToSlack” step to configure its “Required” properties. Provide a name for the step, then click the Save button. Note: Click the "AI Predict" button to have the Copilot add new process steps that match your process description. 

• Click the “sendMessageToSlack” step to configure its “Advanced” properties. Enter the message text to send. Select the channel to send to. Click the Save button. 

• The “Logging” configuration is necessary for documentation and also measures workflow progress and percent complete. This is achieved by configuring the step state and percent fields individually, as shown in the images below. Configure the “Logging” using the following properties.

• Save the process definition, create a new instance, and execute it. Render the process instance. Click the process step. The next step should be to send the message to the Slack channel.

Tips:

• Configure the message to send with clear, meaningful content so users can immediately understand the notification.
• Specify the appropriate Channel to send to for the intended audience.
• Keep operational notifications concise and include the information users need to take action.
• Place the step after the workflow operation that produces the information being communicated.
• Use workflow variables or other supported FlowWright expressions where appropriate to make the message relevant to the current process instance.
• Use the True path to continue the normal workflow when the operation succeeds.
• Use the False path for appropriate error or exception handling.
• Test the workflow with the intended Slack channel before deploying it.
• Ensure that the configured Slack destination is appropriate for the information being communicated.
• Avoid assuming that the XML definition provides configuration for authentication, message formatting, retry behavior, or delivery guarantees; these capabilities are not exposed in the supplied step definition.
• If the workflow also needs to communicate with another FlowWright process instance, use SendMessagesToProcess for that process-to-process communication rather than using Slack as the workflow communication mechanism.

Notes:

• Category: Slack.
• Internal name: sendmessagetoslack.
• Label: Send messages to Slack, which brings all the communication in one place.
• Display name: Send Msg.
• Namespace: FlowWright.Workflow.SendMessageToSlack.
• DLL: FlowWright.Workflow.dll.
• Step definition type: Process.
• Input connections: 2.
• Output connections: 2.
• Message to send: Optional in the XML definition.
• Channel to send to: Optional in the XML definition.
• Message to send: String data type.
• Channel to send to: String data type.
• String properties: Supplied by FlowWright.DataTypes.ClsTextBox.
• Execution paths: True and False.
• Result Variable/Global property: Not exposed by the XML definition.
• Connection-string, timeout, transaction, retry, or scheduling properties: Not exposed by the XML definition.
• Slack authentication/configuration properties: Not exposed by the XML definition.
• Detailed Slack message-delivery behavior: Not exposed by the XML definition.

Comparison with SendMessagesToProcess:

The SendMessageToSlack and SendMessagesToProcess steps both provide message-sending capabilities, but they are intended for fundamentally different communication targets.

Definition Sample:

You may provide a sample process definition for the SendMessageToSlack step and import it by drag-and-drop into the FlowWright Process Definition (XML file) page.

After importing the sample, verify and complete any environment-specific configuration, particularly:

• Message to send
• Channel to send to
• Connections to the surrounding workflow steps
• True and False execution paths
• Any environment-specific Slack configuration required by the FlowWright installation

After verifying the configuration, save the Process Definition before executing the workflow.

Click here to download the sample file.