Automation dictionary

A

Automation

The name of the module where you can create workflows. Sometimes it’s used as an adjective to describe the type of workflow you can create in the module.

B

Business workflow

The type of workflows that involve data integration with external sources.
Such a workflow can be triggered by receiving data requests from external tools (for example, an ecommerce platform) or by the Scheduled Run node. The data from Synerise can be sent to external tools in response to circumstances specified in the workflow.
To build such a workflow, you can use only business-oriented nodes. When you start building a workflow and use a Business trigger, the library of nodes will only contain the nodes that can be used in a business-oriented workflow.
In business workflows, you can’t use the {{ customer.attribute }} and {% customer attribute %} inserts.

C

Canvas

The area on the interface where you create a diagram.

Connection

All nodes on canvas must be connected in an order. Remember that some nodes have more than one required connection. You can also split connections between nodes using Split Path node.

Customer-oriented workflow

Such a workflow can be triggered:
- by a defined activity of a customer or the infrastructure’s activity towards the customer.
- by a change in a customer’s data.
- manually or periodically for a selected group or groups of customers.
In such a workflow, you can use only customer-oriented nodes. When you start building a workflow and use a Profile trigger, the library of nodes will only contain the nodes that can be used in this type of workflows.
In customer-oriented workflows, you can use the {{ customer.attribute }} and {% customer attribute %} inserts.

D

Diagram

The structure of the workflow.

Data transformation

A sequence of transformation nodes which are put together to make modifications to a sample file. The transformation is inserted into a workflow by using the Data Transformation node.

E

Executed

The counter you can find in the statistics of a node. It shows the number of times a node was executed.

Entered

The counter you can find in the statistics of a node. It shows the number of arrivals at a node.

Event context

Event information carried through the nodes in a workflow. The event context is first defined in the Profile Event node and it changes with every Event Filter node in a workflow. Users are allowed to refer to the event context in the node settings, for example, to retrieve specific event data such as the ID of the viewed item. Full documentation about event context is available here.

Example

In the workflow that has the following structure:

Transaction (trigger) > Send email (action) > End

The template of the email in the Send email action contains a dynamic value taken from the parameters of the transaction.charge event that defines the total cost of the purchase:

“Hello! Thank you for your purchase. The total value of your cart is: {{event.params.totalAmount}}”

F

Finished

The number of times the final step (End node) of a workflow was reached. The number is not equal to the number of unique completions the workflow - a profile or a process can repeat within a workflow multiple times (if the node and workflow limits allow it).

G

Goal

It is selected in the beginning of data transformation and it is designed to help you receive the output data of the transformation. There are standard and custom goals. The standard goals are import of transactions, events, and profiles to Synerise. The Custom goal requires you to know the output of the transformation.

I

Incoming integration

It’s a custom Synerise endpoint to which requests from external systems can be sent. The incoming integrations are used in the Business Event nodes which trigger business workflows. Check how to create an incoming integration.

Insights

This the tab available on the workflow canvas. It contains collective information about communication (messages) that will be created by the workflow. This section also contains suggestions on actions you may want to take, such as updating message templates used in a workflow to the latest version.

Issues

This the tab available on the workflow canvas. It contains all issues that need to be addressed in order to activate the workflow, for example, missing connections between nodes, missing title of the workflow, and so on.

In workflow

These statistics are displayed on the list of workflows. It informs about the number of times a workflow is launched (and still in progress).

N

Node

A building element of the workflow. There are several types of nodes: triggers, flow control, conditions, actions, and integrations.

The menu that appears after clicking on the node the icon.

O

Outgoing integration

It allows you to send data to external sources but also use Synerise open API. Check how to prepare an outgoing integration.

P

Path

A profile starts a path every time they meet the requirements of the trigger of a workflow and the path shows a progression of a profile in a workflow. This term is related only to customer-oriented workflows,

Pending

Duration between arriving at a node and executing the activity set in the node logic - it’s available only in the statistics of the Delay node.

R

Reach time

This piece of information is available in the statistics of a node. Time it took a path/process to reach a node from the starting point (trigger).

S

Schema

It’s the structure of data a user selects or create, for example, while preparing an outgoing integration. You can read more about Schema Builder here.

Statistics

See the complete documentation on the workflow statistics here.

W

Workflow

A sequence of nodes that together describe a scenario and define the course of actions to be performed in defined circumstances. This term refers to the concept of an automated process whose subject is a profile (customer-oriented workflow) or a process involving retrieving or sending out data (business workflow). The structure of the workflow is referred to in the documentation as a diagram.

WARNING: Each workflow can last 60 days. After those 60 days, if a user is stuck in the workflow (for example, they didn’t meet the conditions in an Event Filter), the workflow is automatically finished.

Workflow capping

The limit the Synerise platform users use to define the allowed number of repetitions of the entire workflow. It also concerns the limits within the nodes. You can find more information about capping in the article about Limits.

Workflow status

A workflow can have one of the following statuses:

Draft - It is a workflow that has been saved but it hasn’t been activated yet.
Running - It’s an activated workflow.
Paused - It’s a workflow that is stopped temporarily.
Stopped - It’s a workflow that is stopped permanently.

The status of the workflow changes to Stopped when (applies only to workflows triggered by Audience):

it’s been 62 days from the latest execution of the trigger,
it is a one-off workflow and it is completed,
the limit of repetitions in the trigger settings runs out

In the audit log, this change of the workflow status will be marked as a change done by internal user.

Each status allows certain scope of actions. The scope of actions:

Action:	Edit	Activate	Pause	Stop
Draft
Running	*
Paused	*
Stopped	*

*The editing option allows changing the settings in the nodes only. You won’t be able to add new nodes to the diagram.