Slack Notification Connector

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When you add the Slack Notification connector to your Process model and then select to which Slack channel to send a notification, ProcessMaker Platform can automatically send notifications via Slack during Requests.

Grant ProcessMaker Platform Access to Your Slack Workspace

Before using the Slack Notification connector in your Process models, your ProcessMaker Platform instance must be granted access to your Slack workspace by building a Slack App. Ask your Slack administrator to help you with the following:

Otherwise, when configuring the Slack Notification connector, the following ProcessMaker Platform error displays: Request failed with status code 404.

Add a Slack Notification Connector to the Process Model

Permissions

Your user account or group membership must have the following permissions to configure a Slack Notification connector to the Process model unless your user account has the Make this user a Super Admin setting selected:

  • Processes: Edit Processes

  • Processes: View Processes

See the Process permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.

Add a Slack Notification connector from one of the following locations in Process Modeler:

  • Object Panel: Located to the left of the Process Modeler canvas, the Object Panel contains various process model objects.

  • Object Bar: Located at the bottom of the Process Modeler canvas, the Object Bar contains pinned Process model objects for quick access.

Follow these steps to add a Slack Notification connector from the Object panel to the Process model:

  1. Ensure that the Object panel is visible on the left. If not, click the Add icon from the Object bar at the bottom.

  2. Click the Slack Notification object from the Object panel to select it.

  3. Click the location in the Process model to place this connector. Follow these guidelines when placing this object:

    • If your process has a Pool object, the Actions By Email object cannot be placed outside of the Pool.

    • To place this object between two existing objects, follow these instructions.  

Follow these steps to add a Slack Notification connector from the Object bar to the Process model:

  1. Ensure that the Slack Notification object is pinned to the Object bar. If not, see instructions to pin it it.

  2. In the Object bar at the bottom center, click the object's icon.

  3. Click the location in the Process model to place this element. Follow these guidelines when placing Follow these guidelines when placing this object:

    • If your process has a Pool object, the Actions By Email object cannot be placed outside of the Pool.

    • To place this object between two existing objects, follow these instructions.

Add boundary events
After adding an object to a process, consider adding the following events to handle exceptions:

Settings

The Slack Notification connector has the following panels that contain settings:

Configuration Panel Settings

The Slack Notification connector has the following settings in the Configuration panel:

Edit the Connector Name

A connector name is a human-readable reference for a Process model control. Process Modeler automatically assigns the name of a Process model connector with its connector type. However, a connector's name can be changed.

Follow these steps to edit the name for a Data Connector connector:

  1. Select the Slack Notification connector from the Process model in which to edit its name.

  2. Ensure that the Configuration panel displays. If not, show it. The Name setting displays. This is a required setting.

  3. In the Name setting, edit the selected connector's name and then press Enter.

Select the Slack Channel to Send the Notification

Select to which Slack channel to send the notification. Slack channels are only available for the Slack workspace that your ProcessMaker instance is granted access.

Follow these steps to select to which Slack channel to send the notification:

  1. Select the Slack Notification connector from the Process model in which to edit its name.

  2. Ensure that the Configuration panel displays. If not, show it. Panels to configure this element display.

  3. Expand the Configuration panel if it is not presently expanded, and then locate the Select a Slack Channel setting.

  4. From the Select a Slack Channel drop-down menu, select the Slack channel to send the notification.

Enter the Slack Notification Message to Send

Follow these steps to enter the Slack notification message to send:

  1. Select the Slack Notification connector from the Process model in which to edit its name.

  2. Ensure that the Configuration panel displays. If not, show it. Panels to configure this element display.

  3. Expand the Configuration panel if it is not presently expanded, and then locate the Input Your Message setting.

  4. In the Input Your Message setting, enter the notification message and then press Enter.

Loop Activity Panel Settings

Use the Loop Activity panel settings to specify how to run multiple instances of this object. The following loop modes are available:

No Loop Mode

Select the No Loop Mode option to perform this object's function only once.

Follow these steps to specify characteristics to perform multiple instances of the object:‌

  1. Select the object from the Process model. Panels to configure this object display.

  2. Expand the Loop Activity panel. By default, the Loop Mode setting is set to No Loop Mode and the function is performed only once.

Loop

Select the Loop option to sequentially repeat this object's function multiple times until an exit condition is True. This is useful when a function should be performed multiple times with the same set of data, such as, processing a credit card payment. This loop mode has the following characteristics:

  • The object's function is repeated until the exit condition is True or the maximum iterations limit is reached.

  • At any given time, only one instance of the object is active. The subsequent instance does not begin until the current instance completes.

  • The same exit condition evaluates at the end of each instance; however, value(s) of the Request variable(s) used in the exit condition can change during an instance resulting in the exit condition to eventually evaluate as True.

  • If any one instance of that function does not complete, workflow pauses.

  • All active instances are terminated if an interrupting boundary-type event object triggers.

  • An object configured in this mode shows the Loop icon in Process Modeler.

Follow these steps to specify characteristics to perform multiple instances of the object:‌

  1. Select the object from the Process model in which to specify multiple instance characteristics. Panels to configure this object display.

  2. Expand the Loop Activity panel to display the Loop Mode Setting.

  3. From the Loop Mode setting, select the Loop option. The settings for this loop mode display:

  4. In the Maximum Iterations setting, enter an integer value representing the maximum number of times this Task should be performed.

  5. In the Exit Condition setting, enter a condition in FEEL syntax. When this condition is True the loop activity is halted.

Multi-instance(Parallel)

Select the Multi-instance (Parallel) option to perform this object's Task multiple times in parallel a fixed number of times. This is useful when performing any action in bulk, such as sending an email to several people. This loop mode has the following characteristics:

  • Instances of the object are governed by the size of an array-type Request variable where a new instance is created for each item in this variable. For example, an array with 10 items will create 10 parallel instances of this function that each contains data from its respective array index.

  • All instances begin simultaneously when this object triggers; however, they perform their function independently of each other.

  • The function as a whole completes when all instances are complete.

  • The output from each instance can either be saved in the source Request variable or a new array-type Request variable.

  • All active instances terminate if an interrupting boundary-type event object triggers.

  • A object configured in this mode shows the Multi-instance (Parallel) icon in Process Modeler.

Follow these steps to specify characteristics to perform multiple instances of the object:‌

  1. Select the object from the Process model in which to specify multiple instance characteristics. Panels to configure this object display.

  2. Expand the Loop Activity panel to display the Loop Mode Setting.

  3. From the Loop Mode setting, select the Multi-instance (Parallel) option. The settings for this loop mode display:

  4. In the Request Variable Array setting, enter the name of an array-type Request variable. The size of this array will determine how many times this loop iterates.

  5. In the Output Data Variable setting, enter the name of an array-type Request variable in which to store the results of all instances. Each instance of the loop saves to a separate JSON object within the array of the specified Request variable. If the Output Data Variable setting is not configured, then the output data replaces the source data in the Request Variable Array.

Multi-instance(Sequential)

Select the Multi-instance (Sequential) option to perform this object's function multiple times sequentially a fixed number of times or until an exit condition is True. This is useful when sequentially repeating a function multiple times but with a different set of data each time. This loop mode has the following characteristics:

  • Instances of the function are governed by the size an array-type Request variable where a new instance is created for each item in this variable. For example, an array with 10 items will create 10 parallel instances of this function that each contains data from its respect array index.

  • At any given time, only one instance of the function is active. The subsequent instance does not begin until the current instance completes.

  • At the end of each instance an exit condition evaluates and the loop activity halts if the exit condition is True.

  • The function as a whole completes when all instances are complete.

  • The output from each instance can either be saved in the source Request variable or a new array-type Request variable.

  • All active instances terminate if an interrupting boundary-type event object triggers.

  • A object configured in this mode shows the Multi-instance (Sequential) iconin Process Modeler.

Follow these steps to specify characteristics to perform multiple instances of the object:‌

  1. Select the object from the Process model in which to specify multiple instance characteristics. Panels to configure this object display.

  2. Expand the Loop Activity panel to display the Loop Mode Setting.

  3. From the Loop Mode setting, select the Multi-instance (Sequential) option. The settings for this loop mode display:

  4. In the Request Variable Array setting, enter the name of an array-type Request variable. The size of this array will determine how many times this loop iterates.

  5. In the Exit Condition setting, enter a condition in FEEL syntax. When this condition is True the loop activity is halted.

  6. In the Output Data Variable setting, enter the name of an array-type Request variable in which to store the results of all instances. Each instance of the loop saves to a separate JSON object within the array of the specified Request variable. If the Output Data Variable setting is not configured, then the output data replaces the source data in the Request Variable Array.

Documentation Panel Settings

Edit the Connector's Description Displayed in Process Documentation

Describe the connector's purpose and how it functions in the Process. This description does not affect Requests for the Process, but may be useful for Process model maintenance such as how the connector is configured. Edit information by using the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) rich text editor.

A Process's entered documentation displays by selecting the View Documentation icon for that Process.

Follow these steps to edit the description for a connector:

  1. Select the connector from the Process model in which to edit its description.

  2. Ensure that the Configuration panel displays. If not, show it. Panels to configure this element display.

  3. Expand the Documentation panel if it is not presently expanded. The Description setting displays.

  4. In the Description setting, edit the information to display when viewing documentation for this connector and then press Enter. Alternatively, use the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) rich text editor to stylize your text by clicking the More icon .

    Follow these guidelines to use the WYSIWYG rich text editor to stylize your text:

    • Undo changes: Click on the icon to undo the last action.

    • Redo changes: Click on the icon to redo the last undone action.

    • Insert/Edit Link: Click on the icon to convert the selected text into a hyperlink. Follow these steps to create a hyperlink:

      1. Select the required text from the Rich Text control.

      2. Click on the icon. The Insert/Edit Link screen displays.  

      3. In the URL setting, enter the destination URL.

      4. In the Text to display setting, edit or enter the text displayed in the Rich Text control.

      5. In the Title setting, enter the text to display when a user hovers over the displayed text.

      6. From Open link in… drop-down menu, select one of these options:

        • New window: Select this option to open the destination page in a new browser window.

        • Current window: Select this option to open the destination page in the current browser window.

    • Insert/Edit Image: Click on the Insert/Edit Image icon to insert an image. Follow these guidelines:

      1. Click on the Insert/Edit Image icon .

      2. The Insert/Edit Image screen displays:  

      3. In the Source setting, enter a URL for the image.

      4. In the Alternative Description setting, enter the text to display if the source URL of the image is not accessible.

      5. In the Width setting, enter the maximum width for the image.

      6. In the Height setting, enter the maximum height for the image.

      7. Toggle the Constrain Proportions icon to maintain the width-height ratio of the image to its original proportion.

      8. Click Save.

    • Insert Page Break for PDF: Click on the Insert Page Break for PDF icon to insert a page break when a PDF document is created for this documentation if your browser supports this feature.

    • Format text: Follow these guidelines to format text:

      • Headings: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Headings and then select a heading size.

      • Bold: Do one of the following:

        • From the editor toolbar, select the icon.

        • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Bold.

      • Italics: Do one of the following:

        • From the editor toolbar, select the icon.

        • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Italic.

      • Underline: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Underline.

      • Strikethrough: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Strikethrough.

      • Superscript: From the Paragraph/ Formats menu, select Inline and then Superscript.

      • Subscript: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Subscript.

      • Code: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Code.

      • Paragraph: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Blocks and then Paragraph.

      • Blockquote: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Blocks and then Blockquote.

      • Division: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Blocks and then Div.

      • Preformatted:  From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Blocks and then Pre.

      • Change text color: Use the Text Color drop-down to change text color. Click on the icon. The color palette displays. Do one of the following:

        • Select one of the color swatches from the color palette. The selected text changes to that color.

          • Click the icon to select a custom color from the Color Picker.

          • Click the icon to reset the text to its default color.

      • Align text: Follow these guidelines to align text:

        • Left align: Do one of the following:

          • From the edit or toolbar, use the icon to left-align text.

          • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Align and then Left.

        • Center align: Do one of the following:

          • From the editor toolbar, use the icon to center-align text.

          • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Align and then Center.

        • Right align: Do one of the following:

          • From the editor toolbar, use the icon to right-align text.

          • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Align and then Right.

        • Justify: Do one of the following:

          • From the editor toolbar, use the icon to justify text.

          • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Align and then Justify.

      • Insert a bullet list: Use the icon to format text as a bulleted list.

      • Insert a numbered list:  Use the icon to format text as a numbered list.

      • Indent text: Click on the icon to increase text indenting.

      • Outdent text: Click on the icon to decrease text indenting.

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