Passing Runtime Inputs into Experience Builder Workflows

In general, there are two types of inputs that can be passed into VertiGIS Studio Workflow: design-time inputs and runtime inputs. Design-time inputs are essentially static inputs whose values are defined in the host application's configuration. Runtime inputs are more dynamic, and their values are determined based on contextual data in the app, like the current selection of features, when the workflow runs.

In Experience Builder, runtime inputs can only be passed into a workflow via Message Actions, which means the workflow will run every time the action (e.g. selecting a feature) is triggered. In all other cases, like where the workflow should run when the user clicks on it, only design-time inputs will be passed along. This poses a challenge if you're wanting to do something like pass the current selection of features into a workflow to run a report.

The solution is to build the workflow so that it can obtain the information it needs independently, without any runtime inputs from Experience Builder. For example, in the case of running a report on a selection of features, one option would be to add a Geometry Picker element to a Display Form activity and perform a geometry-based query in a Query Layer activity. The entire operation is contained within the workflow, so no runtime inputs from Experience Builder are necessary, and the user experience is similar to clicking on the map to select features and running a report on them.