Understanding Workflow Parameters

Workflows that do not operate on input have limited scope; many workflows need to be parameterized to be useful. This is done by adding a parameters member to the global workflow object. The parameters member is in turn an object that is expected to have a member for each parameter. Each parameters member must have the following members:

Table 9-2 Required Workflow Parameters Members

Required Member	Type	Description
`label`	String	Label to adorn input of workflow parameter
`type`	String	Type of workflow parameter

The type member must be set to one of these types:

Table 9-3 Workflow Member Type Names

Type Name	Description
`Boolean`	A boolean value
`ChooseOne`	One of a number of specified values
`EmailAddress`	An e-mail address
`File`	A file to be transferred to the appliance
`Host`	A valid host, as either a name or dotted decimal
`HostName`	A valid hostname
`HostPort`	A valid, available port
`Integer`	An integer
`NetAddress`	A network address
`NodeName`	A name of a network node
`NonNegativeInteger`	An integer that is greater than or equal to zero
`Number`	Any number, including floating point
`Password`	A password
`Permissions`	POSIX permissions
`Port`	A port number
`Size`	A size
`String`	A string
`StringList`	A list of strings

Example 9-3 Workflow Using Two Parameters

Based on the specified types, an appropriate input form will be generated upon execution of the workflow. For example, here is a workflow that has two parameters: the name of a business unit (to be used as a project), and the name of a share (to be used as the share name).

var workflow = {
       name: 'New share',
       description: 'Creates a new share in a business unit',
       parameters: {
               name: {
                       label: 'Name of new share',
                       type: 'String'
               },
               unit: {
                       label: 'Business unit',
                       type: 'String'
               }
       },
       execute: function (params) {
               run('shares select ' + params.unit);
               run('filesystem ' + params.name);
               run('commit');
               return ('Created new share "' + params.name + '"');
       }
};

If you upload this workflow and execute it, you will be prompted with a dialog box to fill in the name of the share and the business unit. When the share has been created, a message will be generated indicating as much.