Broadway Actor's Properties Window

Properties Overview

The Actor's Properties window is displayed when adding a new Actor to a flow or when clicking an Actor object in the Flow window. The Actor window holds the following sections:

	Object Name Displays the Actor name in the following format: [Object Name] : [Actor Type] By default, when adding an Actor, Broadway concatenates a sequential number to the Actor Type name. For example: when adding DateAdd Actors to the flow, the object names of these Actors are DateAdd1, DateAdd2 etc. It is recommended to give the Actors meaningful names according to their function in the flow.
	Parameters Filter Filters the input and output fields in the Actor window using the following options: All Fields (default), displays a list of all the Actor's fields and the fields of their ancestor. Actor name, displays a list of input and output parameters of the current Actor object. Ancestor Actor name, displays the list of input and output parameters of the Actor's ancestor. For example: FixedColumnParser Actor inherits from LinesParser Actor. Select All Fields to display a full list of input and output parameters of the FixedColumnParser Actor. Select an Actor Type (FixedColumnParser or LinesParser) to filter the input and output parameters accordingly.
	INPUTS Displays the input parameters in the following format: [Parameter Name] : [Parameter Type] Click to update an input parameter. Click Add Input to add more parameters. The button is applicable for selected Actor types only.
	OUTPUTS Displays the output parameters in the following format: [Parameter Name] : [Parameter Type] Click to update an output parameter. Click Add Output to add more parameters. The button applicable for selected Actor types only.

Actor's Inputs and Outputs

Input Parameter Properties

The Actor's input parameters are displayed in the Actor's Properties window in the following format:

• [Parameter Name] : [Parameter Type]

For example:

• interface : string

Click for more information about Broadway data types.

The population of the input parameter depends on the Population Type. The following types are supported:

• Link, gets the input value as an input parameter from another Actor. When Link is selected, it connects the parameter to another Actor's output parameter.
• Const, sets the value of the parameter. When Const is selected, a text area opens under the parameter to enable populating the parameter's value.
• External, gets the input value as a parameter from the external process which executes the Broadway flow. When External is selected, the External Name field opens under the parameter.

The actions on the input parameters are:

• Default value, set a default value for an input parameter (for Link and External population types). Broadway enables populating a value that matches the parameters type. For example: when the parameter is Integer, Broadway only enables inserting numbers into this parameter.
• Edit Schema, click to open the popup window where you can update the parameter's type.
• Description, click to check the parameter's description. The description cannot be updated.
• Remark, click to add a remark. A remark can be modified.

Note that when populating an input value for an SQL parameter, click QB to open the Query Builder window to validate the SQL query as displayed in the following DbCommand built-in Actor example:

Add Input Button

Some Actors such as JavaScript and DbCommand, enable adding input parameters using an Add Input button. A new input parameter has the following default settings:

• Parameter Type = Any.
• Population Type = Link.

If the population type is updated to a Const, select the parameter type from the dropdown list.

To delete or add more parameters, in the context menu click > Delete or Insert.

Note that the input parameters of the ancestor Actor cannot be deleted.

Output Parameters Properties

The Actor's output parameters are displayed in the Actor's Properties window in the following format:

• [Parameter Name] : [Parameter Type]

The actions in the output parameters are:

• Set External, click to expose the output parameter to the external process that executes the Broadway flow. When selected, the External Name field opens under the parameter.
• Edit Schema, click to open the popup window where you can update the parameter's type.
• Description, click to check the parameter's description. The description cannot be updated.
• Remark, click to add a remark. The remark can be modified.

Add Output Button

Some Actors, such as InnerFlow, enable adding output parameters using an Add Output button. A new output parameter is added with the default Parameter Type = Any.

To delete or add more parameters, in the context menu click > Delete or Insert.

Note that the output parameters of the ancestor Actor cannot be deleted.