The action library

Installing the Workflow Manager adds a library of general actions to your private actions, ready to drag onto a workflow. The sample workflows show them in use. They cover the steps most workflows need: working out dates, checking data has arrived, making decisions, reading files from the web, starting other processes and telling people what happened.

Their ids start with wm_, so they do not clash with your own actions. They are in your private actions, so you can open them in the Actions tab, see how they work and change them, or copy one to start an action of your own. Upgrading the extension puts the library versions back, so copy an action before changing it if you want to keep your changes.

In the tables, an input marked optional can be left empty.

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General

wm_log_message

Writes a message to the process log.

Input
message	The message to log
level optional	debug, info, warn or fatal (info if not given)

Exits: ok.

wm_build_text

Builds a text, such as an email body or a file name, by filling the {name} placeholders of a template with values.

Input
template	The text with placeholders, e.g. Prices for {ondate} loaded
values	The values to put in, by name, e.g. {"ondate": output.today.date} (id cannot be a placeholder, as every object has an id)

Outputs: text. Exits: ok, failed.

wm_set_values

Sets values once for later steps to share, such as a date, a list of ids or an email address. Later steps read them as output.<step name>.values.<name>.

Input
values	The values, by name

Outputs: values. Exits: ok.

wm_wait

Pauses the workflow, for example to give another process time to finish.

Input
seconds	How long to wait, in seconds (at most 900)

Exits: ok.

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Dates

wm_resolve_date

Works out a date: today or a given date, moved by a number of business days.

Input
date optional	The date to start from, yyyy-MM-dd (today if not given)
offset optional	Business days to move: -1 is the previous business day, 1 the next
calendar optional	The holiday calendar to count business days with (business if not given)

Outputs: date (yyyy-MM-dd), dow (the day of the week). Exits: ok, failed.

wm_is_business_day (gateway)

Decides whether a date is a business day, so a workflow can skip holidays.

Input
date optional	The date to check (today if not given)
calendar optional	The holiday calendar (business if not given)

Exits: business_day, holiday.

wm_business_days

Lists the business days between two dates, for example to load or check each day of a period.

Input
start_date	The first date, yyyy-MM-dd
end_date optional	The last date (today if not given)
calendar optional	The holiday calendar (business if not given)

Outputs: dates (a list of yyyy-MM-dd dates), count. Exits: ok, none (no business days), failed.

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Checks

wm_compare_value (gateway)

Compares a value with a target, for example a count of rows loaded against the number expected.

Input
value	The value to check
operator optional	One of == != > >= < <= contains starts ends (== if not given)
target	The value to compare it with

Exits: true, false.

wm_check_range (gateway)

Checks a number is within limits, for example a price between sensible bounds.

Input
value	The number to check
min optional	The lowest value allowed
max optional	The highest value allowed

Exits: in_range, out_of_range.

wm_check_not_empty (gateway)

Checks a value has something in it: not missing, not empty text and not an empty list, for example that a download returned data.

Input
value optional	The value to check

Exits: has_value, empty.

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Data

wm_check_curve (gateway)

Checks a curve has been loaded for a day, for example before building curves or reports from it.

Input
id	The curve id, OBJECT:CURVE, e.g. ICE.IFEU.B:SETTLE
ondate optional	The curve date (the previous business day if not given)
min_contracts optional	The fewest contracts it should have (1 if not given)

Outputs: contracts. Exits: loaded, missing.

wm_check_timeseries (gateway)

Checks a timeseries has a value for a day or later, for example that a daily price has arrived.

Input
id	The timeseries id, OBJECT:PROPERTY, e.g. #ECB_FX.EURUSD:SPOT
date optional	The day it should have reached (the previous business day if not given)

Outputs: last_date, last_value. Exits: updated, stale.

wm_check_dataset (gateway)

Checks a dataset is complete for a day: every item of the delivery has arrived.

Input
dsid	The full dataset id
ondate optional	The delivery date (the previous business day if not given)

Exits: complete, incomplete.

wm_read_object

Reads a master data record, so later steps can use its properties.

Input
id	The id of the record

Outputs: object. Exits: found, missing.

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Loaders, processes and notifications

wm_read_url

Downloads a CSV, XML or HTML page from a web address and reads it, for the next step to transform and load.

Input
url	The web address
format optional	csv, xml or html (worked out from the address if not given)
options optional	Options of the reader, e.g. headerpos=0 for CSV or selector=table for HTML

Outputs: data. Exits: ok, failed.

wm_run_process

Starts another process, for example a curve build once its prices have loaded. It does not wait for the process to finish.

Input
process	The name of the process
values optional	The input to run it with (its own input if not given)

Exits: ok, failed.

wm_send_email

Sends an email, for example to tell a team a load has failed or a report is ready.

Input
to	An email address, or several separated by commas
subject	The subject
message	What to send: text, or an object or list
template optional	The id of an email template to format it with

Exits: ok, failed.

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An example

Priya's evening load uses the library around her own EEX actions:

1. wm_is_business_day with the calendar #EEX: on a holiday, go straight to the Success end.
2. wm_resolve_date, named today on the diagram, gives output.today.date, used as the date of every later step.
3. Her own download and load actions.
4. wm_check_timeseries on the front month settlement with date output.today.date: stale goes to step 5, updated to the Success end.
5. wm_build_text makes the message EEX settlements for {ondate} have not arrived, and wm_send_email sends it to the team, then the Failed end.

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Installing the library in another environment

The library is installed with the extension. To add or refresh it in an environment without reinstalling the extension, run the script upload-actions.odsl from the extension's folder in that environment: it saves every action of the library to your private actions in one go.

Uninstalling the extension deletes the library actions, and workflows that use them stop working. Copy the ones you use under your own ids first if you plan to uninstall it.