Records

Records are a way to introduce structured data into your team. 

💡Note

Capture a record 

Drag a record onto the storyboard from the ‘tools’ menu. Then connect it to the upstream and/or downstream action. 

This tells the story to capture data from the incoming action before proceeding to the subsequent action(s). Through the build pane on the right-hand side of your screen, you’ll name what you’re capturing and assign the record type. 

If you or a member of your team already created record types, you can choose the type from the ‘select record type’ dropdown. 

If no record types exist, you’ll need to select the option Create new record.

Create a new record type 

Now that you are capturing data, you need to tell the system how you want the data stored. This is done through the record type. The record type is how you define the data and how it should be stored. 

This opens a module like below. 

By default, the timestamp and story name is always captured. 

🪄Tip

You will add columns for what you’d like captured. Today, the column options are text, number, true/false, or timestamp. 

💡Note

Once you define the record type, you will click save and it will be automatically selected as the record type for the record capture. 

Now, you need to define the incoming data. 

Define record type data 

Since the incoming event data structure varies from one story to another, you need to define the incoming data for each record column. Before starting, ensure the capture record tool is connected to an incoming action.

  1. Choose the record type from the drop-down list

  2. Then, for each column reference the relevant data from the incoming action

  3. Test the record by clicking run or test

  4. When the run is complete, choose view record results to see the output on the record table

While running or testing the record tool, you may encounter incoming data type that does not match the defined record column type. When that happens:

  1. If a record column is defined as a “number” but the incoming data is a “text”, empty data (essentially null) will be recorded, and you’ll see an error in the logs.

  2. If a record column is defined as a “text” but the incoming data is a “number”, the value will be recorded as a “text”, e.g. "10".

  3. A record column defined as a “true/false” (essentially a boolean) can only record data that is true or false. If the incoming data is 0, f, or false, it will be recorded as false. Otherwise, it will be recorded as true.

  4. If a record column is defined as a “timestamp” but the incoming data is not a date time, empty data will be recorded and you'll see an error in the logs. A “timestamp”, regardless of the format, will be recorded as the strftime format %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S. For example:

    • “May 31st, 2023 4:17:33pm” will be recorded as 2023-05-31 16:17:33.

    • “May 31st, 2023” will be recorded as 2023-05-31 00:00:00.

The records table is a view of all created records by record type. You can navigate to the records table from the storyboard or from your team folder in the main navigation by clicking records.

The columns on the record table will match the record type settings. 

Filter the records table 

There are a few ways to filter the records view. You can filter by one or a combination of the options. 

  1. Stories: select the story(ies) for which you want to see the associated records

  2. Record column: filter by a specific column or the data within the column

    1. Equals

    2. Does not equal

    3. Empty

    4. Not empty

    5. Greater than or equal

    6. Greater than

    7. Less than or equal

    8. Less than

    9. Is true

    10. Is false

  3. Date: set a timeframe for the records

  4. Test or Live environment*: select to see records associated with the test or live version of a story(ies) 

*Change control must be enabled in order to select between test and live environments. 

The record table automatically updates based on the filters defined. 

Export the records table 

You can export a record view to a CSV by clicking the export button. It will export the data as you see it within the table.

Parent-child relationships 

Parent and child records allow you to create dependencies between records. The parent record denotes the source data capture for the parent-child relationship. 

When added to a case, all child records of the parent record are also added to the case.

💡Note

Configuring the parent record 

In the build pane of the child record, you will turn on parent record.

Within the formula field, you will find the record the exact same way you pull event data. 

Note: your parent record must be linked upstream of the child record.

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