Configure Parameters

Data Types

You configure parameters and actions with data types which dictate the behaviour of the parameters and actions in the FLOW script. The data types are described in the table below.

Data Type	Icon	Description	Range/Limitations
Integer		A whole number.	2147483647 to -2147483647
String		A sequence of characters. This can be text, numbers, or both. Typically, but not exclusively, used for prompts and announcements.	Limited to 2,048 characters. The exception is name inputs, which are also strings, and are generally limited to 255 characters.
Boolean		A flag that is used to indicate either True or False.	True and False
Float		A floating point value or decimal fraction. That is, a number with a decimal point, such as '123.45'.	Limited to 16 decimal places.
Enumeration		A set of named values such as days of the week.	These have the same limitations as their sub-type, so an enumeration of strings has the string limitations. There is currently no limit on the number of enumeration options allowed.
Percentage Split		A means of routing to two or more destinations based on a percentage weighting.	N/A
Menu		A means of assigning a menu to a service, to allow users to configure and make changes to menus,	N/A
Queue		A means of assigning a queue to a service, to allow users to configure and make changes to queues.	N/A
Announcement		A means of assigning an announcement to a service, to allow users to configure and make changes to announcements.	N/A
Time Schedule		A means of assigning a time schedule to a service, to allow users to configure and make changes to time schedules.	N/A
Service		A means of assigning a service to another service.	N/A
Media Group		A means of assigning a media group to a service, to allow users to configure and make changes to media	N/A

Parameter Inheritance

You can reduce the number of parameters you need to manually assign to each service by configuring services to inherit parameters from other services at runtime. By setting up a hierarchical 'tree' of services, using a 'parent-child' relationship, at runtime a child service will inherit the values of all the parameters assigned to its parent service which, in turn, will inherit the values of all the parameters assigned to its parent service.

Service Common
Service A is a parent of Service B and a child of Service Common	parameter inheritance is in this direction	parameter checking is in this direction	Service 9 is a parent of Service 8 and a child of Service Common
Service B is parent of Service C and a child of Service A			Services 8 through to 1. Service 8 is a parent of Service 7 and a child of Service 9
Service C is a child (of Service B) only			Service 0 is a child (of Service 1) only

FLOW uses CONDUCTOR’s 'Get Value/Get Values' action cells to retrieve parameter values at runtime, starting at the service directly associated with the current access point. If the parameter in the script is not assigned to that service, FLOW will check the service hierarchy in the direction child > parent, and use the first value of that parameter it encounters. This is illustrated below where, for the right 'branch' of the tree, FLOW checks for assigned parameters starting at Service 0, the current access point connection.

Service Common has one assigned parameter 'Ad hoc Message', the value of which is inherited at runtime by its children, Service A and Service 9
Service A	parameter inheritance is in this direction	parameter checking is in this direction	Service 9 has one assigned parameter, 'Chatbot Limit'. The service inherits the value of parameter 'Ad hoc Message' at runtime
Service B			Services 8 through to 1.
Service C			Service 0 has one assigned parameter, 'Language Prompts'. The service inherits the value of a number of parameters at runtime, including 'Ad hoc Message', 'Chatbot Limit', and any other parameters which are assigned to services 8 through to 1. Service 0 is connected to the current access point.

Example: if Service 8 is connected to the current access point and has parameters assigned, one of which is 'Chatbot Limit', FLOW will start searching from Service 8, find 'Chatbot Limit' in Service 8 and use that value, as it will reach Service 8 earlier than Service 9 which also has 'Chatbot Limit' assigned, the value of which could be different from that assigned to Service 8. If Service 8 did not have 'Chatbot Limit' assigned, it would inherit Service 9's value of the parameter at runtime.

A maximum of ten parent services in a single branch are permitted. In this example, the ten parent services on the right branch are Services 1 to 9 and Service Common. (Service 0 is a child-only service). If you exceed this number, FLOW will follow the Not Found exit route. This route is also followed if a parameter is not found at any point in the hierarchy.

Refer to Create Services for details on how to assign a service as a parent of another service.