What’s New in Experlogix Document Automation Smart Flows 4.12
Our Product Team just announced the general availability of Experlogix Document Automation Smart Flows 4.12 and we are excited to share the enhancements this latest version adds to our document generation and document automation software to further improve capabilities, performance and user experience.
Release 4.12 of Experlogix Document Automation Smart Flows contains several long-anticipated, “quality-of-life” features for administrators, template designers and end-users alike.
For admins, this release includes:
- new filtered relations at the data set level;
- new preview of data sets with samples;
- improved “Data collection” flow step for an HTTP connector.
Template designers will enjoy:
- faster-loading templates;
- new automatic updates.
For end-users, the 4.12 release brings:
- new document preview during the flow execution.
Let’s dive deeper into these new and enhanced features of Experlogix Document Automation Smart Flows 4.12 to learn more about their functionality and the benefits they bring.
Filtered Relations at Data Set Level
One of the much-anticipated features is the ability to create filtered relations at the data set level. Until version 4.11, filtered relations could only be defined at the template level, in Experlogix Document Automation Template Builder. This meant that they could not easily be shared between templates.
However, in the 4.12 release, you can define conditions that allow filtering of a one-to-many relation (1:N) in a data set. Users can reuse these filtered relations across all templates associated with that data set, optimizing data collection and promoting re-usability of data operations.
The main difference between a filtered relation in the data set and a result set in the template is that a filtered relation uses the filter before collecting data from a connector (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce or SugarCRM). In contrast, a result set filters the data after collecting data to only show the relevant portion in a generated document. Therefore, using filtered relations instead of result sets may improve performance, because only the data that makes it through the filter is collected.
The capability to filter relations is the first of a series of roadmap features that will enable users to execute data operations at the data set level rather than the template level. Stay tuned!
Preview Data Sets with Samples
A handy feature in version 4.12 is previewing a data set with a sample right from the Data Set Builder, in the Project Console of Experlogix Document Automation Smart Flows. With a single click, you can view the data your active data set would return for any of its samples to immediately check the impact of changes to your data set. You can also create a new sample directly from this new function.
HTTP Connector Support of all Types of Data Sets for Data Collection
Many Smart Flows projects have an HTTP connector in place, which serves as an open endpoint to call external REST services either for document post-processing or data pre-processing.
When used for data collection, until version 4.11, the “Fetch data with HTTP connector” flow step would only collect data against a schema data set. In other words, it would fetch an XML that structurally corresponds to a schema definition uploaded as a data set.
In release 4.12, HTTP connector-based “Data collection” steps can now fill any data set type, including Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce and SugarCRM data sets. This change allows you to enrich CRM data by calling a web service that authenticates through an HTTP connector.
Faster-loading Templates
Our Product Team implemented an optimized caching mechanism for project-related data. No more application latency when opening templates in Experlogix Document Automation Template Builder – this new feature loads templates faster, increasing productivity and efficiency.
Automatic Updates
Experlogix Document Automation Smart Flows 4.12 comes with an additional online installer for Template Builder. The new installer automatically pulls new updates of our template design tool as they become available in the web repository. This new automatic online installer will always prompt the user to install the latest version, regardless of the version that is in use.
Document Preview During Flow Execution
Finally, another exciting new feature of Smart Flows 4.12 is the capability to preview a generated document during a flow execution. In other words, you can now pause the execution of a flow immediately after the “Generate document” step to show a preview of the document in the Flow Execution panel of Experlogix Document Automation Smart Flows.
This lets end-users verify that the generated document looks exactly like expected before resuming the flow with any subsequent storage or delivery steps. If the document does not pass the preview test, end-users can stop the flow execution at that step and cancel all remaining steps. In this case, a warning or error message can be sent to Experlogix Document Automation Smart Flows admins.
*Xpertdoc is now an Experlogix brand.
Experlogix Document Automation Smart Flows 4.12 includes many other enhancements and updates, such as support for “Image” fields, automatic role assignment and document volume changes. Download the full Release Preview Guide to learn all about them or read the release notes in the Experlogix Document Automation Knowledge Base.