Navigation Node

When the flowchart reaches the navigation node, the application will open the specified navigation point and continue from there.

There are no exits and there is only one property: the Name. The name is the specified Navigation Point and cannot be changed in the flowchart. To learn more about Navigation Points, read the specific article on Navigation.

Important to keep in mind for the security of your applications is that Navigation Nodes adhere to the Visible When property as defined in the Navigation Item. A decision node with the same expression as the navigation point can be used to specifically check the same expression in case the flowchart is also called directly (not via navigation).

Best practice: Use the visible when property only for controlling who can see menu items, and manage access control also specifically at the start of your flowchart. Using a calculated field in a decision node, as shown in the image below, is the most effective (and reusable) way to protect certain flowcharts from unauthorized access.

When a user has the correct authorizations, they will continue through the normal flow via the "yes" exit, while unauthorized users will be sent to the unauthorized flow.

Navigation Nodes can be used to change the active item on your Menu just as if a user has clicked the menu item.

However - understanding the Navigation and Session behaviour is important.

If you are using a Navigation Node to go to a specific flowchart, with the intention to continue a current process: wrong! You will lose values in Transient Fields if they are not placed within the Session Folder to keep them available across requests.

In this case, you should directly link to the specific flow using the sub-flowchart node.

Only use a navigation node in your flow, if:

• Navigation Item is a Subroutine (with an end-node) that should return to the starting point of your current flow.

• You really want to change the active menu item for the user - and you have made sure that:

  • any transient field necessary for the process, is available in the Session Folder,

  • or the Navigation Item you point to, is supposed to have a fresh start with no transient field values, only Session Folder-fieldvalues available for correct flow execution.