Data Types v2

Data types describe the values that Workflows receive, map, and return. They also help Flowgear choose the appropriate editor and validate a mapping against a Node Method.

Type vocabulary

Flowgear uses a compact type vocabulary:

Type Represents
string Text, characters, URLs, and text documents.
number Integer, floating-point, and decimal numeric values.
boolean true or false.
datetime A date and time, with or without an offset in the underlying Node contract.
timespan A duration.
guid A globally unique identifier.
enum One value from a Node Method's published option set.
object Named fields in a structured object, dictionary, or JSON value.
array An ordered synchronous or asynchronous collection.
stream Opaque streamed content, such as a file or request body.
connectionKey The key of a compatible Flowgear Connection.

Node implementations may use more specific .NET types. Flowgear simplifies these types for Workflow definitions. In particular, byte, integer, floating-point, and decimal types all appear as number; collections appear as array; and dictionaries and structured JSON values appear as object.

Scalar values

Scalar values contain one value rather than child fields or items. See:

The Integer, Double, and Byte pages describe specific Node contracts. In Workflow YAML, author these values as Type: number and let the receiving Node Method determine the concrete numeric type.

Structured values

Use Object for named fields and Array for ordered items. Flowgear can map these structures directly with nested Properties.

JSON and XML are document formats, not authored type tokens. Hold an unparsed document as a String or Stream. Parse it before mapping its fields as an Object or Array.

Specialized types

These types and handling rules are not interchangeable with ordinary text:

See also

See Workflow Properties for the complete Property structure and Data mapping for assigning compatible values.