Playbooks - how to update a flow data variable using user input
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10-13-2025 01:05 PM
Hi,
Does anyone know the best way to update a flow data variable based on user input in a Playbook?
I have created a custom activity definition that has a UI Layout cloned from the OOTB List UI Layout, and I have modified it by adding a filter, the agent selects one or more records via the filter and the list updates to show only those records, this is working fine, but later on in the Playbook I want to be able to recall the selection of records again, I'm able to successfully update a client state parameter, but I'm not too sure the best way to get the data contained in the client state parameter as an output in my simple flow.
Thanks in advance for any help.
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2 weeks ago
This is probably the "hard" way, but knowing how the relationships work, you could work backward to find the data you want.
When you run a Playbook, it creates a record between the source record (A case?) and the playbook definition. That then writes data to the Flow Data table, which in turns stores entries (I'm looking at a questionnaire) in the Variable Value table.
So here would be the process:
1. Get the related playbook context record from "sys_pd_context" where input_record = Case sys_id
2. Look up the Activity where the input happened on table "sys_pd_activity" where context = record from #1
3. Look up the sys_flow_data record where sys_id = the "associated_record" id in #2
4. Look up the related variables in sys_variable_value where document_key = the Flow Data record from #3
Added bonus: there are wonderful ways to update the input fields (like on a questionnaire) that don't exist in the UI. For example, you can put advanced reference qualifiers or use attributes like the following by modifying the related sys_flow_data_var entry.
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