Automatically Stitch a Project with Flow

Since TaskRay is a 100% Salesforce native application, the Lightning Process Builder and Flow can be used to automate various TaskRay processes.

In this article we will be leveraging the "Stitch a TaskRay Project (Flow Only)" Apex Flow action. This Flow action can create or update a TaskRay Project with a dynamic set of task groups (previously created in templates). In this article, we will configure a Process Builder and Flow to create a TaskRay Project consisting of task groups related to Opportunity Products when a Opportunity stage changes to Closed Won.

As you go through these instructions, keep in mind that there are many other possibilities for customizing the process and you can modify the setup to suit the specific needs of your organization. 

Step 1: Set Everything Up in TaskRay

The first step of the process is to make sure that you have all the necessary templates, or in this case building blocks, ready in TaskRay. You can learn more about creating templates here.

It is up to you how you want to keep the templates organized, but for this example, the first thing that you will need to do is make sure that you have a basic template project in TaskRay for customer onboarding, which will be used as a base for the new project. This can either be an empty template project, or it can contain some generic onboarding tasks that will apply to all onboarding processes, regardless of the circumstances.

Next, create another template project called "Product Templates" which will contain task groups that are specific to the products and fulfillment services your company offers. If two products have the same steps to fulfill, you can simply relate one product template task group to two products. In our example we need to assign fulfillment task groups to these products:

In our case, the fulfillment of all the generators is the same with the exception of the "GenWatt Gasoline 2000kW". The SLA products will all use the same template task group from TaskRay. The installation task groups are all the same with exception of "Installation: Portable". So our list of template task groups to create will look like:

1. Generic Generator Fulfillment
2. GenWatt Gasoline 2000kW Fulfillment
3. Generic Installation Fulfillment
4. Installation Portable Fulfillment
5. SLA Fulfillment

We'll create those now and add appropriate tasks to our "Product Template" project.

Step 2: Relate Task Groups to Products

Now that TaskRay is all set up and you have the template task groups created, the next step is to relate the template task groups you just created to the products in Salesforce. 

Create a New Field on Product

1. From Setup, navigate to:

• Lightning: Objects and Fields | Object Manager. Select the Product object.
• Classic: Build | Customize | Products | Fields.

2. Under Custom Fields and Relationships, click on New.
3. Follow the steps to create a new Lookup Relationship field named "Template Task Group". On Step 2, for Related To, select TaskRay Task Group.

Now that we have a field to relate a Product to a TaskRay Task Group we can populate the field on our products with the Task Group Templates we created above. This is what ours looks like:

Create a New Field on Opportunity Products

This formula field is needed so that we can access the product's Task Group in Flow.

1. From Setup, navigate to:

• Lightning: Objects and Fields | Object Manager. Select the Opportunity Product object.
• Classic: Build | Customize | Opportunity Products | Fields.

2. Under Custom Fields and Relationships, click on New.
3. On the New Custom Field setup page, select the following:
   
   • Step 1: Select Formula. 
   • Step 2: Enter Field Label (e.g. "Task Group Template") and for formula return type select Text. 
     
   • Step 3: Configure the formula to point to the "Template Task Group" field we configured on the Product object. Do this by clicking on the Insert Field button and then following Opportunity Product > Price Book Entry > Product > Template Task Group. It should insert "PricebookEntry.Product2.Template_Task_Group__c" into your formula.
     
   • Complete the rest of the field configuration as appropriate.

Step 3: Build the Flow

Now that we have our fields and templates created, we can start building the Flow which will stitch together our project. In general, this Flow will take in an input variable of the Opportunity ID, look up what products are on the opportunity, figure out what task groups should be in the project, then clone a new project consisting of our base customer onboarding project and additional task groups as defined by the opportunity's products.

1. From Setup, navigate to:
• Lightning: Process Automation | Flows.
• Classic: Create | Workflow & Approvals | Flows.
2. Click New Flow.
3. In the left sidebar, select the Resources tab. Under Create New, double click on Variable. Enter a Unique Name (e.g. "OpportunityId"). Click OK.
    
4. In the left sidebar, select the Palette tab. Under Data, select Fast Lookup and drag it onto the canvas. Create a new lookup to find the products for the OpportunityId we just defined.
   1. The object  for the lookup is OpportunityLineItem and the criteria are OpportunityId = {!OpportunityId}. You can select this by clicking the down button, expanding variables, and selecting the "OpportunityId" variable.
   2. Assign the results to a new SObject Collection Variable named "OpportunityProducts", the object type will be  "OpportunityLineItem"
   3. Add the Task Group Template formula field we created earlier. It will be listed under the custom section.
5. Back on the canvas, mark the Fast Lookup node as the starting point by hovering over its box and clicking the green down icon.
6. Now, let's save our work for the first time. Click on the Save button in the top left corner and name the flow "Stitch Project on Opportunity Closed Won".
7. Get the Opportunity Close date using a new Record Lookup node.
   1. In the left sidebar, select the Palette tab. Under Data, select Record Lookup and drag it onto the canvas.
   2. Configure the Record Lookup:
      • Lookup: Opportunity
      • Field: Id
      • Operator: Equals
      • Value: Variables > OpportunityId
   3. Assign Fields to variables
      • Close Date: Create New > Variable > Name: OpportunityCloseDate, Type: Date
      • Name: Create New > Variable > Name: Opportunity Name, Type: Text
8. Create some variables to keep track of what task groups we need to add. In the left sidebar, select the Palette tab. 
   
   1. Create a new Collection Variable
      • Name: templateTaskGroupIdList
      • Data Type: Text
      • Input/Output Type: Private
   2. Create a new Collection Variable
      • Name: templateScheduleModeList
      • Description: Variables can be "Start", "End", or a Milestone Id
      • Data Type: Text
      • Input/Output Type: Private
   3. Create a new Collection Variable
      • Name: templateTaskGroupTargetDateList
      • Data Type: Date
      • Input/Output Type: Private
9. In the left sidebar, select the Palette tab. Under Logic, select Loop and drag it onto the canvas. Configure the loop:
   
   1. Name the loop Iterate Opportunity Products
   2. Loop through OpportunityProducts under SObject Collection Variables
   3. Loop Variable: Create New | SObject Variable
      • Name it Opportunity Product and set the object type to OpportunityLineItem
10. Insert an Assignment. Under Palette, select Assignment.
    1. Name it Assign Task Group Lists
    2. Add to templateTaskGroupIdList variable
       • Variable: Collection Variables | templateTaskGroupIdList
       • Operator: add
       • Value: SObject Variables | OpportunityProduct | Task_Group_Template__c
    3. Add to templateTaskGroupTargetDateList variable
       • Variable: Collection Variables | templateTaskGroupIdList
       • Operator: add
       • Value: Variables | OpportunityCloseDate
    4. Add to templateScheduleModeList variable
       • Variable: Collection Variables | templateTaskGroupIdList
       • Operator: add
       • Value: Create New | Constant | Unique Name: Start, Value: Start
11. Create the Stitch Project Node.
    1. Insert the node at Palette | Apex | TASKRAY__trStitchProjectFlow
    2. Name the node "Stitch a Project"
    3. Configure the inputs:
       • New Project: Global Constant | GlobalConstant.True
       • Task Group Id List: Collection Variables | templateTaskGroupIdList
       • Task Group Schedule Mode List: Collection Variables | templateScheduleModeList
       • Source Object Id: Variables | OpportunityId
       • New Project Template Id: Create New | Constant | Name: templateProjectId, Type: Text, Value: <ID for your basic customer onboarding project>
       • New Project Name: Variables | OpportunityName
       • New Project Date: Variables | OpportunityCloseDate
       • New Project Schedule Mode: Constants | Start
    4. Delete the output row by hovering the row and clicking the trash can on the right
12. Connect your nodes.
    1. Fast Lookup maps to Record Lookup
    2. Record Lookup Maps to Loop
    3. Loop (for each value in the collection) maps to Assignment
    4. Assignment Maps to Loop
    5. Loop maps to TASKRAY__trStitchProjectFlow
13. Save your Flow again.
14. Close.
15. Activate your Flow.

Step 4: Build the Process to Execute the Flow

Create a New Process

1. From Setup, navigate to:
• Lightning: Process Automation | Process Builder.
• Classic: Create | Workflow & Approvals | Process Builder.
2. Click New.
3. Enter the Process Name, API Name, and Description.
4. For The process starts when field, select A record changes.
5. Click Save.

Select the Object for the Process

The first thing that you need to do is select the object that will trigger the automated process. In this case, we will select the Opportunity object, because that is where the initial action will take place.

1. On the canvas, click on + Add Object.
2. For the Object field, select Opportunity.
3. Under Start the process, select When a record is created or edited.
4. Click Save.

Define the Criteria That Triggers the Process

The next part of building the process is to define the criteria that will trigger the process. In our example, it would be the act of changing the status of an Opportunity to Closed Won.

1. On the canvas, click on + Add Criteria.
2. Enter the Criteria Name.
3. Under Criteria for Executing Actions, select Conditions are met.
4. Under Set Conditions, select the following:
• Field = [Case] Stage
• Operator = Equals
• Type = Picklist
• Value = Closed Won
5. Under Conditions, select All of the conditions are met (AND).
6. Click on Advanced to expand additional settings and select the Yes checkbox. 
• This means that we want to execute this action only when the specified changes are made to the record. In our case, we want the action to fire only when the Priority is changed to High.
7. Click Save.

Define the Actions that Occur when the Process Runs

Next, you need to define the actions that should occur when the process is fired. In our example, the action that should occur when the process is fired is the creation of a new project.

1. On the canvas under Immediate Actions, click on + Add Action.
2. For Action Type, select Flows.
3. Enter the Action Name.
4. For Flow, select Stitch Project on Opportunity Closed Won 
5. Under Set Flow Variables, click on + Add Row and select the following:
   • Field = Opportunity Id
   • Type = Field Reference
   • Value =[Opportunity] Opportunity Id
     
6. Click Activate in the top right corner.