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Start

Summary

  • Internal name: Start
  • Category: Workflow Control
  • Purpose: Mark the beginning of a workflow execution, initialize the execution context (variables, timeout, execution policy).
  • Task type: Workflow Control

Compatibility

  • Minimum AndroMate version: 1.1.0

  • Maximum AndroMate version: 1.1.0

  • Minimum Android: Android 13 (API 33)

  • Maximum Android tested: Android 16 (API 36)

  • Supported manufacturers:

    • ✅ All manufacturers

  • Required permissions:

    • None

Detailed description

The Start task is the mandatory entry point of every workflow. There is always exactly one Start node per workflow, and graph traversal begins from it.

It is used to:

  • Define the initial variables available throughout the entire workflow
  • Configure the global timeout for the workflow execution
  • Set the execution policy — whether the workflow stops or continues when a task raises an exception

The Start task itself performs no action during execution (it returns immediately). Its role is purely declarative: it configures the runtime context (AndroMateContext) that all subsequent tasks will share.

Input parameters

Parameter Type Required Possible values Android Compatibility AndroMate Compatibility Default
Time_out Long No Duration in milliseconds, 0 = no timeout Android 13 (API 33) → Android 16 (API 36) 1.1.0 → 1.1.0 0
exec_policy Integer No 1 = Continue on error, 2 = Stop on error Android 13 (API 33) → Android 16 (API 36) 1.1.0 → 1.1.0 1 (Continue)
variables Array No List of variable objects (see below) Android 13 (API 33) → Android 16 (API 36) 1.1.0 → 1.1.0 []

Variable object structure

Each entry in the variables array defines one workflow variable:

Field Type Required Description
variableName String Yes Name of the variable — must start with $ (e.g. $my_var)
variableValue String No Initial value of the variable
is_kpi Boolean No If true, this variable is tracked as a KPI and included in the job result

Output parameters

The Start task produces no outputs. It returns immediately with no result value.

Exceptions

The Start task does not raise any exceptions.

Execution flowchart

flowchart TD
    A([▶ Start Parsing]) --> B[📋 Read Time_out\ndefault: 0]
    B --> C[📋 Read exec_policy\n1=CONTINUE / 2=STOP]
    C --> D[📋 Read variables array]
    D --> E[🔧 Initialize AndroMateContext\nvariables · timeout · policy]
    E --> F[📌 Set graph entry point\nstartId = node id]
    F --> G([✅ Context ready\nWorkflow begins])

    style A fill:#e3f2fd
    style G fill:#c8e6c9
    style E fill:#fff9c4
    style F fill:#f3e5f5

How it works:

  1. Read Time_out: Loads the global workflow timeout in milliseconds (0 = no limit)
  2. Read exec_policy: Loads the execution policy — CONTINUE_ON_ERROR (default) or STOP_ON_ERROR
  3. Read variables: Loads the variable list with their initial values and KPI flags
  4. Initialize context: Creates the AndroMateContext shared by all tasks in the workflow
  5. Set entry point: Registers this node's id as the graph traversal starting point
  6. Workflow begins: The engine starts executing the next connected task

Parameter details

1. Parameter: Time_out

Defines the maximum execution time allowed for the entire workflow, in milliseconds.

Example

"Time_out": 60000

Details

  • A value of 0 means no timeout — the workflow runs until it reaches an END node or an unrecoverable error.
  • If the workflow exceeds this duration, execution is interrupted.
  • Recommended for long-running workflows to prevent infinite loops or blocking tasks.

2. Parameter: exec_policy

Defines the behaviour of the engine when a task raises an exception.

Value Constant Behaviour
1 CONTINUE_ON_ERROR The workflow continues to the next task even if the current one failed. The exception is stored in context and can be inspected with the Exception ? task.
2 STOP_ON_ERROR The workflow stops immediately when any task raises an exception.

Example

"exec_policy": 2

Details

  • Default value is 1 (CONTINUE_ON_ERROR) when the field is absent or set to an unknown value.
  • With CONTINUE_ON_ERROR, you can use Exception ? nodes after critical tasks to handle errors explicitly.
  • With STOP_ON_ERROR, any task failure terminates the workflow immediately — no branching needed.

3. Parameter: variables

Declares the list of variables available for the entire workflow. Each variable can be read or written by any task.

Variable fields

Field Description
variableName Unique name starting with $. Used as a placeholder in task parameters (e.g. $url, $result).
variableValue Initial value as a string. Can be empty "".
is_kpi If true, this variable's final value is exported in the job report as a KPI metric.

Example

"variables": [
  {
    "variableName": "$server_url",
    "variableValue": "https://example.com",
    "is_kpi": false
  },
  {
    "variableName": "$ping_result",
    "variableValue": "",
    "is_kpi": true
  }
]

Details

  • Variables are resolved at runtime — any task parameter containing $variable_name is automatically replaced with the current value.
  • A variable not declared in the Start node cannot be used in other tasks.
  • KPI variables (is_kpi: true) are collected at the end of the job and sent to the backend as performance indicators.

Complete JSON example

{
  "Start": [
    {
      "id": "0",
      "title": "Initialize Workflow",
      "Time_out": 120000,
      "exec_policy": 1,
      "variables": [
        {
          "variableName": "$server_url",
          "variableValue": "https://example.com/api",
          "is_kpi": false
        },
        {
          "variableName": "$http_status",
          "variableValue": "",
          "is_kpi": true
        },
        {
          "variableName": "$error_code",
          "variableValue": "",
          "is_kpi": false
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}