Create and Manage Fields
Data sources are the applications, systems, and repositories used in automation workflows. To effectively use the content in these various data sources, you need to specify the individual pieces of data, or fields, you want to use in Tonkean.
These fields can be thought of as attributes of a larger object. For example, if an issue-tracking system like Jira is your data source, the Jira instance is the overall data source; the Jira ticket is the object, containing lots of different data; and the individual attribute, like the status, is a field in Tonkean. These fields contain the values we care about as we work to automate processes—we can read these values, update them, or even manipulate them as needed.
There are several kinds of fields in Tonkean, each with their intended uses and processes for creating and maintaining them:
Basic fields - These fields are native to Tonkean and help power business workflow logic, though not all basic fields are used by every item.
Manual fields - These fields are created directly in Tonkean and are designed for manual input. Manual field values are initially empty and are populated during the workflow either by a form or by certain workflow actions, such as the Update Field action.
Matched entity fields - Matched entity fields are pulled from a data source and are specific to that data source. A matched entity is automatically created when you connect a data source to a module as the input data source. You can then add the fields from the matched entity for use in a module.
Formula fields - Formula fields allow you to extract, format, or in various other ways manipulate data from any field. These fields allow you to leverage any of the formulas available in Tonkean.
Global fields - A global field can be an aggregate, manual, or formula field and is not related to a particular item but can be used across all the items in a given module. Global fields are used to generate key metrics to display in a module's related business report the most important information in that module. They can also be used within actions. For example, a global field can be used as a static value you need to display in the same way in multiple places (a company or product name in different communication channels, for example).