Introduction

Flow Design

Designing flows using the IN Tester user interface allows users to quickly build test scenarios within a straightforward user interface.

Features

Ensuring required fields exist The IN Tester interface verifies that required fields exist for flow nodes prior executing flows.

For example, the Begin Voice Call node requires a Service Key to be defined. Until one is, the flow cannot be executed.

If the service key is missing, the flow will be displayed with this warning message:

If execution is attempted with such problems with the test flow, an error message will be displayed with the text:

Flow is invalid. Please fix situations highlighted in yellow before executing.

and the flow execution will not be continued.

Checking a value does not exist It is possible to require a received message to not have a specific field, or even to not have a specific value for a specific field.

For example, it might be that an INAP InitialDP (see Begin Voice Call) should not have a MSC Address.

To check that a specific field does not exist. Click on the name of the field in the screen. If the field supports this test, the field name will be struck through:

It is further possible to test whether a field does not have a specific value, instead of testing that it does not exist at all in the incoming message.

To test that a field does not have a specific value, mark the field as above, and type in the value it must not have in the field’s normal input field.

The test flow definition will identify fields that must not exist (or must not have a specific value) with an exclaimation mark - e.g. usually the Apply Charging “tone” field will appear in the test in this manner:

"aChBillingChargingCharacteristics": {
    "timeDurationCharging": {
        "tone": "\u0005"
    }
}

But when marked that it should not exist, it will appear in this manner:

"aChBillingChargingCharacteristics": {
    "timeDurationCharging": {
        "!tone": null
    }
}

Note that the null is important. To test that the tone was not a specific value, the null would be replaced with the actual value.

This feature is available for the “tone” parameter in the Apply Charging request only at this stage.

Node expansion and contraction For ease of use, most nodes are able to be expanded or contracted by clicking on any empty space on the node’s header bar.

If a node is expanded or contracted, its state will be saved with the flow.

Note that certain nodes, such as INAP Continue, do not have any node data to edit, and so do not allow expansion or contraction. Additionally, the Start node defaults to contracted, even if expanded when saved.

Node labels Labels can be added to any node in the flow to aid readability or provide context.

Labels will replace the default node title, but keep it in brackets as a reference. Once added, a label can be edited or removed. Note that labels are saved with each flow.