Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty · Part I

Building Flows

43% of Part I — the exam's largest section, split across 4 modules.

Building Flows · Module 4

Sub-topic: Objects and Lists

this deck covers 3 of 3 sub-topics in this module

The Scenario

"Work with objects and lists"

Objects and Lists are Workflows' two structured data types, each with its own function category — and both flow through cards, the basic building block of every flow.

Object — Set

"Sets a key of an object to a specified value, creating a new key if it doesn't exist already." Inputs: object (starting value), path (a top-level key, a dot-delimited path like customer.id or items.5 for a list index, or a List of Text of key names), and value. Output: the updated object.

Set — Worked Examples

object {"foo":"1"}, path foo, value 2 → {"foo":"2"}
object {"foo":"1"}, path bar, value 2 → {"foo":"1","bar":"2"}
object {"foo":"1"}, path bar.baz, value 2 → {"foo":"1","bar":{"baz":"2"}}
object {"foo":["0","1","2"]}, path foo.1, value 9 → {"foo":["0","9","2"]}

The Gotcha — Path Type Matters

If path is typed as a single dot-delimited string, dots traverse into nested objects. But if you instead set path's type to a List of Text and pass keys like "foo" and "bar" as separate list items, dots inside those strings are treated literally as part of the key name — so a list containing "foo.bar" produces a distinct "foo.bar" key rather than nesting.

List — Combine All (Concat)

"Combine the contents of two or more lists. The output is a List of every element in the preceding Lists, including potential duplicates." Inputs are List 1, List 2, and so on (each additional list adds a new input field). If {Alan, Bob, Charles} is combined with {Alicia, Brittany, Catherine}, the output is all six items in order. For a duplicate-free merge, the docs point to a separate function: Union (Combine Unique).

The Connection — Cards Tie It Together

"Each card represents one specific step in a flow," with input fields that accept values and output fields that other cards can consume — "the ability to map the output field from one card to the input field of another card" is core to how Object/List transformations chain into the rest of a flow. Per-card options include Collapse, Run this card (action/function cards only), Duplicate, and (under the gear icon) Choose fields, Run When, and Error handling. Save with Ctrl+S, run with Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

One Line To Remember

Object Set writes a key into an object by dotted-path or list-of-keys (list form treats dots literally, not as nesting); List Combine All merges two-or-more lists keeping duplicates (use Union for unique-only); both are just cards — one step with typed inputs and outputs you chain by dragging an upstream output onto a downstream input.

Sources: help.okta.com — Set (ext-object-method-set), Combine All (ext-list-method-concat), Cards in flows (ext-about-cards)

✓ Module 4 — 3 of 3 sub-topics complete