Concepts
Components and wires
How components connect, what flows over a wire, and how Fluidly decides what fits where.
A component is a card on the canvas that does one job: show a balance, filter transactions, forecast a series, send an email. A wire carries data from one component's output port (right side) to another's input port (left side).
What flows over a wire
Three kinds of data move through a flow:
| Kind | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Number | a single value | today's balance, an exchange rate, a threshold |
| Records | a list of dated rows | transactions, invoices, a forecast |
| Structure | a tree of named parts | a bank account split into balance and transaction types; an ERP's balance sheet |
Most components accept more than one kind and adapt. Wire records into Add and you get the records merged; wire numbers and you get their sum. Wire a structure into a component that wants records, and Fluidly offers the part of the structure that fits.
A fourth kind — on/off — runs between the automation components. See Analytics and automation.
The arc menu
Drag from any port and release on empty canvas: a menu opens around your cursor with every component that fits that port, grouped by what it does. Pick one and it is placed and wired in one move. The palette is a shortcut; the arc menu is how most flows grow.
More than one wire into a port
Where adding things up is the only sensible reading — two bank accounts into one Timeline, say — Fluidly inserts an Add for you and wires both into it. You see the sum on the canvas and can take it apart like any other component.
Settings live where they act
Components have no settings dialog. What you choose is found next to what it affects: the period on the axis, the currency on the port, the method on the forecast's own span bar. If a component can work something out from the data, it does, and says so on its face.
Hints
Select a component and its empty ports show a short hint of what they are for — what to forecast, fine-tune, connect a trigger. The hint disappears once the port is wired.
Compounds
Some components are several parts in one: Bank Account, ERP and Dashboard are compounds. You use them through their outside port, like any other component. Open one to see — and change — what is inside. You can make your own: hold Alt while dragging one component onto another.