Based on a tutorial by Niden Team
Struggling to understand how to build effective workflows in Niden? You're not alone. The concept of nodes and how they connect can feel overwhelming when you're just getting started.
In this comprehensive guide, I'll break down everything covered in the third video of Niden's beginner course, making it easier to understand the fundamental building blocks of any Niden workflow.
Quick Navigation
What Are Niden Nodes?
Nodes are the fundamental building blocks of any workflow in Niden. Think of them as the atoms that make up your automation molecules – each one serving a specific purpose and connecting to form complete workflows.
Key Points:
- Nodes are the basic units of all Niden workflows
- Workflows are built by connecting consecutive nodes
- Each node performs a specific function in your workflow
My Take:
Understanding nodes is crucial because they're the foundation of everything you'll do in Niden. Once you grasp how they work and connect, building complex workflows becomes much more intuitive.
Categories of Nodes
Niden organizes nodes into three main categories based on their function in the workflow. This organization makes it easier to understand what each node does and when to use it.
Key Points:
- Entry Points (Triggers): These start your workflows, responding to events like form submissions or scheduled times
- Functions: These transform, filter, or format your data as it moves through the workflow
- Exit Points (Apps): These connect to external applications to perform actions with your processed data
When adding nodes to your canvas, you'll find them grouped by type:
- Triggers
- Actions in App
- Data Transfer
- Information
- Filter
- Flow
- Files
- Advanced nodes
My Take:
This categorization system is one of Niden's strengths. Instead of hunting through an endless list of options, you can quickly narrow down to the type of operation you need at each step of your workflow.
Adding Nodes to Your Canvas
When you open Niden, you start with an empty canvas where you'll build your workflow. Adding nodes is straightforward, but follows a specific pattern based on where you are in your workflow construction.
Key Points:
- Click "Add First Step" or the plus button in the top right to add your first node
- The first node must always be a trigger node (the starting point of your workflow)
- For subsequent nodes, you'll see the complete list of node types
- You can type to search for specific nodes rather than scrolling through the list
- Some nodes require selecting a specific operation after adding them
My Take:
The search functionality is a massive time-saver when building workflows. As you become familiar with Niden, you'll likely know exactly which node you need – being able to quickly search for it keeps you in your creative flow.
Understanding Node Settings
Once a node is on your canvas, you'll need to configure it. Double-clicking opens the settings panel where you can customize how the node behaves.
Key Points:
- Node configurations have two main components:
- Parameters: These are specific to each node and operation (e.g., selecting which spreadsheet to read)
- Advanced Settings: These are accessible via the gear icon and are node-independent (notes, execution settings, etc.)
- You can execute a single node using the play button to test its output
- Common options like duplicate, rename, and delete are easily accessible
My Take:
Testing nodes individually is incredibly helpful for debugging. Instead of running your entire workflow to find an error, you can isolate each step and ensure it's working as expected before moving on.
Working with Credentials
Credentials are how Niden authenticates with external services and applications. Understanding how they work is essential for building secure, shareable workflows.
Key Points:
- Credentials are set at the top of parameters for app nodes
- They're saved at the instance level for efficient workflow building
- Can be shared with specific users or restricted for security
- You can prevent specific people from accessing particular credentials
- Credentials typically use OAuth or service accounts to connect
My Take:
The credential management system in Niden strikes a great balance between convenience and security. Once set up, you won't need to re-authenticate for each workflow, but you still maintain control over who can use those connections.
Exploring Data Views
Niden provides different ways to visualize the data flowing through your nodes. These views help you understand what's happening at each step of your workflow.
Key Points:
- Input data appears on the left side of the node parameters
- Output data appears on the right side
- Three main data views are available:
- Table View: Shows data in columns and rows (ideal for spreadsheet data)
- JSON View: Displays data as key-value pairs (covered in the next video)
- Schema View: Shows all different keys and example corresponding values
My Take:
The multiple view options accommodate different learning styles and use cases. Table view is perfect for spreadsheet data, while JSON view is invaluable when working with APIs or more complex data structures.
Practical Example: Reading Google Sheets Data
The tutorial demonstrates how to apply these concepts by creating a simple workflow that reads data from a Google Sheet. This hands-on example brings together everything covered in the theoretical portion.
Key Points:
- Start by adding a manual trigger node
- Add a Google Sheets node connected to the trigger
- Select the "Get Rows" operation
- Set up credentials to authenticate with Google (using OAuth)
- Select the document and specific sheet to read from
- Execute the node to see the data appear in the output view
- Explore additional settings like filters and output formatting
My Take:
This practical example showcases how surprisingly simple it is to read data from external sources in Niden. What might take dozens of lines of code in a traditional programming environment can be accomplished in minutes with the visual workflow approach.
The demo shows how to access a Google Sheet containing names, emails, and company information. After connecting to Google and selecting the appropriate sheet, all the data becomes immediately available in Niden for further processing in your workflow.
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