Using Data storage in a flow
You've just learned how Data storage works. Now, let's finally see the real value of this feature. In this section, we will demonstrate a use case that some of us being on a forever-free Slack plan know very well.
Ever lost a message on Slack due to the fact that you're on a free plan? We did. Luckily for us and unluckily for Slack, there is a workaround. As tech geeks, we love workarounds, and we are somewhat proud to show you how to store Slack messages in the Appmixer Data storage so that there is never a message that is lost for good.
#sorrySlack
As you'll see, the flow we are about to build is more than simple. Below, see the overview of what it looks like once it's built-in Appmixer.
To get started hit the "Create Flow" button and drag & drop the Slack component to the canvas and choose either NewChannelMessage or NewPrivateChannelMessage – based on whether you want to store messages from public or private channels.
If you haven't authenticated your Slack account yet, now it's the right time to do so.
Next, you'll want to use the Storage module, or more specifically the "Set" component that saves new items to the Data storage. Below, see how we use a timestamp, message text and user to keep our database organised and clean.
We are all set! Except we aren't. There are for sure more channels from which we'd like to store messages in our Data storage. Let's adjust our flow a bit by adding more triggers / more Slack channels.
Next, we need to adjust the "Set" component a little bit. First, we need to choose the Data storage to which the messages will be saved. Second, we may want to use the channel name and timestamp as key...
... and the content of the message itself as value.
It's important to say that the Data storage needs to be first created in the "Storage" tab to further use it in a flow.
Let's do the same for other channels so that we store all messages, not only the ones coming into the "my-appmixer-tests" channel.
Now, every time a new message is sent to any of the Slack channels we've defined in the trigger components, the message gets saves to a Data storage.
Notice we have renamed the components according to the Slack channel name to keep our flow organised and self-explanatory.
You may wonder how the data looks once it's saved, don't you? Let's have a look.
You may note: "The timestamp is not in a format that is easily readable!" and you'd be absolutely right. You can easily adjust the date format using Modifiers, and make the data stored in Appmixer clear for anyone.
After that, you're all set! ✅
You just learned about the power of Data storage. In the next section, we'll look at Insights that help you keep track of your flows and data that flows between different platforms.
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