Call Workflow Service

This Node Is Deprecated — This version of the node has been replaced with a new and improved version. The old version is kept for backwards-compatibility, but for all new workflows we suggest to use the version linked below.

Calls another workflow and obtains the results for further processing in this workflow. The workflow can receive inputs via Workflow Service Input nodes and return outputs using Workflow Service Output nodes.

Each Workflow Service Input node in the workflow to be called will create an input port on this node when finishing the configuration of the Call Workflow Service node. Similarly, each Workflow Service Output node will create an output port on the node.

The called workflow can be located on a KNIME Server or in the Local Workspace. If the workflow is located on a KNIME Server, the execution will take place on the server. In contrast, when using the Workflow Executor node, the execution will always be performed in the workflow containing the Workflow Executor node.

The difference between this node and the Call Workflow (Table Based) node is the set of supported workflow input and output nodes. This node supports the Workflow Service Input and Workflow Service Output nodes, which support arbitrary port types and are more efficient than the various Container Input and Container Output nodes. The container input and output nodes on the other hand expect and produce data in a format that can easily be produced by third-party software, whereas Workflow Service Input and Workflow Service Output nodes are designed exclusively to be used by other KNIME workflows.

To define which Workflow Service Input node receives data from which of this node's input ports, each input node defines a parameter identifier. The parameter identifier is supposed to be unique, but it might happen that a workflow has multiple input nodes defining the same parameter name. In this case, KNIME will make the parameter names unique by appending the input node's node ID to the parameter name, e.g., "input-table" becomes "input-table-7".

Options

Workflow

Server address (only for remote execution): Displays the address of the connected server.
Short duration (only for remote execution): Choose this if the called workflow is expected to finish within ten seconds. When selected, the invocation of the workflow will not poll its status but wait until the job completes (or fails). This removes the polling overhead and makes this option quicker for short running workflows. Choosing this option for long running workflows (> a minute) will cause timeout problems.
Long duration (only for remote execution): Choose this if the called workflow is expected to run for more than ten seconds. When selected, the invocation of the workflow will poll its status repeatedly until the job completes (or fails). The polling is implemented so that for the first few seconds there will be frequent status checks (poll interval 100ms or 500ms), whereas jobs that run minutes or hours will be checked only every few seconds.
Retain job on failure (only for remote execution): When selected, failing jobs of the called workflow will be kept on the server. This can be useful for debugging purposes. When not selected, the failing jobs will be discarded.
Discard job on successful execution (only for remote execution): When selected, successful jobs of the called workflow will be discarded from the server. When not selected, the successful jobs will be kept.
Workflow path: The path of the workflow you want to call. If connected to a server, the path must be an absolute path (i.e., a path starting with "/") in the server's repository. If calling a workflow in the Local Workspace, the path may be absolute or relative (i.e., a path starting with "../"). You can either enter the path by hand or click on Browse Workflows and then select one of the workflows.
Input Parameters: After you have specified a workflow path, you will see the input parameters of the workflow. Every input parameter corresponds to an input port of the node. This panel shows which input port's data is sent to which input parameter. By using the arrows, you can configure the binding of input ports to input parameters.
Output Parameters: Similar to the input parameters panel. Maps data sent back from the workflow to this node's output ports.
Adjust node ports: When the node ports differ from the workflow parameters, this button is used to confirm updating the node ports, which may remove connections to other nodes.

Advanced Settings

Workflow load timeout (only for remote execution): The maximum amount of time to wait for the server when trying to initialize remote workflow execution. Specified in seconds. A value of 0 means that no timeout will be used.
Job Status Polling (only for remote execution): During asynchronous invocation (option "Long Duration"), if a HTTP 5XX error occurs when polling for the job status, the node will retry the request. The node will wait a certain amount of time before each retry. The time to wait before the n-th attempt is determined by base * multiplier^n. Use a multiplier of 1 for a constant backoff, or a multiplier greater than 1 for an exponential backoff. Set the number of retries to 0 to disable retrying.
Fetch parameters timeout (only for remote execution): The maximum amount of time to wait for the server when fetching the input and output parameters of the called workflow. Specified in seconds. A value of 0 means that no timeout will be used.

Input Ports

: Optional connection to a KNIME Server where the workflow to be executed is located. If connected, the execution of the workflow will be performed on that server.
…: One output port for each Workflow Service Input node in the workflow to be executed. The ports are automatically created when finishing the configuration of the node.

Output Ports

…: One output port for each Workflow Service Output node in the workflow to be executed. The ports are automatically created when finishing the configuration of the node.

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Workflows

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Installation

To use this node in KNIME, install the extension KNIME Personal Productivity Tools from the below update site following our NodePit Product and Node Installation Guide:

v5.3

A zipped version of the software site can be downloaded here.

Plugin provider: KNIME AG, Zurich, Switzerland

Plugin version: 5.3.0.v202406201515

On NodePit since: 2024-07-09

Last update: 2024-10-30

Tags: Deprecated

KNIME versions: Since v4.5

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