We ship a lot of packages. The status of the packages is available from a webhook, and I need to email our customers when the status of their package changes (shipped/out for delivery/delivered/etc.).
I am building the endpoint the webhook will access. For each status update, I need to look up the package details from a table, send an email, and update an external API.
The webhook expects a response in 3 seconds, and my attempt to perform the actions in real time is taking too long.
I’m looking for a suggestion on how to manage this workflow, not in real time. Should I add a status column to the table and create a timer that runs every X minutes, looking for the status and then performing the action?
Is there a better way to do this without the timer?
A better way to do this would be with our new product, FlowRunner, which we will release next month. It is a complete workflow automation/management system built on Backendless. If you can wait until then, I believe you will find the product’s functionality matches your requirements.
I can’t wait, but I am very excited about this and can always rebuild into FlowRunner once it is released. Can you share any details now, as you’ve piqued my curiosity?
In the interim, do you have any suggestions that are better than what I mentioned in my first post?
The idea with a status column and a timer should work.
FlowRunner is a general-purpose automation platform. You can build “flows,” which are visual models of your processes. A flow can consist of multiple triggers, actions, conditions, and transformers. The built-in triggers and actions would represent everything Backendless can do, plus we’re adding a lot of external integrations. AI integration is built-in throughout the platform. You can easily create your own actions (with or without code). That’s all I can say at this point, much more information will be available closer to the launch.