A full impact analysis is available for all design objects and plug-ins. Impact analysis is determined by two types of inverse relationships between objects and plug-ins:
Plug-in Impact Analysis is a preview feature. To share feedback or report issues with references to plug-ins, please open a support case.
These relationships are shown in the Dependents and Precedents views. Precedent and dependent views of selected objects allow you to drill through multiple levels of dependents or precedents, and perform other tasks such as:
APN_userDisplayName()
.Up to 500 dependents or precedents are shown in the list. Only the objects that the current user can see are displayed. For more information, see Considerations for Impact Analysis.
You can view dependents and precedents of objects, and dependents of plug-ins in Appian Designer. Click the Objects View and select the Design Objects tab or Plug-ins tab to view a list of objects or plug-ins within the environment.
Within an application, select an object in the application view and click Dependents or Precedents in the toolbar.
The application view will update to show you the dependents or precedents for your selected object. The annotated screenshot and descriptions below define the navigation options and information displayed in the dependents or precedents view.
For data types, decisions, expression rules, integrations, interfaces, record types, sites, and web APIs, select Dependents or Precedents in the Settings menu, as shown below.
This view displays the same relationship information as the application view annotated above. You can toggle between dependents and precedents views (3), trace through multiple levels of object relationships (8), and view the locations of relationships (9). Filters and toolbar options don't apply when viewing dependents or precedents within an object.
From an object's dependents view, you can also run all of the test cases for an object's direct dependent expression rules (10). Click Run Direct Rule Dependents to manage Test Cases for the object's dependent rules.
If your record type has data sync enabled, you can get even more granular by reviewing your record field dependents. In your record type, click next to a record field to see which design objects depend on it.
Like the object view, you can use the Field Dependents view to trace through multiple levels of object relationships (8), and view the locations of relationships (9). You can also run all of the test cases for an object's direct dependent expression rules (10). Click Run Direct Rule Dependents to manage Test Cases for the object's dependent rules.
Similarly, you can view the same information about your relationship dependents. In your record type, click next to a relationship name to see which design objects depend on this relationship.
When objects reference themselves in a recursive relationship, the dependents or precedents list do not include the object. For instance, the process model Send Adhoc Task calls itself as a subprocess. When viewing the dependents or precedents list for Send Adhoc Task, Send Adhoc Task is not included.
Only the latest version of an object's relationships are calculated.
If an object's definition has an expression with a syntax error, the relationships in the expression are not traced. For instance, the interface PR_submitForm uses the expression rule APN_displayName. If the latest version of the interface is saved with a syntax error, such as a missing closing parenthesis, APN_displayName isn't included in PR_submitForm's precedents list. Likewise, PR_submitForm is not included in APN_displayName's dependents list.
Some objects or plug-ins may not display in dependents or precedents lists if Appian has not finished calculating object relationships. This would only happen after the application server is started, and the process of calculating the relationships is not completed.