WhatsApp Business Send Message activity

Introduction

A WhatsApp Business Send Message activity, using its WhatsApp Business connection, sends messages (using a specified message object) from WhatsApp Business and is intended to be used as a target to consume data in an operation.

Create a WhatsApp Business Send Message activity

An instance of a WhatsApp Business Send Message activity is created from a WhatsApp Business connection using its Send Message activity type.

To create an instance of an activity, drag the activity type to the design canvas or copy the activity type and paste it on the design canvas. For details, see Create an activity instance in Component reuse.

The design canvas (see Component actions menu in Design canvas).
The project pane's Components tab (see Component actions menu in Project pane Components tab).

Configure a WhatsApp Business Send Message activity

Follow these steps to configure a WhatsApp Business Send Message activity:

Step 1: Enter a name and select a category
Provide a name for the activity and select a category.
Step 2: Select an action
Select an action.
Step 3: Review the data schemas
Any request or response schemas are displayed.

Step 1: Enter a name and select a category

In this step, provide a name for the activity and select a category. Each user interface element of this step is described below.

Name: Enter a name to identify the activity. The name must be unique for each WhatsApp Business Send Message activity and must not contain forward slashes / or colons :.
Select a Category: This section displays categorys available in the WhatsApp Business endpoint.
- Selected Category: After a category is selected, it is listed here.
- Search: Enter any column's value into the search box to filter the list of categorys. The search is not case-sensitive. If categorys are already displayed within the table, the table results are filtered in real time with each keystroke. To reload categorys from the endpoint when searching, enter search criteria and then refresh, as described below.
- Refresh: Click the refresh icon or the word Refresh to reload categorys from the WhatsApp Business endpoint. This may be useful if categorys have been added to WhatsApp Business. This action refreshes all metadata used to build the table of categorys displayed in the configuration.
- Selecting a Category: Within the table, click anywhere on a row to select a category. Only one category can be selected. The information available for each category is fetched from the WhatsApp Business endpoint:
  - Name: The name of the category.
  - Description: The description of the category.
Tip

If the table does not populate with available categorys, the WhatsApp Business connection may not be successful. Ensure you are connected by reopening the connection and retesting the credentials.
Continue on Error: Select to continue the activity execution if an error is encountered for a dataset in a batch request. If any errors are encountered, they are written to the operation log.
Save & Exit: If enabled, click to save the configuration for this step and close the activity configuration.
Next: Click to temporarily store the configuration for this step and continue to the next step. The configuration will not be saved until you click the Finished button on the last step.
Discard Changes: After making changes, click to close the configuration without saving changes made to any step. A message asks you to confirm that you want to discard changes.

Step 2: Select an action

In this step, select an action. Each user interface element of this step is described below.

Select an Action: This section displays actions available in the WhatsApp Business endpoint.
- Selected Category: The category selected in the previous step is listed here.
- Select an Action: After an action is selected, it is listed here.
- Search: Enter any column's value into the search box to filter the list of actions. The search is not case-sensitive. If actions are already displayed within the table, the table results are filtered in real time with each keystroke. To reload actions from the endpoint when searching, enter search criteria and then refresh, as described below.
- Refresh: Click the refresh icon or the word Refresh to reload actions from the WhatsApp Business endpoint. This may be useful if actions have been added to WhatsApp Business. This action refreshes all metadata used to build the table of actions displayed in the configuration.
- Selecting an Action: Within the table, click anywhere on a row to select an action. Only one action can be selected. The information available for each action is fetched from the WhatsApp Business endpoint:
  - Name: The name of the action.
  - Description: The description of the action.
Tip

If the table does not populate with available actions, the WhatsApp Business connection may not be successful. Ensure you are connected by reopening the connection and retesting the credentials.
Back: Click to temporarily store the configuration for this step and return to the previous step.
Next: Click to temporarily store the configuration for this step and continue to the next step. The configuration will not be saved until you click the Finished button on the last step.
Discard Changes: After making changes, click to close the configuration without saving changes made to any step. A message asks you to confirm that you want to discard changes.

Step 3: Review the data schemas

Any request or response schemas are displayed. Each user interface element of this step is described below.

Data Schemas: These data schemas are inherited by adjacent transformations and are displayed again during transformation mapping.

The WhatsApp Business connector uses the WhatsApp Business Cloud API. Refer to the API documentation for information on the schema nodes and fields.
Refresh: Click the refresh icon or the word Refresh to regenerate schemas from the WhatsApp Business endpoint. This action also regenerates a schema in other locations throughout the project where the same schema is referenced, such as in an adjacent transformation.
Back: Click to temporarily store the configuration for this step and return to the previous step.
Finished: Click to save the configuration for all steps and close the activity configuration.
Discard Changes: After making changes, click to close the configuration without saving changes made to any step. A message asks you to confirm that you want to discard changes.

Next steps

After configuring a WhatsApp Business Send Message activity, complete the configuration of the operation by adding and configuring other activities, transformations, or scripts as operation steps. You can also configure the operation settings, which include the ability to chain operations together that are in the same or different workflows.

Menu actions for an activity are accessible from the project pane and the design canvas. For details, see Activity actions menu in Connector basics.

WhatsApp Business Send Message activities can be used as a target with these operation patterns:

Transformation pattern
Two-transformation pattern (as the first or second target)

To use the activity with scripting functions, write the data to a temporary location and then use that temporary location in the scripting function.

When ready, deploy and run the operation and validate behavior by checking the operation logs.