What is the purpose of the 'action flow' in OutSystems?

The purpose of the 'action flow' in OutSystems is to define the sequence of actions that occur during the application's operation. This involves outlining the logical progression of operations that should happen in response to user interactions or specific events. Action flows are essential for ensuring that the application behaves as expected, allowing developers to coordinate various operations such as navigating between screens, calling APIs, processing data, and executing business logic.

The action flow provides a visual representation, making it easier for developers to design complex interactions by simply dragging and dropping actions on a canvas. This tool not only helps in organizing the execution sequence but also enhances the maintainability and readability of the application's logic.

In contrast, while managing user input is crucial for applications, it is just one aspect of what an action flow can do. Creating a user interface design involves using different elements and widgets in OutSystems, not specifically the action flow. Similarly, handling data storage operations can be part of the actions included in an action flow, but this represents only a subset of the broader capabilities that action flows encompass.