What is an operational application?（什么是操作型应用？）¶

At Palantir, we frequently refer to certain workflows and applications as being "operational." What does this mean?

An operational application is used to drive a specific decision-making process and allow users to capture their decisions via data writeback. While traditional dashboards and reports focus on delivering read-only insights to users, operational applications enable users to take action.

Generally, we've found that workflows that drive decision-making are much more likely to gain user adoption and affect organizational outcomes. The rest of this page describes how you can use Foundry's application building capabilities to create operational applications in practice.

Action types¶

In the Foundry Ontology, action types provide a centralized, governed way to define how users in the organization can write data back into the system. When configuring an action type, you can define the parameters a user will enter and flexibly configure the form that your users will see, with rich options for creating subsections, descriptions, and more.

Governance of who can perform which actions is controlled using submission criteria, which enable you to define rules of any level of complexity to ensure data is only written in accordance with your organization's constraints.

In addition to basic form entry workflows, action types support a range of advanced options:

Uploading attachments allows your users to capture images, PDFs, or other files when submitting information.
Side effects allow your users to send notifications (including via email), or orchestrate sending data outside of Foundry to other systems using Webhooks.
Function-backed Actions let you define action types of arbitrary complexity using code to define how objects should change.
Triggering schedule builds allows your users to trigger data integration builds.

Using action types in applications¶

Once an action type has been defined in the Ontology, using it in Foundry's application building tools is seamless. Workshop and Slate both natively support embedding action forms directly into user-facing applications.

In Workshop, the Button Group Widget can be configured to let your users submit data back into the platform easily.
In Slate, the Action Widget surfaces an action form to your users. You can embed it within a Dialog to mimic the Workshop experience, or weave it into your application as you see fit.
If you are interested in developing custom applications entirely outside of Foundry's application building frameworks, you can search for and apply actions using Foundry's REST APIs.

Conclusion¶

Investments in data integration and management allow operators in your organization to make better decisions using data and capture those decisions into the system for further learning. You can create closed-loop workflows in just hours with Foundry's Ontology and application building capabilities.

Get started by learning how to create an action type.

中文翻译¶

什么是操作型应用？¶

在 Palantir，我们经常将某些工作流和应用称为"操作型"（operational）应用。这是什么意思呢？

操作型应用（operational application）用于驱动特定的决策流程，并允许用户通过数据回写（data writeback）来记录其决策。传统的仪表盘和报表侧重于向用户提供只读洞察，而操作型应用则能让用户采取实际行动。

通常，我们发现驱动决策的工作流更容易获得用户采纳，并对组织成果产生影响。本页其余内容将介绍如何利用 Foundry 的应用构建能力来实际创建操作型应用。

操作类型（Action types）¶

在 Foundry 本体（Ontology）中，操作类型提供了一种集中化、可管控的方式来定义组织中的用户如何将数据写回系统。配置操作类型时，您可以定义用户需要输入的参数，并灵活配置用户将看到的表单，支持丰富的选项来创建子部分、描述等。

谁可以执行哪些操作的管控通过提交条件来控制，您可以定义任意复杂程度的规则，确保数据仅按照组织的约束条件写入。

除了基本的表单录入工作流，操作类型还支持一系列高级选项：

上传附件允许用户在提交信息时捕获图片、PDF 或其他文件。
副作用允许用户发送通知（包括通过电子邮件），或使用 Webhooks 将数据编排发送到 Foundry 之外的其他系统。
函数支持的操作让您通过代码定义任意复杂程度的操作类型，以规定对象应如何变化。
触发计划构建允许用户触发数据集成构建。

在应用中使用操作类型¶

一旦在本体中定义了操作类型，在 Foundry 的应用构建工具中使用它就变得无缝衔接。Workshop 和 Slate 都原生支持将操作表单直接嵌入面向用户的应用中。

在 Workshop 中，按钮组组件可以配置为让用户轻松将数据提交回平台。
在 Slate 中，操作组件会向用户展示操作表单。您可以将其嵌入对话框中以模拟 Workshop 体验，也可以根据需求将其融入您的应用。
如果您有兴趣在 Foundry 的应用构建框架之外开发自定义应用，可以使用 Foundry 的 REST API 来搜索和执行操作。

总结¶

在数据集成和管理方面的投入，使组织中的操作人员能够利用数据做出更明智的决策，并将这些决策记录到系统中以供进一步学习。借助 Foundry 的本体和应用构建能力，您可以在短短几小时内创建闭环工作流。

立即开始学习如何创建操作类型。