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What does the main Background Check Workflow Definition look like?

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This is the entry point of the Temporal Application. When a new Background Check is started, this is the function that executes.

workflows/background_check.go


// BackgroundCheck is a Workflow Definition that calls for the execution of a variable set of Activities and Child Workflows.
// This is the main entry point of the application.
// It accepts an email address as the input.
// All other personal information for the Candidate is provided when they accept the Background Check.
func BackgroundCheck(ctx workflow.Context, input *BackgroundCheckWorkflowInput) (*BackgroundCheckWorkflowResult, error) {
    w := newBackgroundCheckWorkflow(
        ctx,
        &BackgroundCheckState{
            Email:         input.Email,
            Tier:          input.Tier,
            SearchResults: make(map[string]interface{}),
            SearchErrors:  make(map[string]string),
        },
    )

    // The query returns the status of a background check and is used by the API to build the report at the end.
    err := workflow.SetQueryHandler(ctx, BackgroundCheckStatusQuery, func() (BackgroundCheckState, error) {
        return w.BackgroundCheckState, nil
    })
    if err != nil {
        return &w.BackgroundCheckState, err
    }

    // Send the candidate an email asking them to accept or decline the background check.
    response, err := w.waitForAccept(ctx, w.Email)
    if err != nil {
        return &w.BackgroundCheckState, err
    }

    w.Accepted = response.Accepted

    // If the candidate declined the check, let the hiring manager know and then end the workflow.
    if !w.Accepted {
        return &w.BackgroundCheckState, w.sendDeclineEmail(ctx, activities.HiringManagerEmail)
    }

    w.CandidateDetails = response.CandidateDetails

    // Update our status search attribute. This is used by our API to filter the background check list if requested.
    err = w.pushStatus(ctx, "running")
    if err != nil {
        return &w.BackgroundCheckState, err
    }

    // Run an SSN trace on the SSN the candidate provided when accepting the background check.
    w.SSNTrace, err = w.ssnTrace(ctx)
    if err != nil {
        return &w.BackgroundCheckState, err
    }

    // If the SSN the candidate gave us was not valid then send a report email to the Hiring Manager and end the workflow.
    // In this case all the searches are skipped.
    if !w.SSNTrace.SSNIsValid {
        return &w.BackgroundCheckState, w.sendReportEmail(ctx, activities.HiringManagerEmail)
    }

    // Start the main searches, these are run in parallel as they do not depend on each other.

    var primaryAddress string
    if len(w.SSNTrace.KnownAddresses) > 0 {
        primaryAddress = w.SSNTrace.KnownAddresses[0]
    }

    // We always run the FederalCriminalSearch
    w.startSearch(
        ctx,
        "FederalCriminalSearch",
        FederalCriminalSearch,
        FederalCriminalSearchWorkflowInput{FullName: w.CandidateDetails.FullName, KnownAddresses: w.SSNTrace.KnownAddresses},
    )

    // If the background check is on the full tier we run more searches
    if w.Tier == "full" {
        w.startSearch(
            ctx,
            "StateCriminalSearch",
            StateCriminalSearch,
            StateCriminalSearchWorkflowInput{FullName: w.CandidateDetails.FullName, KnownAddresses: w.SSNTrace.KnownAddresses},
        )
        w.startSearch(
            ctx,
            "MotorVehicleIncidentSearch",
            MotorVehicleIncidentSearch,
            MotorVehicleIncidentSearchWorkflowInput{FullName: w.CandidateDetails.FullName, Address: primaryAddress},
        )

        // Verify their employment if they provided an employer
        if w.CandidateDetails.Employer != "" {
            w.startSearch(
                ctx,
                "EmploymentVerification",
                EmploymentVerification,
                EmploymentVerificationWorkflowInput{CandidateDetails: w.CandidateDetails},
            )
        }
    }

    // Wait for all of our searches to complete.
    w.waitForSearches(ctx)

    // Send the report email to the Hiring Manager.
    return &w.BackgroundCheckState, w.sendReportEmail(ctx, activities.HiringManagerEmail)
}

The sequence that the code defines can be represented in the following diagram:

Swim lane diagram of the Main Background Check Workflow Execution

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