How to Identify System Groups with SYSTEM_GROUP_ UUIDs in Appian

Question

In my Appian environment, I&rsquo;ve noticed that some groups have UUIDs that start with SYSTEM_GROUP_ followed by the group name, instead of the usual alphanumeric UUID format. How can I logically identify or classify these groups separately from regular groups? 
 
 When I use scimGetGroup() on these SYSTEM_GROUP_ groups, it doesn&rsquo;t return any group attributes, unlike the other groups with standard UUIDs. Is this expected behavior? And is there a workaround to retrieve attributes for these system groups?

Mathieu Drouin · Answer

It is possible to retrieve the UUID via the getgroupuuid in the People Functions. A very simple solution is to do a forEach in combination with a like to identify anything that starts with SYSTEM_GROUP_. 
 I also wrote an in depth blog post on a better way to query groups which might be helpful: https://blog.appiandevs.io/005-a-better-way-to-work-with-groups-in-appian-part-3/ 
 Using this method I can easily query for this:

Shubham Aware · Answer

sanjuktab2257 said: How can I logically identify or classify these groups separately from regular groups? 
 I have added logic to the code. Have a look at it. 
 sanjuktab2257 said: Is this expected behavior? 
 Yes 
 sanjuktab2257 said: And is there a workaround to retrieve attributes for these system groups? 
 I have added logic to the code. Have a look at it. a!localVariables(
 local!allGroups: a!groupsForUser(username: loggedInUser()),
 local!groupData: a!forEach(
 items: local!allGroups,
 expression: a!map(
 group: fv!item,
 uuid: getgroupuuid(fv!item),
 isSystemGroup: a!startsWith(getgroupuuid(fv!item), "SYSTEM_GROUP_")
 )
 ),
 a!map(
 allGroups: local!allGroups,
 systemGroups: index(
 local!groupData.group,
 wherecontains(true, local!groupData.isSystemGroup),
 {}
 ),
 regularGroups: index(
 local!groupData.group,
 wherecontains(false, local!groupData.isSystemGroup),
 {}
 ),
 systemGroupUUIDs: index(
 local!groupData.uuid,
 wherecontains(true, local!groupData.isSystemGroup),
 {}
 ),
 regularGroupUUIDs: index(
 local!groupData.uuid,
 wherecontains(false, local!groupData.isSystemGroup),
 {}
 ),
 groupAttribute: a!forEach(
 items: local!allGroups,
 expression: group(groupId: fv!item, property: "groupName")
 )
 )
)

Stefan Helzle · Answer

I would not directly use system groups in your scenario. Did you consider to create a child groups and use these instead?

Harsha Sharma · Answer

Ideally those system groups should not be directly used in any application. Yet to answer your question, please see the below code 
 
 a!localVariables(
 local!allGroups: a!groupsForUser(username: loggedInUser()),
 /*To find and classify system groups from regular groups - This returns 1 for system groups and 0 for regular ones*/
 local!systemGroupIndexes: a!foreach(
 local!allGroups,
 find("SYSTEM_GROUP", getgroupuuid(fv!item))
 ),
 /* To retrieve group attributes no special code or changes are needed just pass the group object*/
 a!foreach(
 local!allGroups,
 group(fv!item, "groupName"),
 
 )
 /*To get all the system groups in one variable*/
 /*index(local!allGroups,wherecontains(1,local!systemGroupIndexes),{})*/
)