When you create parameters in a workflow, you can run a workflow with different parameter values. Parameters can reduce the overhead of creating multiple workflows when you need to change certain attributes of a workflow. All workflow parameters are user-defined parameters.

You can assign workflow parameters to task input and pass data from the workflow to the task. For example, you define a working directory parameter and assign the parameter to the Command tasks in the workflow.

You can also assign workflow parameters to user-defined mapping parameters in a Mapping task. For example, you define a workflow parameter that identifies the email address to send a notification email in a Notification task. Reference the workflow parameter in the recipients field for the Notification task.

You can override the value of a workflow parameter by including the parameter in a parameter set or a parameter file. A parameter set is a repository object that contains parameter values. You can deploy a workflow with a parameter set. A parameter file is an XML file that contains parameter values. A parameter file resides on the file system instead of in the repository. When you run a workflow, you can specify a specific parameter set or a parameter file for the workflow run.