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| Step | Name | Description | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open a Form View | Allow the user to provide some parameters for this action | ||||||
| 2 | Open a File Explorer window | Allow the user to navigate to a directory and select one or more files | ||||||
| 3 | Evaluate context parameters | The Context Parameter expressions can refer to any values entered on the Form View using the notation
The Context Parameters can also refer to any attributes of any records selected on the view or dashboard from which the action was initiated using the notation
| ||||||
| 4 | Evaluate the file upload tag expression | This expression can refer to:
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| 5 | Upload the selected files | Mark them with the evaluated tag value so that they can be retrieved later by a suitably configured File Collector. | ||||||
| 6 | Evaluate the validation expression | This validate action expression can reference any values entered on the Form, the values of any Context Parameters, using the notation
and any attributes of any items selected on the view or dashboard from which the action was initiated. If the validation expression generates any error messages (including by using the error function) then no further action processing will take place. | ||||||
| 7 | Retrieve a set of records from the database | Retrieve a set of records for this Stream. The records retrieved will either be based on a filter specified on the Update StreamItems Filter, or, if no filter is specified, the records selected on the view from which the action was initiated. If a filter is specified then any expression on the filter can refer to the Form View fields, Context Parameters or attributes of items selected on the view or dashboard from with the action was initiated. This step will only be carried out if the user has selected either the Update or Delete Action on the Item Updates tab, and then Filter Type = View Filter or Action Filter. | ||||||
| 8 | Perform stream item updates | Carry out any stream item updates configured in the Update StreamItems section. Update and delete actions will be applied to the records retrieved from the database in step 7. When carrying out Insert or Update actions, each Stream Action Attribute expression will be evaluated in turn to calculate the new value for that attribute. These expressions can refer to the Form View values, the Context Parameters, the values of any attributes of items selected on the view or dashboard from with the action was initiated. Or, for Updates, the values of attributes from the records retrieved from the database. To refer to values of attributes retrieved from the database simply refer to the attribute name without any prefix. Please note, even where a record retrieved from the database is based on a record selected on a view, the values on the record retrieved from the database may differ from those on the view as the record in the database may have been updated by another user since the view was last refreshed. If any attribute expression fails, or an error message is sent using the error function, then that record will not be updated, deleted or inserted. However, if multiple records are being updated, a failure of one record will not prevent the others from being updated or deleted. | ||||||
| 9 | Run task plan | If a task plan has been specified, run this now. Any Context Parameters can be referenced by any expression run during that task plan. | ||||||
| 10 | Open post-dashboard | If a post dashboard has been specified, open this now. Any filter of any view on that dashboard can reference any Context Parameters set on this action. If the specified dashboard is already open it will be brought to the front and refreshed rather than a second instance of the dashboard opening. | ||||||
| 11 | Close the current starting dashboard | If Close Parent Dashboard has been set, close the dashboard from which the action was initiated. |
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| Field | Description | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Settings | |||||||
| Name | The name of the Stream Action. | ||||||
| Display Name | The name that will be used to display this action on a Stream View | ||||||
| Stream Name | The name of the parent Stream that this action belongs to | Form View | This dropdown list shows all Form Views associated with this stream. If a Form View is selected then it will be presented prior to this action being run to allow the user to enter values to be used in Context Parameter, Validation, Filter or Action Attribute expressions. These values are referenced in those expressions by preceding the field name from the form with '_prompt'. For example if there is a field on the form with the label "Name" then the value entered in that field by the user can be referenced in subsequent expressions as _prompt.Name.|||||
| File Upload | A Check box to determine whether a Tag Expression field is displayed. The tag expression can refer to any values entered on the Form View using the notation _prompt.<Form Field Name>, the values of any Context Parameters using the notation _context.<ContextParameter Name> and any attributes of any records selected on the view or dashboard from which the action was initiated using the notation <View name or alias>.<Attribute name or alias>. If a tag expression is provided then when the action is run a file explorer dialog will appear to allow the user to navigate to a directory and select one or more files. These files will be uploaded to the File Upload Directory specified in the System Configuration table and tagged with the evaluated value of this tag expression so that they can be retrieved later by suitably configured File Collector. List of names of uploaded files can be accessed through <i>_files</i> variable. | ||||||
| Run Selected TaskPlan | A Check box to determine whether a combo box is displayed which is then used to allow the user to choose a task plan to be run. Any expression evaluated during this task plan can reference any Context Parameter. | ||||||
| Open Post Dashboard | A Check box to determine whether a combo box is displayed which is then used to allow the user to choose a dashboard to be opened once the action has completed. Any filter of any view on that dashboard can reference any Context Parameters set on this action. If the specified dashboard is already open it will be brought to the front and refreshed rather than a second instance of the dashboard opening. | ||||||
| Close Parent Dashboard | A Check box to determine whether the Parent Dashboard should be closed after the Action is finished. | ||||||
| Prevent Parallel Processing | A Check box to determine whether the Action can be submitted again before the previous run is finished. | ||||||
| Show progress indicator after (ms) | A number of milliseconds which need to pass after the Action is submitted before the progress indicator is shown . | ||||||
| All Users Can Run Action | If checked, this specifies that all users can run this Action provided they have the basic privilege to run stream actions. If this field is not checked, then access to the stream action is controlled by adding user groups onto the stream's "User Groups" tab. | ||||||
| URL Expression | A URL which will be open when the Action has completed. This may be provided as a fixed URL or as an expression evaluating to a plain text string. The expression can reference the Form fields, Context Parameters or attributes of RecordsShow progress indicator after (ms) | A number of milliseconds which need to pass after the Action is submitted before the progress indicator is shown . | |||||
| Context Parameters | |||||||
| A list of the context parameters for this action. For each context parameter, define the following fields: | |||||||
| Name | The name of the context parameter | ||||||
| Expression | An expression for the context parameter. The Context Parameter expressions can refer to any values entered on the Form View using the notation
The Context Parameters can also refer to any attributes of any records selected on the view or dashboard from which the action was initiated using the notation
It is not possible to refer to one context parameter from another. The values returned by the context parameter expressions can be referenced by the Validation expression, the Filter, the Maximum and Minimum Items expressions, any Stream Action Attribute expressions and any dashboard opened by this action. The context values are referenced using the syntax
Example The usual message functions debug(message), info(message), warning(message), and error(message) are all available to be used in these expressions and will result in messages being written to the system console logs. Be careful when using the error(message) function - this will stop the action from being completed. | ||||||
| Form View | This dropdown list shows all Form Views associated with this stream. If a Form View is selected then it will be presented prior to this action being run to allow the user to enter values to be used in Context Parameter, Validation, Filter or Action Attribute expressions. These values are referenced in those expressions by preceding the field name from the form with '_prompt'. For example if there is a field on the form with the label "Name" then the value entered in that field by the user can be referenced in subsequent expressions as _prompt.Name. | ||||||
| File Upload | A Check box to determine whether a Tag Expression field is displayed. The tag expression can refer to any values entered on the Form View using the notation _prompt.<Form Field Name>, the values of any Context Parameters using the notation _context.<ContextParameter Name> and any attributes of any records selected on the view or dashboard from which the action was initiated using the notation <View name or alias>. | ||||||
The following fields are configured on the Context Parameters tab:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The name of the context parameter |
| Expression | An expression for the context parameter. The Context Parameter expressions can refer to any values entered on the Form View using the notation _prompt.<Form Field Name>. The Context Parameters can also refer to any attributes of any records selected on the view or dashboard from which the action was initiated using the notation <View name or alias>.<Attribute name or alias>. It is not possible to refer to one context parameter from another. The values returned by the context parameter expressions can be referenced by the Validation expression, the Filter, the Maximum and Minimum Items expressions, any Stream Action Attribute expressions and any dashboard opened by this action. The context values are referenced using the syntax _context.<context parameter name>.For example, imagine that you have a view called 'customers' which shows a list of customers including the account id, name and other account details and you want to create an action button to open up another dashboard, containing a view called 'invoices', which will show the invoices for the specific customer selected on the 'customers' view. To do this you would add an action button to the 'customers' view and configure it to open the dashboard containing the 'invoices' view. You would then add a context parameter called 'account' to the action with the context parameter expression set to 'customers.account_id'. On the background filter of the 'invoices' view you would then set the filter to only select those invoices whose account_id was equal to '_context.account'. Unlike stream action attribute expressions, context parameter expressions can evaluate to a list of values as well as single values. The usual message functions debug(message), info(message), warning(message), and error(message) are all available to be used in these expressions and will result in messages being written to the system console logs. However special attention should be taken when using the error(message) function as this will also STOP the action from being completed<Attribute name or alias>. If a tag expression is provided then when the action is run a file explorer dialog will appear to allow the user to navigate to a directory and select one or more files. These files will be uploaded to the File Upload Directory specified in the System Configuration table and tagged with the evaluated value of this tag expression so that they can be retrieved later by suitably configured File Collector. List of names of uploaded files can be accessed through <i>_files</i> variable. |
| Run Selected TaskPlan | A Check box to determine whether a combo box is displayed which is then used to allow the user to choose a task plan to be run. Any expression evaluated during this task plan can reference any Context Parameter. |
| Open Post Dashboard | A Check box to determine whether a combo box is displayed which is then used to allow the user to choose a dashboard to be opened once the action has completed. Any filter of any view on that dashboard can reference any Context Parameters set on this action. If the specified dashboard is already open it will be brought to the front and refreshed rather than a second instance of the dashboard opening. |
| Close Parent Dashboard | A Check box to determine whether the Parent Dashboard should be closed after the Action is finished. |
| Prevent Parallel Processing | A Check box to determine whether the Action can be submitted again before the previous run is finished. |
| All Users Can Run Action | If checked, this specifies that all users can run this Action provided they have the basic privilege to run stream actions. If this field is not checked, then access to the stream action is controlled by adding user groups onto the stream's "User Groups" tab. |
| URL Expression | A URL which will be open when the Action has completed. This may be provided as a fixed URL or as an expression evaluating to a plain text string. The expression can reference the Form fields, Context Parameters or attributes of Records selected on the view or dashboard from which the action was initiated. |
The following field is configured on the Validate Action tab:
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