A Stream Action carries out the following steps, in the following sequence. All of the steps are optional and are only carried out if configured in the action.
| 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
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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
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| 4 | Evaluate the file upload tag expression | This expression can refer to:
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| 5 | Upload the selected files |
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| 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 |
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This validate action expression can reference any values entered on the Form, the values of any Context Parameters |
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, using the notation
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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 |
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error function) then no further action processing will take place. | |
| 7 | Retrieve a set of records from the database |
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Retrieve a set of records for this Stream. The records retrieved will either be based on a filter specified on the Update StreamItems Filter |
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, 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 |
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in the Update StreamItems section. Update and delete actions will be applied to the records retrieved from the database in |
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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 |
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. 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 |
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the error function, then that record will not be |
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updated, |
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deleted or |
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inserted. However, if multiple records are being updated, a failure of one record will not prevent the others from being updated or deleted. |
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| 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. |
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| 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 dashboard | If Close Parent Dashboard has been set, close the dashboard from which the action was initiated. |
Once configured, a Stream Action can be dragged and dropped onto Stream Views associated with the Stream on which the Action is configured to create a set of Action Buttons which appear on the top of the Stream View. Actions can also be dragged into the menus belonging to an Application.
The following are the top-level configuration parameters for Stream Actions:
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The following fields are configured on the Details tabfor actions:
| 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 Records selected on the view or dashboard from which the action was initiated. |
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