Overview

Startup actions run when an application is first open. It can be used to open the navigation bar and a landing page. 

If you do not want to create your own navigation menu, the startup actions provide the ability to create a static menu bar for your application, on which you can add menu options.  A startup action provides a topThese contain top-level menu itemitems, which is the container for menu options. The menu options can be:

• either options that trigger an action
• or sub-menus that list other menu options. 

• menu

• options

• . 

For applications that are designed for use on both PCs and mobile devices, consider the usability of your menu on a small screen. A single menu may work in both form-factors. However, it can be helpful to have an alternative menu for mobile display. it is possible to set startup actions independently for either or both. 

Start Landing Page and/or Navigation

1. In the repository open 

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   _startup _startup

   .
2. Click 

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   _add _add

3. Enter a Display Name.
4. Tick one or both of the following as appropriate.
   1. Default Desktop Startup Action
   2. Default Mobile Startup Action
5. Click 

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   _save _save

   , this creates the Startup Action.
6. For Action Method select Actionflow.

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      _actionflow_list _actionflow_list

      : If you have an actionflow which opens the desired screen or screens click the actionflow button to navigate to it.

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      _add _add

      : If you need to create an actionflow click add new:
      1. Click on Connect.
      2. Select on Click.
      3. Click

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         _screen_toolbar _screen_toolbar

          on the toolbar.
      4. Drag the desired screens and or navigation menus you want to be present when your application opens for a user.
      5. Now drag the connection point to each of your screens as illustrated below:
      6. Image Added
      7. Changes are automatically saved, so close your actionflow.
7. Click

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   _finish _finish

   to save your startup action and close it.
8. Now when you next open the application it will open the selected screens.

Static Menu Creation

Adding Menu Options 

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add add

To add menu options, in the repository for your application find the Startup Actions branch. For a new application there is always one menu option, which is added by Phixflow PhixFlow when you create the application.

1. Double-click the menu item to open its properties.
2. Optionally, you can change its Name.
3. In the Menu Items section, click 

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   _new _new nopanel true

   .
4. Select one of:
   • Add a new sub-menu
   • Add a new menu item 
5. PhixFlow opens a new menu item properties.
   • For a menu item, select an action and specify the order for the menu in the menu bar.
   • For a sub-menu, enter a name, a display name and an order. Then add the Menu Items for the sub-menu.

The structure of the menu items in the repository reflects the menu structure you have created, for example:

• The top-level menu item is the top of a tree of menus in the repository. The menu items listed in the top-level menu are displayed in the menu bar at the top of the screen. The top-level menu does not have a display name because it acts as a container for the menus, rather than being a menu option itself.
  
  
• Menu options are associated with an action. Actions are often linked to underlying tables. When a user clicks the option, PhixFlow runs the action. For example, if your application has a form to which a user can add data, the menu option "Save Changes" would save the data to the underlying table.
  
  
• A sub-menu contains more menu options or sub-menus, so it is not associated with an action. Sub-menus are displayed with a drop-down arrow to indicate they contain a list of options.

PhixFlow displays menu options and sub-menus on the menu bar. For example the menu structure illustrated above displays the following menu options:

You can create multiple top-level menus, but PhixFlow can display the options contained in only one top-level menu. 

Changing the Default Menu

To specify a default menu for an application, in the repository, right-click on the menu name and select:

• either Make Default Desktop Menu
• or Make Default Mobile Menu.

To specify an alternative menu to display instead of the default, provide users with a URL to the application that specifies the alternative menu.

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_property_tabs _property_tabs name basic-h nopanel true

The options available and their order depend on whether you are configuring a startup action (top-level menu option), a sub-menu or a menu option.

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_property_tabs _property_tabs name basic-h nopanel true

Basic Settings

Menu Items

This section is available when Hide the Menu Bar is not ticked. The grid shows the list of menu items, including their:

• Order
• List: ticked indicates a sub-menu
• Name
• Display Name
• Description

To add sub-menus and menu items, use the 

Learn More

• Understanding Actionflows
• Using Table-Actions

For links to all pages in this topic, see Connecting Events to Actions