What is a View Action?

The 

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 action selects and filters additional data to use in an Actionflow. This is useful where the originating screen or component does not include all of the data required by the Actionflow. 

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title Views vs Lookups
Excerpt name LookupVsView Views vs Lookups There are two kinds of View. Section Column Views Insert excerpt _action_view _action_view nopanel true s return a set of individual records which flow through the Actionflow one-by-one. Typically, Views are used where the data requires processing, e.g. sending emails to individuals. This is the most common type of view. Column Lookups Lookups are a type of View but they return records as an array within one recordset.  Generally, Lookups are used where data requires listing, e.g. to display in a filter. See  1.16 Lookup Configuration /wiki/spaces/HELP12/pages/9615626261 Image Added Iframe allowfullscreen true src https://www.youtube.com/embed/MSEapZ21_5M?si=mvAuduMmvGgXjkwM?&rel=0&ytp-pause-overlay width 680 align middle height 400

Creating View Actions

1. Click the 

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    icon in the toolbar to display existing tables in the application
   1. Existing tables can be dragged from the Repository onto the canvas - choose

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       in the pop-up box to create a View action node
2. Alternatively, drag the 

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    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas and select a primary table to view from the drop down list

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Example Uses

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 actions are useful in these example scenarios.

Example: Many Attributes are Needed in the Actionflow

Solution: Rather than map all of these attributes into the Actionflow, the primary key can be mapped in and a

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 used to access all of the other attributes.

Example: Not all Attributes are Displayed on the Screen

Solution: Where attributes from the table are needed in the Actionflow but are not displayed on the screen,

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s can be used to access all of the attributes in the table.

Worked Example

Here's a worked example using the School Data (available from the Learning Centre).

In this example, we are using:

• A Teacher Management screen containing a grid of the School Teachers data - the screen was created using the Tile with Buttons template
• A Teacher Form screen containing form fields and associated with School Teachers data by a background filter - the screen was created using the Edit Form template
• A Course Management screen containing a grid of the School Courses data - the screen was created using the Tile with Buttons template

Tip
If you are completing this chapter as part of the Actionflow course and using a training instance, the data and screens have already been pre-loaded into the Actionflow Foundation Application. For this example, we'll be added extra functionality to a button on the Teacher Form.

We want the status of a course to be dynamically updated to On Hold if the associated teacher's status is changed to Inactive. To do this, we will add

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 and

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 actions to a Save Actionflow.

Dynamic Updates Between Tables

Using a View Action, modify the Save Actionflow for the School Teachers data to dynamically retrieve and update the School Courses data.

Configure a View Action

Create a View Action to access the School Courses data within an Actionflow for the School Teachers data.

1. Open the

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    Save Actionflow for the Teacher Form
2. Right-click on the input connection point, under Connections, and select 

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3. Drag the TeacherStatus attribute from the left into the Drag and Drop area on the right 
   1. Click Save
4. Drag a

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    Action from the toolbar onto the canvas
   1. Name: Get Courses
   2. Primary Table: choose School Courses 
   3. Select Create Action
5. Drag and drop the Get Courses 

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   Action onto the in connector between the

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    Node and the

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    Action
6. Click on the in connector between the 

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    node and the 

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   Action to open the Mappings
7. Drag both the TeacherID and TeacherStatus attributes (hold Ctrl to multi-select) from the left into the Drag and Drop area on the right
   1. Select Save
8. Click on the Get Courses 

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    Action to open its 

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   1. In the Output Attributes section, select the 

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       icon
      1. Drag the CourseID and CourseStatus attributes into the Output Attributes section in the

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      2. Select OK
   2. In the Data Retrieval Options section, click the 

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       next to Filter and create a filter:
      1. Name: ByTeacher
      2. Filter Details: 
         1. Click abc to tell PhixFlow to interpret the field as an expression
      3. Select 

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   3. Select 

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       on the

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title Checkpoint

Configure a Calculate Action

Create a Calculate Action to alter the CourseStatus data based on the TeacherStatus data.

1. Drag a 

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    Action from the toolbar onto the canvas
   1. Name: Change Course Status
   2. Select Create Action
2. Drag and drop the Change Course Status 

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    action onto the in connector between the 

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    action and the

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    action
3. Click on the in connector between the 

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    action and the 

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    action to open the Mappings
4. Map across the CourseStatus, TeacherID and TeacherStatus attributes, as these are needed for the 

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    action
   1. Select Save
5. Click on the 

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    action to open its 

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6. In the Output Attribute section, click 

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    to create a new attribute:
   
   1. Name: NewCourseStatus
   2. Type: Choose String

   3. Expression: 

      
      

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      // If TeacherStatus is Inactive, set CourseStatus to On Hold if( in.TeacherStatus == "Inactive", $pfCourseStatus = "On Hold", // Else, set CourseStatus to Open $pfCourseStatus = "Open" )

      
      

   4. Select 

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title Checkpoint

Configure an Additional Save Action

As we are modifying the Save Actionflow for the Teachers table, we need an additional

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 Action to save the NewCourseStatus to the Courses table.

1. Drag a

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    Action from the toolbar onto the canvas
   1. Name: Save Courses
   2. Table: Choose the School Courses table
   3. Select Create Action
2. In the 

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    Action's Properties, toggle on

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    Auto Save Attributes
3. Select

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4. Hover over the 

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    action and select out
5. When the red arrow shows, click on the 

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    Courses action node
6. On the Mappings window:
   1. Drag the NewCourseStatus attribute from the left onto the CourseStatus attribute on the right
   2. Drag the CourseID attribute from the left onto the CourseID attribute on the right

   3. Select Save
      

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      title Checkpoint

      
      

7. Close the Actionflow and return to the Teacher Management screen

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    the screen and select a record to Edit
9. On the Teacher Form, change the teacher's Status to Inactive and press Save
   
   1. To see that the Actionflow has worked, open the Course Management screen
   2. Any course(s) assigned to the teacher you just updated should have a Status of On Hold