What is a Lookup?

Lookups are denoted by a dotted double-ended connector transferring data into and out of a 

• Incoming Mappings: the attributes being passed into the View Action via the lookup connector
• Output Attributes: the attributes being used by the View Action to filter the results
• Outgoing Mappings: the attributes being passed out of the View Action via the lookup connector 

Creating Lookups

1. Hover over an Action action node, e.g. a Calculate Action, on the canvas and select 
2. Enter a name for the Lookup Connector
3. Click onto a 

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    Action action on the canvas
4. Alternatively, click onto any empty space on the canvas to create a new 

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    Action

Worked Example

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

In this example, we will configure an Actionflow that retrieves the Student IDs of students attending a course, and outputs these to a string field. We will set up a background filter that uses the string field to filter a grid of Students.are using:

• A Classroom Management screen  - this screen was created using the Tile with Buttons template, and contains:
  • A basic card container of the Classroom data
  • A basic card container of the Courses data
  • An empty string field, FilterField

Lookup to Classroom Courses

In this example, we are using a Course Management screen - the screen was created using the Tile with Buttons template, and contains:

• a grid of the School Courses data
• a grid of the School Students data
• a string field

Lookup to Retrieve Data

We will create an Actionflow containing a Insert excerpt_action_calculate_action_calculatenopaneltrue Action and a  Insert excerpt_action_view_action_viewnopaneltrue Action. The Calculate Action will allow the input data to pass through into the View Action, where it will be used to lookup to the Course Attendees table to find the students attending the courses. Image Removedwant to see the courses held in each classroom when each classroom is clicked. To do this, we will use the classroom data to lookup and retrieve the associated courses data, then output that data back to the screen where it can be used to filter the courses data.

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To do this it we will:

• Lookup the courses using the Course Classroom ID, which is found on both the Classroom and Course and Attendees tables
• Use the Course ID on the Attendees table to find the corresponding Student ID(s) of the student(s) attending that course
• Write those Student  tables
• Write those courses' Course ID(s) back to the screen onto a string field
• Setup a background filter to only show students courses in a Students grid Courses card container that match the Student Course ID in the field

Create Calculate Action and View Action

Event Handler Setup

Event handlers facilitate actions occurring in response to a user action. For this example, we want a user clicking on a classroom card to run an Actionflow that populates a string field that we will later to use to filter the information that can be seen on screen

1.  Click on the top card on the Classroom Management screen to open the 

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    for the area, Card
2. Click on the 

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3. Click the 

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   actionflow

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    icon in the Event Handler section
4. In the New Card (On Click) Event Handler tab, click 

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   1. Enter a name for the Actionflow
   ,
   1. :
      1. Name:
      Find StudentsSelect Confirm
      1. Filter Courses

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Create Calculate Action and Lookup

1. Select Click to Connect and for the input, choose the School Course  Insert excerpt_grid_gridnopaneltrue data sourceClassrooms Card Component, then select Connect InputInput   
2. In the Mappings window that opens, drag the CourseID ClassroomID attribute from the left to the right
   1. Select Save
3. Click and drag the 

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    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
4. In the Create Calculate Action window enter:
   1. Name: FindStudents GetCourses

   2. Select Create Action
      

      Note
      The Calculate Action will be configured below as it is needed for the output. For the input data, the attributes pass through the Calculate action without being processed. For the output data, the Calculate action processes the data into an array.

      
      

5. Click and drag the 

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    icon onto the 

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    action node
6. Right-click on the in connector and choose

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   1. Drag the CourseID ClassroomID attribute on the left onto the Drag and Drop area on the right
   2. Select Save
7. To lookup look up to the Course Attendees School_Courses table, we need to create a hover over the 

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    ActionClick and drag the  Insert excerpt_action_view_action_viewnopaneltrue icon from the toolbar onto  action node and choose, Add Lookup
   1. On the Add Connection Point window, name the lookup: luc
      1. We recommend choosing a name to indicate the action taking place, e.g. "luc" for look up courses
   2. Click Confirm
8. With the red arrow attached to your mouse, click anywhere on the canvas
9. In the Create View Action window enter:
   1. Name: GetStudentIDCourses
   2. Primary Table: choose Course Attendees School_Course 

   3. Select Create Action

Configure the

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Lookup 

1. The Output Attribute Selection window will open automatically 
   1. Click the tick box next to CourseID
   2. Click Next
2. The Incoming Mappings window will open automatically
   1. Drag the ClassroomID attribute from the left (Calculate Action) into the Drag and Drop area on the right to create a corresponding attribute in the 

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       Action action
   2. Select Next
3. For the The Outgoing Mappings :window will open automatically
   
   1. Drag the StudentID CourseID attribute from the left (View Action) to the Drag and Drop area on the right to create map a corresponding attribute back to the

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       Action
   2. Right-click on the StudentID attribute you just created and rename it
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   3. Click Confirm action
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   4. Click Confirm and Create Filter
4. We need to filter the data coming out of the lookup Click on the Insert excerpt_action_view_action_viewnopaneltrue Action to open its PropertiesIn the Data Retrieval Options section, click the  Insert excerpt_addIcon_addIconnopaneltrue icon next to Filter
5. Name: ByCourseID
6. Filter Details: Image Removed
Insert excerpt_finish_finishnopaneltrue the Filter tab Insert excerpt_save_savenopaneltrue the View Action tab
1. Name: ByClassroomID
2. Click abc to tell PhixFlow to interpret the field as an expression
3. Filter Conditions: Image Added
   1. In this filter, the top CourseID is from the Courses data, and the bottom CourseID is from the Classroom data  
4. Select Finish

Configure the Calculate Action and Output

1. Click on the

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    Action  action on the canvas to open its Properties

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2. In the Output Attributes section, click the 

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    icon to create a new attribute:
   1. Name: CourseStudentIDs CourseIDArray
   2. Type: Choose Structured DataData   

      1. This will return the results as an array

   3. Expression: 

      
      

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      luluc.StudentIDFoundCourseID

      
      

   4. Click 

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3. Under Connections on the left, select 

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    Add

4. Add an Output Connection Point:

   1. Name: out: output

   2. Type: choose Output

   3. Click Create Connection Point
5. Select Click to Connect and choose the In the Connect Output window, choose the ClassroomAvailabilityManagement 

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    data source, then Connect Output
   1. Close the Mappings window that opens as we don't have any attributes to map to this yet
6. Hover your mouse over the Calculate Action

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    action on the canvas and click out
7. When the red arrow shows, click on the 

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    node under Connections
   1. On the Mappings window, drag across the
   CourseStudentIDs output attribute
   1. CourseIDArray attribute from the Calculate
   Action
   1. action into the Drag and Drop area on the right to create a corresponding attribute
   in
   1. on the output
   2. Click Save
8. Click the out output connection point, under Connections
   1. On the Mappings window, drag the 
   CourseStudentIDs output attribute
   1. CourseIDArray attribute from the output to the string field,
   StudentIDFromAttendees
   1. FilterField
   2. Click Save
9. The Actionflow is now built

Setting up a Background Filter

The Event Handler and Actionflow will now populate the string field, StudentIDFromAttendee, FilterField, by clicking each classroom card, but the Courses card container needs a background filter setting so it can be filtered by the values in this field need to be linked to the Students grid using a background filter in order to only see the students for the selected coursethe string field.

1. Return to the screen containing the School Courses gridRight-click on the Students grid and choose  Classroom Management screen 

2. Click on the Courses card container to open the Card Component 

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   1. Ensure you click on the white space underneath the top contact card to open the Card Component

3. On the 

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   In the Data Retrieval Options, next to

   , in the Background Filter Rules section, click 

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   1. Name: ByStudentIDEnter the Rule Expression: true
4. Create a new filter by pressing 

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    next to Filter:
   1. Name: ByFilterField
   2. In the Filter Details section, click Select an option and choose the CourseID in the Table Attributes
   3. Filter Details: Image RemovedImage Added
   1. Click 

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       on both the Filter and Filter Rule 

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    the screen and press the Enrolled Students button to see the Actionflow workingclick a classroom card to see the Actionflow working

Having trouble? See Troubleshooting above.