By the end of this chapter you will understand what a Calculate action is and how to use them, and you will have created three Calculate Actionflows in your application.

What is a Calculate Action?

The 

Creating Calculate Actions

1. Click and drag the 

   Insert excerpt
   _action_calculate _action_calculate nopanel true

    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
2. Enter a name for the Calculate action, then select Create Action
3. In the Calculate Action 

   Insert excerpt
   _property_settings _property_settings nopanel true

    on the right, click the 

   Insert excerpt
   _add_icon _add_icon nopanel true

    icon in the Output Attributes section to add new attributes

Example Uses

Calculate Actions can be used for: 

• Inserting static text strings, e.g. when inserting a new record set a value of "New" in a status field
• Calculating values using Functions, e.g. Calculating the amount of VAT on a customer invoice  
• Performing lookups against a View action node or lookup connection point, e.g. counting records in a grid or retrieving details of all students on a course

Worked Examples

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

In this example, we are using:

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

Example 1: Use a Calculate Action to Add Static Text

Earlier in this course we created an Actionflow that opens a blank input form for adding new courses to the School Courses grid. In this example we will enhance that Actionflow by adding the static text "New Course" to the blank input form.

We want to add a message, "Create New Course", to the Course Form header that shows only when a new course is being created. To do this, we will add a Calculate Action to the Open Screen Actionflow for adding a new course.

Image Added

1. On the screen where the Actionflow will be initiated fromRight, Course Management, right-click on the  button on the School Courses grid and choose 

   Insert excerpt
   _actionflow_display _actionflow_display nopanel true

   1. If there is no Actionflow to display, see 1.07 Open Screen Action Configuration
2. Click and drag the 

   Insert excerpt
   _action_calculate _action_calculate nopanel true

    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
3. Enter a name for the Calculate Action:
   1. Name: Course Header
   2. Select Create Action 
4. The 

   Insert excerpt
   _property_tabs _property_tabs nopanel true

    for the Calculate Action will open on the right
   1. If the 

      Insert excerpt
      _property_tabs _property_tabs nopanel true

      is not open, click the Calculate Action node on the canvas 
5. In the Output Attributes section, click the 

   Insert excerpt
   _add_icon _add_icon nopanel true

    icon
6. Enter the following details for the new Output Attribute:
   1. Name: NewCourse
   2. Type: choose String

   3. Expression: 

      Code Block
      theme Emacs
      "Create New Course"

      
      

   4. Then 

      Insert excerpt
      _finish _finish nopanel true

7. Drag and drop the Course Header Calculate Action onto the connector between the input node and the Open Course Form Action
   1. 
8. Right-click on the connector between the Course Header Calculate Action and the Open Course Form Open Screen Action and choose

   Insert excerpt
   _open_mappings _open_mappings nopanel true

9. On the Mappings window, drag the NewCourse attribute onto the Heading attribute Header1Dynamic attribute to create the mapping
   1. Press Save
   2. Image RemovedImage Added
10. Close the Actionflow to return to the Course Management screen

11. Insert excerpt
    _lock _lock nopanel true

     the screen and press the  button to see the Actionflow in action
    1. We can see that the Actionflow is working because it displays the string, Create New Course, in place of the original heading on the input form  Course Form 

Example 2: Use a Calculate Action to Perform a Function 

In this example, we will modify the Save Actionflow we created in an earlier chapter to perform add a Calculate Action that performs the function, toUpper, which to a Save Actionflow. This function will format the course name on the Course Management screen into upper case. This example uses data for the input., when the course is added/edited. 

Image Added

Setup the Input 

1. On the Course Management screen, click the  or  button to open the Course Form
2. Right-click on the  button and select 

   Insert excerpt
   _actionflow_display _actionflow_display nopanel true

3. Click and drag the 

   Insert excerpt
   _action_calculate _action_calculate nopanel true

    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
4. Enter a name for the Calculate Action:
   1. Name: UppercaseName
   2. Select Create Action
5. Right-click on the input connection point under Connections and choose 

   Insert excerpt
   _mappings_configure _mappings_configure nopanel true

6. On the Mappings window, drag the attribute, Name, from the left (Course Form) into the Drag and Drop space on the right (input connection point) 
   1. Select Save
7. On the canvas, drag the UppercaseName Calculate Action node onto the in connector between the 

   Insert excerpt
   _input _input nopanel true

    node and thethe 

   Insert excerpt
   _save_icon _save_icon nopanel true

    SaveCourse node and drop it when the 

   Insert excerpt
   _add_icon _add_icon nopanel true

    icon appears
8. Right-click on the in connector between the 

   Insert excerpt
   _input _input nopanel true

    node and the 

   Insert excerpt
   _actionflow_calculate _actionflow_calculate nopanel true

    and select 

   Insert excerpt
   _open_mappings _open_mappings nopanel true

9. On the Mappings window, drag the Name attribute from the left to the right (calculate action)

   Tip
   We only need to map the Name attribute here because it is used within the Calculate Action. The CourseID attribute will pass through the Calculate Action and can be used later on in the Actionflow.

   
   

   1. Select Save

Setup the Calculate Action 

1. Select the Calculate Action, UppercaseName, to open itsits 

   Insert excerpt
   _property_settings _property_settings nopanel true

2. In the Output Attributes section, click click the 

   Insert excerpt
   _addIcon _addIcon nopanel true

    to create a new attribute:
   1. Name: UpperName
   2. Type: choose String

   3. Expression:

      Code Block
      theme Emacs
      toUpper(in.Name)

      
      

   4. 
      

      Click 

      Insert excerpt
      _finish _finish nopanel true

3. Right-click on the in connector between the 

   Insert excerpt
   _actionflow_calculate _actionflow_calculate nopanel true

    action node and the 

   Insert excerpt
   _action_save _action_save nopanel true

    and  action node, and select 

   Insert excerpt
   _open_mappings _open_mappings nopanel true

4. On the Mappings window, drag the attribute, UpperName, from the Calculate Action (left) onto the Name attribute on the Save Action (right)

   1. Press Save
      

      Expand
      title Checkpoint
      Image Added

      
      

5. Close the Actionflow to return to the Course Form
6. Ensure the screen is 

   Insert excerpt
   _lock _lock nopanel true

   ed, then add or edit the course details and press the  button to see the Actionflow in action
   1. You can see that the Actionflow is working because the Name for the course you just added/edited is now in capital letters on the School Courses grid Course Management screen

Image Modified