By the end of this chapter you will understand what an Open URL action is and how to use them, and you will have created a Open URL Actionflow in your application.

What is an Open URL Action?

The 

The 

To open a webpage, a valid URL must be mapped onto the URL attribute, in the format:

https://www.urlphixflow.com

Creating Open URL Actions

1. Click and drag the 

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    icon in the toolbar onto the canvas
2. Enter a name for the Open URL action, then select Create Action
3. In the Open URL Action 

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    on the right, the available Input Parameters can be seen

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 - this screen was created using the Tile with Buttons template

We want an icon in the Teachers grid, on the Teacher Management screen, to open a webpage when clicked. To do this, we will configure an Open URL Action that opens a specified URL when the user clicks an icon.

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Open URL Action to Open Webpage

Setup the Input

1. On the Teacher Management screen, where the Actionflow will be initiated from, click on the attribute, Find Address, on the grid (column header) to open the View Attribute 

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2. Click on the 

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   1. Image Added
3. Here you will find a blank Actionflow, FindAddress, along with the Action Icon Style you can see in the grid: Image Added
4. Click on the Actionflow link, Image Added, to open the blank Actionflow
5. Select Click to Connect and for the input, choose the School_Teachers 

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    View datasource, then select Connect Input
6. On the Mappings window, drag the attribute, Address, from the left (Teachers View) into the Drag and Drop area on the right (Input Connection Point)
   1. Select Save
7. Click and drag the 

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   _action_url _action_url nopanel true

    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
8. In the Create Open URL Action window enter:
   1. Name: Open Map
   2. Select Create Action

9. Click and drag the 

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    icon onto the 

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   _action_url _action_url nopanel true

    action node

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Setup the Calculate and Open URL Action

We need to add a Calculate Action to the FindAddress Actionflow because the attribute data we want to use for our Open URL node is not in a URL format. We will use a calculate node to turn our address data into a Google maps search.

1. Click and drag the 

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    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
2. In the Create Calculate Action window enter:
   1. Name: Add Prefix
   2. Select Create Action

3. Drag the Add Prefix Calculate Action node onto the in connector between the 

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    node and the 

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    Open Map action node and drop it when the 

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    icon appears

4. Right-click on the in connector between the 

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    node and the 

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    and select 

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5. On the Mappings window, drag the Address attribute from the left into the Drag and Drop area on the right (calculate action)
   1. Select Save
6. Click on the Add Prefix Calculate Action to open its 

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    and in the Output Attributes section click 

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7. Create the following attribute:
   1. Name: PrefixedAddress
   2. Type: choose String

   3. Expression: 

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      "https://www.google.com/maps/place/"+in.Address

      
      

   4. Select

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8. Right-click on the in connector between the 

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    action and the 

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   _action_url _action_url nopanel true

    action and select 

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9. On the Mappings window, drag the PrefixedAddress attribute from the left (Calculate Action) onto the URL input parameter on the right (Open URL Action)

   1. Select Save
      

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10. Close the Actionflow to return to the Teacher Management screen

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     the screen and press the Image Added icon for a record to see the Actionflow in action
    1. We can see that the Actionflow is working because a new tab will open in your browser, with the teacher's address line in a Google maps search 

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