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

We want to be able to filter the records that can be seen in our School Courses grid. To do this, we will create three Calculate Actionflows. Each Actionflow will populate a string field with a string of text. That text will then be interpreted by a background filter to see if it matches any records for the specified attributes, and will filter the grid accordingly.

Calculate Actions to Initiate Filters

1. Open the Course Management screen where the Actionflow will be initiated from
2. The Filters panel on the left of the screen contains a number of buttons which we will set up so when they are pressed, the School Courses grid is filtered:
   1. All: This will reset the grid to show all records
   2. Maths: This will show only records where the department name is Mathematics
   3. English: This will show only records where the department name is English

Reset Filter

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1. Click and drag the 

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

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    on the right, click the 

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    icon in the Output Attributes section to add new attributes

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Tip
Calculate actions and their connection points, can have an attribute type of Structured Data. Use this if you need the Actionflow to pass a list (an array of values).

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

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.

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

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2. Enter a name for the Actionflow:
   1. Name: All Filter
3. Connect the filter button by selecting Click to Connect
   1. For the input, choose the On Click Action Event, then select Connect InputIf there is no Actionflow to display, see 1.07 Open Screen Action Configuration
4. Click and drag the 

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    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
5. Enter a name for the Calculate actionAction:
   1. Name: Reset Filter Course Header
   2. Select Create Action
   Click and drag the 
   1. Action 
6. The 

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    icon onto the Reset Filter node to connect the input to the actionClick on the Reset Filter node to open its  for the Calculate Action will open on the right
   1. If the 

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

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

   3. Expression: 

      "All

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      "Create New Course"

      
      

   4. Then 

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   Under Connections, click  Insert excerpt_addIcon_addIconnopaneltrue Add
9. In the Add Connection Point window, enter:
   1. Name: Out
   2. Type: choose Output
   3. Select Create Connection Point
10. Click on Click to Connect
11. In the Connect Output window, choose the Course Management form and select Connect Output
12. Close the Mappings window that opens
13. Hover over the Reset Filter calculate node on the canvas and select out
A red arrow will attach to your mouse, click on the  Insert excerpt_output_outputnameiconnopaneltrue icon under Connections
14. The Mappings window will open:
    1. Drag across the Output Attribute, pfDept, into the area on the right to create a corresponding attribute on the output connection point
    2. Press Save
15. Right-click the Out wire, under Connections, Drag and drop the Course Header Calculate Action onto the connector between the input node and the Open Course Form Action
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16. Right-click on the connector between the Course Header Calculate Action and the Open Course Form Open Screen Action and choose

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    The Mappings window will open:
17. Select Map by NameOn the Mappings window, drag the NewCourse attribute onto the Header1Dynamic attribute to create the mapping
    1. Press Save
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18. Close the Actionflow to return to the Course Management screen

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     the screen and press the Image Removed button Image Added button to see the Actionflow in action
    1. We can see that the Actionflow is working because it displays the string, All, in the pfDept String field and all records display in the grid

Maths Filter

Have a go at creating the Actionflow for the Image Removed button, with some guidance below.

1. 1. Create New Course, in place of the original heading on the Course Form 

Example 2: Use a Calculate Action to Perform a Function 

In this example, we will add a Calculate Action that performs the function, toUpper, to a Save Actionflow. This function will format the course name on the Course Management screen into upper case, when the course is added/edited. 

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Setup the Input 

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

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3. Click and drag the 

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    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
4. Enter a name for the ActionflowCalculate Action:
   1. Name: Maths Filter
   Repeat the same steps as with the All Filter, but make the following changes:
   1. Name the Calculate Action: Maths Filter

   2. When creating a new Output Attribute, the following expression should be used:

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      "Mathematics"

      Tip

      title	Why do we use "Mathematics" and not "Maths"?

      We use "Mathematics" because this is the spelling of the Department Name in our data (you can see this on the School Courses grid), therefore the Background Filter is looking to match up the text in the string field with the data name. Where it gets a match, it will filter the grid accordingly. If we use a different spelling or shortening, the filter will not work as expected.  UppercaseName
   3. Select Create Action
5. Right-click on the input connection point under Connections and choose 

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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 

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    node and the 

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    SaveCourse node and drop it when the 

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    icon appears
8. 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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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 its 

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2. In the Output Attributes section, click the 

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

   3. Expression:

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      toUpper(in.Name)

      
      

   4. 
      

      Click 

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3. Right-click on the in connector between the 

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    action node and the 

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    action node, and select 

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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
      

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5. Close the Actionflow to return to the Course Management screenLock the screen and press the Image Removed button Form
6. Ensure the screen is 

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   ed, then add or edit the course details and press the Image Added button to see the Actionflow in action
   1. We You can see that the Actionflow is working because it displays the string, Mathematics, in the pfDept String field and just the matching records display in the grid

English Filter

Use the knowledge you have acquired throughout this chapter to independently create the Actionflow for the English filter.

1. 1. the Name for the course you just added/edited is now in capital letters on the Course Management screen

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