Record-Action

This page is for application designers who need to configure specific operations that will change records in the table.

Record-Action Concepts

To make changes to the data in a table use a record-action. Each record-action is a single operation that can happen to a record in the table. Record-actions can create, read, update or delete a record, so are sometimes called CRUD actions. To configure Phixflow to perform several operations to the data record-actions directly to a table. Alternatively, to configure PhixFlow to perform several operations

in one table, add a list of record-actions to a table or to a table-action associated with the table.
in different tables, add a list of record-actions to an action that is not associated with a specific table. The record-actions affect the different tables.

An action/table-action can potentially run any of the record-actions in its list. To decide which record-action to run, create a rule associated with each record-action. When the rule evaluates to true, the record-action runs, making a change to the data in the table. See Record-Action and Record-Action Rule properties.

Creating a Record-action

To create a record-action:

either open a table's properties. In the Record-Action section, click Create New .
or open the repository branch for a table. Right-click Record-Actions and select Create New.

In both cases, PhixFlow opens a new record-action properties tab.

Properties

Use the following properties to configure the record-action.

For information about the properties toolbar, and about the sections Parent Details, Analysis Models, Description and Audit Summary, see Common Properties. We recommend you always add a Description that explains the purpose of the item you are creating.

For a full list of all the PhixFlow property tabs and windows, see Properties, Windows, Menus and Toolbars.

Basic Settings

Field	Description
Name	Enter the name of the record-action.
Show in Repository	Tick to list the record-action in the repository.
Record-Action	Select the type of operation: None Insert Delete Update The remaining options available in Basic Settings depend on the type of operation you select. You cannot undo or reverse a record-action that deletes records from a table. If you want users to have the option to undo a change: Configure a record-action to Update rather than Delete. The update marks the records as 'deleted', for example in a "status" attribute. Set up a scheduled archive task. Configure it to archive (delete) records set that have had status set to 'delete' in a specified time period, e.g. 48h hours. This gives users time to reinstate records that have been deleted by mistake. The user will need to manually update the status attribute for the record to remove 'deleted'. If you do not want your users to see deleted records, you can filter them from any views.
Copy Values by Name	Available when Record-Action is Insert, Tick to Todo-Fiona
Attributes to Update	Available when Record-Action is Insert,Update or Delete. This section has a toolbar with standard buttons and Show Attributes. The grid contains a list of attributes on which the record-action will operate. If the grid is empty, the record-action will operate on all attributes in the table. To add attributes to the grid, in the toolbar, click Show Attributes. PhixFlow opens the list of attributes. Drag attributes into the grid. To create a new attribute, click Create New. To edit an attribute that is listed in the grid, double-click its name. In both cases, PhixFlow opens the Record-Action Attribute properties. The grid displays information from the record-action attribute: Order: The order in which the rules are evaluated. Name: The backing table. Expression: Any expression that has been defined for the attribute. To remove an attribute from the grid, use the Delete in the toolbar. For Delete actions, use the expression to include information related to the action. For example, you may want users to add a reason for deleting the record. This means the Delete action has an audit record that also records the reason. The alternative is to use an Update action to record the information, then use a Delete action. However, this results in two audit records.
Filter Type	Available when Record-Action is Delete or Update. Select an option from the drop-down list. The action will only apply to the records that: Selected Records - the user has selected on the screen from which the action was initiated, unless the Target View is specified. Edited Records - that the use has updated on the view from which the action was initiated, unless the Target View is specified. View Filter - that are currently displayed on the view from which the action was initiated unless the Target View is specified. Action Filter - that the filter defined in the action has retrieved. Dragged Items- the user is dragging, for a drag-and-drop action. Drop Target Items - the user is dropping something onto, for a drag-and-drop action.
Target View	Available when Record-Action is Delete or Update. Enter a view name. Where Filter Type is one of Selected Records, Edited Records or View Filter, PhixFlow takes the records from the named view. The user may have started the action on a different view.
Condition	Available when Record-Action is Delete or Update and Filter Type is Action Filter. Create a filter to specify the records to which the action applies. Expressions in this filter can refer to items on the view or screen from which this action was initiated, for example: form fields context parameters attributes from any selected record. Configure this filter in the same way that you would a pipe filter.
Copy Values By Name	Available when Record-Action is Insert or Update. Specify what to do if the screen from which the action was initiated includes more attributes than those listed in the properties grid Attributes to Update. Untick to update only those attributes listed in Attributes to Update. All other attributes are unchanged. For insert actions, nothing is added (null). Tick to update only those attributes are not listed in Attributes to Update PhixFlow looks for a form field or view attribute with the same name as the attribute. If it finds a match, PhixFlow updates the attribute to the value of the form field or view attribute. If PhixFlow does not find a match, it does not update the attribute value.
Maximum Records Expr.	Available when Record-Action is Delete or Update. Enter an expression that evaluates to a number. The number limits how many records this action can affect. If this action applies to more than the maximum number of records, PhixFlow updates only the specified number of records and ignores the rest. Phixflow reads records in the order they are listed in the view from which they are selected.
Minimum Records Expr.	Available when Record-Action is Delete or Update. Enter an expression that evaluates to a number. The number specifies the minimum number of records that the action must be applied to for this action to run. If fewer than this number of records, the action will return an error and will not run.

Action Validation

Enter a validation expression.