2.01 Connecting Actionflows to Events

Overview

When creating an application, you can configure Actionflows to respond to different events, such as a mouse click, double click or enter key press. 

Event Handlers & Action Settings

An Event Handler is an action that responds to a specific event, such as a mouse click, double click or enter key press. The Event Handler defines how the application behaves when the event is triggered, such as running an  Actionflow.

Multiple event handlers can be set on the same component or field. For example, you may wish for a validation Actionflow to be triggered On Enter and On Blur.


Set Events/Actions on:
Event/ActionDescriptionComponentData Field
On ClickThe user mouse clicks in an area.Area-
On Change

A toggle field changes state or the user mouse-clicks out of a data field in which they have changed data. 

Note: This event is not triggered by the user typing into a field.

-

Boolean

Date

Datetime

Number

String

On EnterThe user presses the Enter key in a data field.-
On Blur

The user mouse-clicks out of a data field.

Note: This event is triggered whether or not the data in the field has been changed.

-
Double ClickThe user double clicks in a grid.View
Auto SaveThe user changes data in a grid, then clicks out of the cell.View
Drag Types & Drop TargetsUser drags an item from one part of a screen, and dropping on another part.

View

Kanban

Area


Task PlanThe user starts a task plan or a task plan auto-starts according to its schedule.

On StartupThe user loads the application.

On Click events are automatically set on button components. 

Adding an Event Handler

  1. From a screen, click on a component or field to open its  Properties tab
  2. Click on the  Actions tab and in the Event Handler section, click the  icon to create a new event handler
  3. In the New Event Handler  Properties, select an Event Type

    Only events available for this type of component will show - see Event Types table above.

  4. For Action Method, select Actionflow, then click the  icon to create a new Actionflow or click the  icon to display a list of available Actionflows

Adding Action Settings

  1. From a screen, right-click on a grid and press  Show the View Configuration
  2. On the View's  Properties, click on the  Actions tab

  3. In the Action Settings section, under Double Click Action, select Actionflow
  4. Click the  icon to create a new Actionflow or click the  icon to display a list of available Actionflows

Worked Examples

Here are worked examples using the Retail Data (available from the Learning Centre).

In this example, we are using:

  • Shop Stock screen containing a grid of the Shop Stock data, a pie chart of the Shop Stock data and a grid of the Shop Departments data  - this screen was created using the Multi-Tile template
  • Shop Statistics screen containing 4 tiles with charts and graphs of the Shop Stock data - this screen was created using the Tile no Buttons template
  • Shop Customer Form screen containing form fields and associated with Shop Customers data by a background filter - this screen was created using the Edit Form template

If you are completing this chapter as part of the Actionflow course and using a training instance, the data and screens have already been pre-loaded into the Actionflow Intermediate Application. For this example, we'll be working on configuring events on:

  • the Shop Stock screen to open the Shop Statistics screen
  • the Shop Customer Form to display a specified text string

Example 1: Configuring an On Click Event

In this example, we'll set up an Actionflow to open a screen when an area is clicked. 


  1. On the screen where the Actionflow will be initiated from, Shop Stock, find the area, Split Area Top (use the search in the  Layers)

  2. Click on the area to open its properties

  3. On the  Actions tab, in the Event Handler section, click the  to create a new event handler:
    1. Event Type: select On Click
    2. Action Method: choose Actionflow
    3. Click  Apply
    4. Click the  icon to create a new Actionflow
      1. Name: Open Shop Stock Statistics
    5. Click  Apply on the Split Area Top area properties
    6. On the Actionflow, select Click to Connect and choose an input of On Click
    7. Create an Open Screen Actionflow that opens the Shop Stock Statistics screen
      1. See 1.07 Open Screen Action Configuration

         Checkpoint

    8. Close the Actionflow and  Apply and Close the new event handler properties
  4. On the Split Area Top area properties, click the  Styles tab
  5. In the Style Settings section, tick Cursor and set this to Pointer (hand pointing)
    1. This indicates to your application users that this area is clickable 
  6.  Apply and Close the area properties
  7.  Lock the screen and click the area to see the Actionflow in action 

Example 2: Configuring an On Change Event

In this example, we'll set up an Actionflow to display a dynamic text string when a boolean field's state is changed (from false to true).

  1. On the screen where the Actionflow will be initiated from, Shop Customer Form, find the True/False Field, mailingList (use the  Layers)

  2. Click the field to open its properties

  3. On the  Actions tab, in the Event Handler section, click the  to create a new event handler:
    1. Event Type: select On Change
    2. Action Method: choose Actionflow
    3. Click  Apply
    4. Click the  icon to create a new Actionflow
  4. On the Actionflow, select Click to Connect and choose an input of On Change
  5. Using a  Calculate Action, create an Output Attribute containing the following string:

    "Inform the customer that they will receive weekly emails with news and offers." 

    See 1.11 Calculate Action Configuration

  6. Create an Output Connection Point back to the Shop Customer Form screen
  7. Drag the  input node onto the Calculate action
  8. Drag the  output node onto the Calculate action
  9. Map your new Output Attribute onto the dynamic text component, checkEmailText
    1. Remember to map this both on the output connector on the canvas, and on the output connection point under Connections

       Checkpoint

  10. Close the Actionflow and  Apply and Close the new event handler properties
  11.  Apply and Close the True/False Field properties
  12. To test the Actionflow, close and reopen the screen, ensuring it is  Locked
    1. Populate the First Name and Last Name fields as these are mandatory fields and will show an error message if not populated
  13. Click the 'Would the customer like to join the mailing list?' toggle to see the Actionflow in action