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/Action | Description | Component | Data Field |
---|---|---|---|
On Click | The 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 Enter | The 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 Click | The user double clicks in a grid. | View | |
Auto Save | The user changes data in a grid, then clicks out of the cell. | View | |
Drag Types & Drop Targets | User drags an item from one part of a screen, and dropping on another part. | View Kanban Area | |
Task Plan | The user starts a task plan or a task plan auto-starts according to its schedule. | ||
On Startup | The user loads the application. |
On Click events are automatically set on button components.
Adding an Event Handler
- From a screen, click on a component or field to open its Properties tab
- Click on the Actions tab and in the Event Handler section, click the icon to create a new event handler
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.
- 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
- From a screen, right-click on a grid and press Show the View Configuration
On the View's Properties, click on the Actions tab
- In the Action Settings section, under Double Click Action, select Actionflow
- 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:
- A 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
- A 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
- A 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.
On the screen where the Actionflow will be initiated from, Shop Stock, find the area, Split Area Top (use the search in the Layers)
Click on the area to open its properties
- On the Actions tab, in the Event Handler section, click the to create a new event handler:
- Event Type: select On Click
- Action Method: choose Actionflow
- Click Apply
- Click the icon to create a new Actionflow
- Name:
Open Shop Stock Statistics
- Name:
- Click Apply on the Split Area Top area properties
- On the Actionflow, select Click to Connect and choose an input of On Click
- Create an Open Screen Actionflow that opens the Shop Stock Statistics screen
- Close the Actionflow and Apply and Close the new event handler properties
- On the Split Area Top area properties, click the Styles tab
- In the Style Settings section, tick Cursor and set this to Pointer (hand pointing)
- This indicates to your application users that this area is clickable
- Apply and Close the area properties
- 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).
On the screen where the Actionflow will be initiated from, Shop Customer Form, find the True/False Field, mailingList (use the Layers)
Click the field to open its properties
- On the Actions tab, in the Event Handler section, click the to create a new event handler:
- Event Type: select On Change
- Action Method: choose Actionflow
- Click Apply
- Click the icon to create a new Actionflow
- On the Actionflow, select Click to Connect and choose an input of On Change
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."
- Create an Output Connection Point back to the Shop Customer Form screen
- Drag the input node onto the Calculate action
- Drag the output node onto the Calculate action
- Map your new Output Attribute onto the dynamic text component, checkEmailText
Remember to map this both on the output connector on the canvas, and on the output connection point under Connections
- Close the Actionflow and Apply and Close the new event handler properties
- Apply and Close the True/False Field properties
- To test the Actionflow, close and reopen the screen, ensuring it is Locked
- Populate the First Name and Last Name fields as these are mandatory fields and will show an error message if not populated
- Click the 'Would the customer like to join the mailing list?' toggle to see the Actionflow in action