What is an Open Screen Action?

The Open Screen action opens new screens in PhixFlow. Open Screen actions run once per flow, or once after receiving the final record. This means that if 100 records are passed into the Actionflow, only 1 screen opens after receiving the final record (not 100 screens).

Creating Open Screen Actions

There are several ways to create Open Screen Actionflows.

Create Actionflow for Existing Screen

Use this method where the screen that requires opening already exists.

On the screen where the Actionflow will be initiated from, click Screens in the toolbar to open the list of available screens
Drag and drop the required screen from the Repository onto the button that will initiate the Actionflow, or drop anywhere and PhixFlow will create the button for you

Create Actionflow and Screen

Use this method to create the Actionflow and screen at the same time.

On the screen where the Actionflow will be initiated from, right-click on a button and choose Add Actionflow
1. Or, click Actionflow in the header tabs, then Add New
On the Actionflow canvas, drag the Open Screen icon from the toolbar onto the canvas and follow the steps to create or open an existing screen
Alternatively, click the Open Screen icon in the toolbar to display existing screens in the application
1. Existing screens can be dragged from the Repository onto the canvas to automatically create an Open Screen node

Create Actionflow and Screen using CRUD Wizard

A Grid Actions wizard is available to automatically create certain actions on a screen, such as Creating, Reading, Updating and Deleting data. These are referred to as CRUD actions. See Configure Action Buttons on 7. Editing Content on a Screen - Part 1.

Once a screen has been configured on an Open Screen action, it cannot be removed or changed. Instead, create a new Open Screen action.

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

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 Foundation Application. For this example, we'll be working on configuring buttons on the Course Management screen to open the Course Form screen.

We want to be able to add and edit courses on a Course Management screen. The first step to doing this is by creating two Open Screen Actionflows. Both will open the same screen containing form fields, but when we are adding a new course we want empty form fields, and when we are editing an existing course, we want the form fields to contain course data.

To save the new or edited course, the Save Action on the Course Form screen must be configured. This is covered in Save Action Configuration.

Example 1: Open Screen to Add New Data

Create an Open Screen Action that opens an empty input form.

On the screen where the Actionflow will be initiated from, Course Management, right-click on the button and choose Add Actionflow
Can't see this option?
Make sure your screen is Unlocked.
If you cannot see the toolbar across the top of the screen, your screen is Locked. Right-click anywhere on the screen and choose Unlock the Screen.
Enter a name for the Actionflow,
1. Name: Add Course
2. Select Confirm
Click the Open Screen icon in the toolbar to display the existing screens in your application
Drag your pre-made input form screen, Course Form, from the Repository onto the canvas to create an Open Screen node
Select Click to Connect under Connections and for the input, choose the On Click Action Event, then select Connect Input
On the canvas, click and drag the icon onto the Open Screen action node to connect the input to the action
Checkpoint
Close the Actionflow to return to the screen
Lock the screen and press the button to see the Actionflow in action
1. We can see that the Actionflow is working because it opens an empty form

Why do we use an On Click input?

An input of On Click means that the Actionflow is initiated by the user clicking a button. We use an input of On Click where an Actionflow does not require any data to run the action.

In the exercise above, we are creating an Actionflow that opens a screen where new courses will be created, therefore no data needs to be transferred across to the Course Form screen when it is opened.

Example 2: Open Screen to Edit Existing Data

Create an Open Screen Action that opens an input form containing data from the school courses grid.

On the screen where the Actionflow will be initiated from, Course Management, check it is Unlocked
Right-click on the button and choose Add Actionflow
Enter a name for the Actionflow,
1. Name: Edit Course
2. Select Confirm
Click the Open Screen icon in the toolbar to display the existing screens in your application
Drag your pre-made input form screen, Course Form, from the Repository onto the canvas to create an Open Screen node
Select Click to Connect and for the input, choose the School Courses View Component, then select Connect Input
The Mappings window will open:
1. Drag the CourseID attribute from the left (Grid) into the Drag and Drop space on the right (Connection Point), then click Save
On the canvas, click and drag the icon onto the Open Screen action node to connect the input to the action
Right-click the connector between the input node and Open Screen node on the canvas
Choose Open Mappings and the Mappings window will open:
1. Drag the CourseID attribute from the left (Actionflow) onto the CourseID attribute on the right (Screen), then click Save
  Checkpoint
Close the Actionflow to return to the screen
Lock the screen and press the button to see the Actionflow in action
1. We can see that the Actionflow is working because it displays the data from the School Courses grid in the edit form

Why do we use a data source input?

A data source input means that the Actionflow requires data to perform the action.

In the exercise above, we are creating an Actionflow that opens a screen where existing courses will be edited, therefore data needs to be transferred from the School Courses grid, through the Actionflow and out to the Course Form screen.

Browser not supported