What is an Open URL Action?

The Open URL action opens a URL in a new tab. This action node can also be configured to send emails and call telephone numbers.

The Open URL action node contains three input parameters, which can be mapped onto:

To open a webpage, a valid URL must be mapped onto the URL attribute, in the format:

https://www.phixflow.com

Creating Open URL Actions

Click and drag the Open URL icon in the toolbar onto the canvas
Enter a name for the Open URL action, then select Create Action
In the Open URL Action Properties on the right, the available Input Parameters can be seen

Worked Example

Here's a worked example using the School Data (available from the Learning Centre).

In this example, we are using:

A Teacher Management screen containing a grid of the School Teachers data - this screen was created using the Tile with Buttons template

If you are completing this chapter as part of the Actionflow course and using a training instance, this data has already been pre-loaded into the Actionflow Foundation Application. For this example, we'll be working on the Teachers data on the Teacher Management screen.

We want an icon in the Teachers grid, on the Teacher Management screen, to open a webpage when clicked. To do this, we will configure an Open URL Action that opens a specified URL when the user clicks an icon.

Open URL Action to Open Webpage

Setup the Input

On the Teacher Management screen, where the Actionflow will be initiated from, click on the attribute, Find Address, on the grid (column header) to open the View Attribute Properties
Click on the Actions tab
Here you will find a blank Actionflow, FindAddress, along with the Action Icon Style you can see in the grid:
Click on the Actionflow link, , to open the blank Actionflow
Select Click to Connect and for the input, choose the School_Teachers View datasource, then select Connect Input
On the Mappings window, drag the attribute, Address, from the left (Teachers View) into the Drag and Drop area on the right (Input Connection Point)
1. Select Save
Click and drag the Open URL icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
In the Create Open URL Action window enter:
1. Name: Open Map
2. Select Create Action
Click and drag the icon onto the Open URL action node
Checkpoint

Setup the Calculate and Open URL Action

We need to add a Calculate Action to the FindAddress Actionflow because the attribute data we want to use for our Open URL node is not in a URL format. We will use a calculate node to turn our address data into a Google maps search.

Click and drag the Calculate icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
In the Create Calculate Action window enter:
1. Name: Add Prefix
2. Select Create Action
Drag the Add Prefix Calculate Action node onto the in connector between the input node and the Open URL Open Map action node and drop it when the icon appears
Right-click on the in connector between the input node and the Calculate and select Open Mappings
On the Mappings window, drag the Address attribute from the left into the Drag and Drop area on the right (calculate action)
1. Select Save
Click on the Add Prefix Calculate Action to open its Properties and in the Output Attributes section click
Create the following attribute:
1. Name: PrefixedAddress
2. Type: choose String
3. Expression:
```
"https://www.google.com/maps/place/"+in.Address
```
4. Select Apply and Close
Right-click on the in connector between the Calculate action and the Open URL action and select Open Mappings
On the Mappings window, drag the PrefixedAddress attribute from the left (Calculate Action) onto the URL input parameter on the right (Open URL Action)
1. Select Save
  Checkpoint
Close the Actionflow to return to the Teacher Management screen
Lock the screen and press the icon for a record to see the Actionflow in action
1. We can see that the Actionflow is working because a new tab will open in your browser, with the teacher's address line in a Google maps search

The Address data is dummy data and therefore may not show a real address on Google maps. You can tell that the Actionflow has been configured correctly if the address line shows in the URL, e.g. https://www.google.com/maps/place/5%20Cherokee%20Court

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