What is a View Action?

The View action selects and filters additional data to use in an Actionflow. This is useful where the originating screen or component does not include all of the data required by the Actionflow.

For lookups, see Lookup Configuration, or see how-to guide, Lookups with Dynamic Parameters.

Views vs Lookups

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There are two kinds of View.

Views

Views return a set of individual records which flow through the Actionflow one-by-one.

Typically, Views are used where the data requires processing, e.g. sending emails to individuals.

This is the most common type of view.

Lookups

Lookups are a type of View but they return records as an array within one recordset.

Generally, Lookups are used where data requires listing, e.g. to display in a filter.

Creating View Actions

Click the View icon in the toolbar to display existing tables in the application
1. Existing tables can be dragged from the Repository onto the canvas - choose View in the pop-up box to create a View action node
Alternatively, drag the View icon from the toolbar onto the canvas and select a primary table to view from the drop down list

Example Uses

View actions are useful in these example scenarios.

Example: Many Attributes are Needed in the Actionflow

Solution: Rather than map all of these attributes into the Actionflow, the primary key can be mapped in and a View used to access all of the other attributes.

Example: Not all Attributes are Displayed on the Screen

Solution: Where attributes from the table are needed in the Actionflow but are not displayed on the screen, Views can be used to access all of the attributes in the table.

Troubleshooting

If a View action returns 0 records, any subsequent action nodes will not run
- For example, if an Actionflow is run containing a View action connected to an Open Screen action, and the view action returns 0 records, the screen will not open

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 - the screen was created using the Tile with Buttons template
A Teacher Form screen containing form fields and associated with School Teachers data by a background filter - the screen was created using the Edit Form template
A Course Management screen containing a grid of the School Courses data - the 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, the data and screens have already been pre-loaded into the Actionflow Foundation Application. For this example, we'll be added extra functionality to a button on the Teacher Form.

We want the status of a course to be dynamically updated to On Hold if the associated teacher's status is changed to Inactive. To do this, we will add View and Calculate actions to a Save Actionflow.

Dynamic Updates Between Tables

Using a View Action, modify the Save Actionflow for the School Teachers data to dynamically retrieve and update the School Courses data.

Configure a View Action

Create a View Action to access the School Courses data within an Actionflow for the School Teachers data.

Open the Save Actionflow for the Teacher Form
Right-click on the input connection point, under Connections, and select Configure Mappings
Drag the TeacherStatus attribute from the left into the Drag and Drop area on the right
1. Click Save
Drag a View Action from the toolbar onto the canvas
1. Name: Get Courses
2. Primary Table: choose School Courses
3. Select Create Action
Drag and drop the Get Courses View Action onto the in connector between the input Node and the Save Action
Click on the in connector between the input node and the View Action to open the Mappings
Drag both the TeacherID and TeacherStatus attributes (hold Ctrl to multi-select) from the left into the Drag and Drop area on the right
1. Select Save
Click on the Get Courses View Action to open its Properties
1. In the Output Attributes section, select the icon
  1. Drag the CourseID and CourseStatus attributes into the Output Attributes section in the Properties
  2. Select OK
2. In the Data Retrieval Options section, click the next to Filter and create a filter:
  1. Name: ByTeacher
  2. Filter Details:
    1. Click abc to tell PhixFlow to interpret the field as an expression
  3. Select Apply and Close
3. Select Apply and Close on the Properties

Checkpoint

Configure a Calculate Action

Create a Calculate Action to alter the CourseStatus data based on the TeacherStatus data.

Drag a Calculate Action from the toolbar onto the canvas
1. Name: Change Course Status
2. Select Create Action
Drag and drop the Change Course Status Calculate action onto the in connector between the View action and the Save action
Click on the in connector between the View action and the Calculate action to open the Mappings
Map across the CourseStatus, TeacherID and TeacherStatus attributes, as these are needed for the Calculate action
1. Select Save
Click on the Calculate action to open its Properties

In the Output Attribute section, click

to create a new attribute:

Name: NewCourseStatus
Type: Choose String

Expression:

// If TeacherStatus is Inactive, set CourseStatus to On Hold
if(
    in.TeacherStatus == "Inactive", $pfCourseStatus = "On Hold",

// Else, set CourseStatus to Open
    $pfCourseStatus = "Open"
)

Select Apply and Close

Checkpoint

Configure an Additional Save Action

As we are modifying the Save Actionflow for the Teachers table, we need an additional Save Action to save the NewCourseStatus to the Courses table.

Drag a Save Action from the toolbar onto the canvas
1. Name: Save Courses
2. Table: Choose the School Courses table
3. Select Create Action
In the Save Action's Properties, toggle on Auto Save Attributes
Select Apply and Close
Hover over the Calculate action and select out
When the red arrow shows, click on the Save Courses action node
On the Mappings window:
1. Drag the NewCourseStatus attribute from the left onto the CourseStatus attribute on the right
2. Drag the CourseID attribute from the left onto the CourseID attribute on the right
3. Select Save
  Checkpoint
Close the Actionflow and return to the Teacher Management screen
Lock the screen and select a record to Edit
On the Teacher Form, change the teacher's Status to Inactive and press Save
1. To see that the Actionflow has worked, open the Course Management screen
2. Any course(s) assigned to the teacher you just updated should have a Status of On Hold

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