🔍

Action Designer

Row Double Click functions

Grid forms are a popular way of presenting data to Users.  And Users can interact with them by double-clicking a selected grid row.  If the grid has been configured to do something, via the Action Designer, then the User will continue their journey.  For example, double-clicking a row may open the selected object editor form - to view details of that Object.  In the example below, double-clicking the listed report opens the Reports Object Editor form, showing its abstract, reference, cost etc.

 Row Double click example

Or the double click may be set to open another grid, listing out components or ??? of the selected object.  In the example below we are double clicking a Row, listing out "Sites" - to view the various Schemes that are running on that Site;

Double Click Row to open Grid

The Row double-clicked action is set in Object Modeller, on the Grid Form configuration form;

Setting Row Double Clicked on a Grid Form

Clicking the '...' icon will open the Action Designer, where the double click action is configured, with other click through options also possible (see below)

Cell Double-Click

Similar to Row double-clicked, the XPOR grids are also aware of individual cells being clicked. In the example below we are double-clicking an icon in a Grid cell, to open a second Grid, listing out further details;

Dell double click Action

Setting the Cell double-clicked action is performed in Object Modeller.  First you must open the Column (cell) concerned and then click the Cell Double-clciked ... to open Action Designer and configure the action.

Object modeller cell double click

Buttons

Clicking a Button is expected to do something!  In XPOR buttons can be placed on Grids and Object Editor Forms, either on the Top or Bottom toolbars.  In the example below we have a button on the Top Toolbar, which opens another website;

Button opening new website

These Buttons are added on the Top Toolbar of a Form, using Object Modeller.  In the screenshot below we are adding a button onto the top toolbar of a Grid Form.

Adding a Toolbar Button

This open a second form, where we can add / edit buttons - which itself leads into the Action Designer.

Action Designer 

We have seen that there are a number of different ways of coming to the Action Designer function in Object Modeller. The tool is demonstrated on the attached video - which best demonstrates the principals to using it.  The following list explains some details concerning the various action types;

Action Designer1 

What will be actioned by Action Designer - and why?

Action designer will enable any of the Actions listed below - but only one.  If the User clicks a button, for example, Action Designer rule are followed and one thing is done - e.g. open a Form, or run a Custom Function or ... 

Action designer will "know" what was clicked to commence the Action.  For example, if a Row was double clicked on a Grid, the subsequent action will "know" the Object Id concerned and can therefore open a Form, using that Object ID - perhaps showing more details of the object that was clicked?

You can consider that the Action Designer is given a "marked card" by the thing that is clicked.  On this card is written the selected details of the thing that was clicked.  XPOR will hang on to this card until the next click / Action Designer function.  By default the marked card records

  1. Forms Field (the default field on the form being Actioned from)
  2. Grid Row (if the click is from a Grid, this holds the actual row that has been clicked)  You will be provided with a drop down box to select the property being procesed from the "marked card".
  3. URL Parameter - you will be presented with a text box to enter the URL parameter
  4. Datasource Variable - when you set up a Data Source (separate Help File) you can set Variables, e.g. Parent ObjectD  Selecting this option will open the Variable selction box, to find and se the variable that you will ahve previouslyt configured (seprare Help Resource)

You can configure what is held on the "marked card" on the thing that was clicked.  For example, if the thing clicked was a Grid Row, then XPOR looks at the Data Source for that Grid and records the properties that were set as the "Key Field" and "Display Field" on that Data Source.  Usually these are set as the ObjectType#ObjectID - the unique identifier of the object being clicked and the ObjectType#ObjectName.  But you can configure this differently, if you need to.

Having obtained "what has been clicked" on the "Marked Card", Action designer will then need to know what to do with this?  These options are discussed in more detail below but as an introduction / example, Action Designer may open a form.  It will then use the "marked card" information to obtain the properties from the specific ObjectID, to populate the form.  If the Form is an Object Editor form, then the object type used to set that form up must match the object type that has been clicked through.

If, on the other hand, the form being clicked through to is a Grid, then the information held on the "Marked Card" will be used as the "root" for the Data Source that is bound to the Grid (we call this the "Forms Key").  In which case the following grid will return - all of the items that can be accessed with the grids data source, from the source objectID.

Action Types

Ther are six different Action Types.  Each of them is configured using Action Designer, explained individually in separate Help Resources

  • Open Form
  • Open Form / New Object
  • Execute Function
  • Add Association
  • Open URL function
  • Custom Function