Karen Cwalinski Normal Karen Cwalinski 2 1519 2006-10-27T19:36:00Z 2006-10-27T19:36:00Z 2 10819 61671 CorasWorks Corp 513 144 72346 11.8107 false false false C:\Documents and Settings\KCwalinski\Desktop\Summer 06 Help\CorasWorks Web Parts Help.d2h

Actions Wizard

Overview XE "Overview:Actions Wizard"  XE "Actions Wizard:Overview"  XE "Action Definition"  XE "Create an Action"  XE "Modify an Action"

The Actions Wizard is a web part that is used to create and modify action definitions that can later be selected for use in a roll-up, Cross-Connect (Summer 2006 and later releases only), or via the Action Picker. It may help to think of the Actions Wizard in a similar manner as the Roll-Up Wizard, which is used to create and modify roll-ups that can later be selected for use on a page.

As is the CorasWorks standard, as of the Summer 2006 release, all actions can be run within or across sites, across site collections, and even across virtual servers, as long as the work is done within the same configuration database. Documents and other attachments can also be copied across sites, site collections, and virtual servers.

As of the Summer 2006 release, seven action types are supported:

·      Create Item Link - Create a link to an item and save that link in a list. Links can be created to any item in any list, so the resulting list of links can lead to items in any number and type of list.

·      Create List Item - Create a new item in a list identified in the action definition. Any number of columns can be populated with information supplied in the action definition, copied from the selected item in a roll-up, or entered by the user when the action is run. Can be executed from an action-enabled roll-up, Cross-Connect, or the Action Picker.

·      Delete List Item - Delete one or more selected list items displayed in a roll-up.

·      Email Item Link - Send an email with a link to the selected item in a roll-up.

·      Go To URL - Bring the user to a URL identified in the action definition. Used with the Action Picker, an action-enabled roll-up, or Cross-Connect.

·      Modify List Item - Change the value in one or more columns in selected items in a roll-up display.

·      Publisher - (Introduced in the Winter 2006 Update) Copy selected column values in a list or library to another list or library.

Before you begin creating action definitions, you should know that action definitions are stored and managed in a document library that CorasWorks refers to as an action library. You can create an action library based upon a standard SharePoint document library template, and the Actions Wizard will automatically add the necessary columns when you create an action definition.

The Actions Wizard is used to create and modify action definitions. For information on action usage, please see 0Action-Enabled Roll-UpsHelp_D2HPrivate(-9,1496)Overview0, the 1Cross-ConnectHelp_D2HPrivate(-7,1879)Overview1, the 2Action PickerHelp_D2HPrivate(-9,1096)Overview2, or refer to the Capabilities Guide.

The Actions Wizard is available only with the Developer Edition and the Small Business Edition of the CorasWorks Workplace Suite; it is not included in the Professional Edition.

 

 

Last Modified:   DATE \@ "MMMM yy" October 06


Rules, Restrictions, and Recommendations XE "Actions Wizard:Rules and Restrictions"

Action Names

It is crucial that you name each of your action definitions as clearly as possible so that both you and other site designers will know what the action will do. This will ensure that valid action definitions are selected for each type of roll-up, and your users will understand what the action will do when they execute it.

At the same time, keep in mind that the drop-down that displays the action names will automatically resize to fit the longest title. As a result, CorasWorks recommends that you limit your action names to approximately 30 characters in length.

Action Library Location

Actions can be run within or across sites, across site collections, and even across virtual servers, as long as the work is done within the same configuration database. However, actions cannot be written to an action library located in a sub-area.

Actions and Security XE "Actions Wizard:Security"  XE "Security:Actions Wizard"

Site Designer Access

In order to create and save action definitions, the site designer must have Administrator access to the list where actions are saved. Contributor or Web Designer access is not sufficient. This restriction is due to the fact that the Action Wizard creates the action definitions programmatically and SharePoint requires full permissions to do so.

User Access to the Action Library XE "Actions:User Access"

Action-enabled-roll-ups, Cross-Connects, and the Action Picker can all be configured to display an unlimited number of actions from different libraries in the Actions drop-down. However, the drop-down will only display the actions from the libraries to which the user has at least Read access. If the user does not have at least Read access to a particular action library, those actions will not be displayed by the web part.

TIP: If designed properly, you can use this feature to determine the actions you want to provide to a group of users. Different users can have different options based on their security rights in the workplace and the groups in which they members. For example, administrators could have actions available to them to perform administrative work such as archiving.  Or, you may want to make certain actions, such as Delete List Item-type actions, available to a select group of individuals.

User Access to Rolled Up List Items

Users must have a minimum of Contributor access to a destination list in order for an action to succeed in creating, modifying, or deleting items in that list. If a user attempts to execute an action that updates a list to which they do not have at least Contributor access, the action will fail and the defined error message will be displayed.

Actions update records on an item-by-item basis. So if the user attempts to execute an action against multiple items in a roll-up that pulls from multiple lists, the action may succeed with some items and fail with others. If the user has Contributor access to one of the lists that goes into the roll-up and Read access to another list, the items from the list to which the user has read access will fail.

Data Types

Some action types can copy data from the selected roll-up or Cross-Connect item, some can populate roll-up items with static data from the action definition, and some can prompt the user to populate certain columns when the action is executed. There are a few guidelines to keep in mind regarding the types of column data that can be copied and/or populated.

The following data types can either be copied from a list item in the roll-up or Cross-Connect or populated with static data from the action definition:

·      Boolean

·      Choice

·      Currency

·      DateTime

·      Multi-Choice

·      Note

·      Number

·      Text

·      URL

·      User

What that means is, when you create or modify an action definition, depending on the action type, this type of data column can be displayed with both a checkbox (meaning it can be copied from the roll-up or Cross-Connect item) and an entry field (meaning it can be populated with static data from the definition).

The CrossProjectLink data type, on the other hand, can only be copied from a list item in the roll-up or Cross-Connect; it cannot be populated with static data from the action definition and it cannot be entered by the user when the action is executed. As a result, when this type of data column is referenced on the Actions Wizard interface, a checkbox will be available, but an entry field and the Select at Runtime checkbox will not.

The Select at Runtime option, which allows users to populate columns when an action is executed, is available for all other data types except URL.

Calculated fields are not supported. They display a value that is calculated at run-time, so they do not store a value that can be copied or referenced.

Portability XE "Actions:Portability"

This section describes some of the portability issues surrounding action definitions.

Create List Item, Create Item Link, and Publisher

For all of these action types, the Configure Action section of the Actions Wizard includes a field where the URL of the destination list is identified.

·      You can enter a URL to a site that differs from the site where the Actions Wizard is located, but is still in the same content database. If you do this, a relative reference to the identified list is stored.
For example:
The Actions Wizard is running on a page at http://mysite/sites/jdoe. You select a list from a site on http://mysite. The reference is stored as /sites/xyzsite/Lists/mylist. If the action definition is placed on a new site, the only requirement is that there is a list at /sites/xyzsite/Lists/mylist. The server name does not matter.

·      You can enter a URL to a different top-level site than the one where the Actions Wizard is located. If you do this, an absolute reference is stored to the identified site and destination list.  This makes the reference non-portable if the definition is placed on a server that is not in the same database as the reference.
For example:
The Actions Wizard is running on a page at http://mysite/sites/jdoe. You select a destination list from a site on http://yoursite/sites/you. The reference is stored as http://yoursite/sites/you/Lists/mylist.  If it did not work this way, the framework would never know to get the list from a site other than the one the user is on when executing the action. This is not as portable as the above example.

When creating a Create List Item action definition or Create Item Link action definition, you also have the option to select literal (static) values from choice fields and multi-choice fields. If you do this and the selected value does not exist in the Choices collection for that field in the selected roll-up or Cross-Connect item, the action will fail.

Modify List Item

This type of action is not tied to a specific list. The list you identify in the action definition is only used for schema column matching.  As long as the list item in the roll-up contains the column(s) identified in the action definition, the action will run.

For example, say you create an action and select a list that has a Title column. You type My New Title in the Title field when defining the action and leave all of the other available columns blank. This action can be run on any list item that has a Title field. If you also entered a value in the Description column, the action could only be executed against list items that contain both a Title and Description column.

Delete List Item

There are no portability issues for this type of action.

Email Item Link

Portability issues may arise if a literal email server is identified in the action definition and is then unreachable when the action is ported to new domain.  Issues may also arise if Use SharePoint for Email is selected and email is not configured on the new SharePoint site.

Go To URL

This type of action is not portable. The Summer 06 release does not support relative URLs for navigation.

List References

When actions were initially deployed in the Winter 2006 release, if you deployed an action that was configured to use a list that did not exist in the current configuration, you would have to re-select the appropriate list in the Actions Wizard and then re-enter all of the values for the action definition.

In the Winter 2006 Update and later releases, if you deploy an action that is configured to use a list that does not exist in the current configuration, you still have to re-select the appropriate list, but all of the definition values are automatically populated after selecting the list.

Reusing Action Definitions

If you want to be able to reuse an action definition in another area of the same workplace environment, you will need to reconfigure the action to use an absolute URL.  The reason is that you will be moving the action definition. When you do this, if it is configured with an absolute URL, when you want to reference it in the new site, it will be immediately reusable without any additional configuration.

You will need to modify the actions in the original source actions library to be an absolute URL reference.  Note, however, when working with actions, this configuration will only stay permanent if the display is configured to work with an action library that is not in the same site as the display.  Therefore, in certain circumstances, you will have to move either the display to another site first or move the action library to another site and then configure it.

Portability of Action Libraries

When you select an action to enable for a particular roll-up or Cross-Connect, the roll-up/Cross-Connect web part stores a reference to the location of the action definition. If the action definition is located in a library in the same site where the roll-up or Cross-Connect is located, a reference is stored with just the library name. If the action definition is located in a different site, a reference is stored with the entire path.

If you enable actions for a roll-up or Cross-Connect and then save the site as a site template, the references to action definitions that are stored in action libraries in the same site are maintained and are portable. Any references that include the entire path are not portable.

 

Working with Libraries XE "Actions:Support for Document Libraries"

Support for Libraries

When actions were initially introduced, Create List Item and Modify List Item actions did not support document, picture, or form libraries, or any other libraries with a base type of document library. From the Winter 2006 Update moving forward, document libraries (including InfoPath libraries and picture libraries) are supported by all action types.

The Winter 2006 Update and later releases support modification of metadata regarding a document/form/picture. Actions do not modify the document itself. Forms can be copied from one library to another. However, fields that are specified in the XSN (the InfoPath form template) rather than the library cannot be created in the destination; the XSN from the source library is not copied to the destination library

The Action Wizard does not support SPS document libraries, only WSS document libraries. All other list and library types are supported.

Working with InfoPath Forms

In the Winter 2006 Update and later releases, actions support InfoPath forms to the following extent:

·      Actions can be used to copy data from an InfoPath form into a list or library.

o  The data must be identified in the form template (xsn) as a list field. If the data is not bound to a list field, it cannot be copied.

·      Data cannot be copied from a list or library into an InfoPath form.

·      Actions can be used to copy data from a remote site collection to the current one (but not vice versa).

Differences Between Documents and Lists

While CorasWorks actions do support both lists and libraries as of the Winter 2006 Update, there are some differences in the way each is handled. These differences are described below.

·      An action that creates or copies a list item can be executed over and over again, allowing duplicate list items to be created. The same action can only be executed once against a document. If you execute the action a second time against a document, it will see that the document already exists in the destination library and the action will fail. This applies to the following action types:

o  Create List Item

o  Publisher

·      Now that document libraries are supported, an action can be used to copy data from an InfoPath form into a list. For example, you might want to copy the title of an InfoPath form to an Inbox list that has a Title column. However, you cannot copy data from a list into an InfoPath form or other document.

 

Create an Action Definition: Create Item Link XE "Actions:Create Item Link"  XE "Create Item Link"

This type of action will create a link to a roll-up or Cross-Connect item selected by the user and save that link in a list that you identify in the action definition. Links can be created to any item in any list, so the resulting list of links can lead to items in any number and type of lists. The item in the link list can also include either static data defined in the action (e.g., text to be placed in the Notes column that should be the same for all of the links), or value(s) copied from the selected roll-up or Cross-Connect item (e.g., the person to whom the item is assigned).

All of the steps in these procedures are required, except Steps 3, 9, and 13.

1.  When a Create Item Link action is executed, it writes to a list that is identified in the action definition. Therefore, you need to create that destination list before you create the action definition.

2.  Select the Create a New Action button at the top of the Actions Wizard.

3.  In the Site URL field, type the URL of the action library that will hold the new action definition and click Add. If the action library is located in the current site, this field can be left blank.

4.  All of the libraries that have a type of Document Library and can therefore be used to store an action definition are displayed in the Document Libraries area. Highlight the action library you want to use.

·      Actions cannot be written to an action library located in a sub-area.

5.  Type the name of the new action definition in the Action Name field.

·      This is the name that will be displayed to users, so make sure the name makes the purpose of the action as clear as possible.

·      At the same time, keep in mind that the drop-down that displays the action titles will automatically resize to fit the longest title. As a result, CorasWorks recommends that you limit your action names to approximately 30 characters in length.

6.  Use the Action Type drop-down to select Create Item Link. When you make this selection, the page is refreshed and the Configure Action Type section of the display is expanded with the appropriate entry fields for that action type.

7.  In the Message Displayed for Successful Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when an action is completed successfully.

8.  In the Error Message Displayed for Failed Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when an action fails for any reason.

9.  If you also want to include any SharePoint error details when an action fails, select the Include SharePoint Error Details checkbox. When this option is enabled, SharePoint details will be appended to the error message you define in the step above.

10. The Lists drop-down field is automatically populated with all of the lists available on the current site. If you want the item links created as a result of this action to be saved in a different site, type the URL for that site in the Add Site field.

11. In the Lists field, select the name of the list where you want the item link to be saved (the destination list).

12. The page is refreshed and the Link Target Field area is populated with the names of all of the columns that can be used to store the link URL. Select the column you want to use.

NOTE: You should be aware of the maximum length of this column and the potential length of the URLs that may be stored. For example, if your sites are deeply nested and you use this action to create a link to an item in a document library, the URL for the link that is written may be longer than the 255 character limit for a single line text field. If you encounter this issue, you can change the URL column in the destination list to a multi-line text field. This will correct the issue and allow the action to write the item link to the destination list.

13. If you want the link item to include a copy of any attachments associated with the source item, select the Include Attachments checkbox. This feature was introduced in the Winter 2006 Update.

·      The size of the attachments allowed is dependent upon the virtual server’s general settings.

14. A set of columns is displayed below the Link Target Field. These columns can be populated in the destination list item. You must select at least one column. You have several options for each column:

·      If you want the column to be populated with the same data as the selected item in the roll-up or Cross-Connect, place a mark in the left-most checkbox.

·      If you want the column to be populated with the same content every time a link item is created as a result of this action, type that static data in the entry field.

o  Several functions are available for use in single and multi-line columns. For a listing and definitions, see the Additional Functions topic.

·      If you want the user to populate the column when the action is executed, choose the Select at Runtime checkbox.

o  If the column must be populated, select the Required Field checkbox.

o  If you want the column to be displayed in a different order on the Action Runtime Interface (entry form) than it is on the Actions Wizard interface, type the desired order in the Entry Order field. If you leave this field blank, the column will be displayed in the same order as it is shown in the Actions Wizard.

·      If you want the column in the link item to be blank, leave it blank in the definition.

NOTE: You can use any combination of static data, data copied from the selected item, and data entered by the user at runtime for the columns displayed on the Actions Wizard interface. However, you should not try to select more than one for a single column. The Actions Wizard will not allow you to select both the left-most checkbox and the Select at Runtime checkbox. And if you select a checkbox and also enter a static value for a single column, the checkbox will take precedence when the action is executed.

15. If you are working with the Winter 2006 Update or a later release and the selected list includes date columns, a Date Picker with multiple drop-downs and checkboxes is available. You can:

·      Use the left-most checkbox to copy the date and time from the selected roll-up or Cross-Connect item when the action is executed.

·      Use the first drop-down to select a static date from a calendar. Navigate to the desired month and year and then click on the date you want to select.

·      Select the hour and minutes from a pair of drop-downs.

·      Select one of the CorasWorks date functions from a drop-down, so you do not need to identify a literal date. For a complete listing with definitions, please refer to the Date Functions section of this help topic.

·      Add or subtract the identified number of days from the existing value in the date column by entering a positive or negative number in the Day(s) entry field. If the date column is not currently populated, the days will be added or subtracted from today’s date. If you want to subtract days, simply precede the number by a – sign. If you want to add days, a symbol is not necessary.

·      Choose Select at Runtime to have the Action Runtime Interface (ARI) prompt the user the make a selection using any of the above options when the action is executed.

If you attempt to utilize multiple selection options, the Actions Framework will look for a date function first, then a Day(s) entry, and then a calendar date. There is no interaction between these methods, so, for example, it will not process a combination of a date function and a Day(s) value, such as adding five days to the first day of the first quarter.

16. When you are finished defining the new action, select Save. The action is now available for use in an action-enabled roll-up or Cross-Connect.

 


Create an Action Definition: Create List Item XE "Create List Item"  XE "Actions:Create List Item"

This type of action will create a new item in a list that you identify in the action definition. The action definition determines how each column in the new list item is populated.

When creating this type of action definition, keep in mind that the columns referenced by the action must exist in both the source list and the destination list and must utilize the same column names. If they do not, the action will fail when it is executed. If an action fails, the status area will include an appropriate error message and links to the failed item(s).

In the Winter 2006 Update and later releases, this action type supports all libraries with a base type of document library. The Winter 2006 release did not support document, picture, or form libraries.

All of the steps in these procedures are required, except Steps 3, 9, and 12.

1.  When a Create List Item action is executed, it writes to a list that is identified in the action definition. Therefore, you need to create that destination list before you create the action definition.

2.  Select the Create a New Action button at the top of the Actions Wizard.

3.  In the Site URL field, type the URL of the action library that will hold the new action definition and click Add. If the action library is located in the current site, this field can be left blank.

4.  All of the libraries that have a type of Document Library and can therefore be used to store an action definition are displayed in the Document Libraries area. Highlight the action library you want to use.

·      Actions cannot be written to an action library located in a sub-area.

5.  Type the name of the new action definition in the Action Name field.

·      This is the name that will be displayed to users, so make sure the name makes the purpose of the action as clear as possible.

·      At the same time, keep in mind that the drop-down that displays the action titles will automatically resize to fit the longest title. As a result, CorasWorks recommends that you limit your action names to approximately 30 characters in length.

6.  Use the Action Type drop-down to select Create List Item. When you make this selection, the page is refreshed and the Configure Action Type section of the display is expanded with the appropriate entry fields for that action type.

7.  In the Message Displayed for Successful Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when an action is completed successfully.

8.  In the Error Message Displayed for Failed Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when an action fails for any reason.

9.  If you also want to include any SharePoint error details when an action fails, select the Include SharePoint Error Details checkbox. When this option is enabled, SharePoint details will be appended to the error message you define in the step above.

10. The Lists drop-down field is automatically populated with all of the lists available on the current site. To save the list items created as a result of this action in a different site, type the URL for that site in the Add Site field.

11. In the Lists field, select the name of the list where you want list items created as a result of this action to be saved (the destination list). The page is refreshed.

12. If you want the new item to include a copy of any attachments associated with the source item, select the Include Attachments checkbox. This feature is new as of the Winter 2006 Update.

·      The size of the attachments allowed is dependent upon the virtual server’s general settings.

13. All of the column names that can be used to create a new item are displayed below the Include Attachments checkbox. You must select or populate at least one column for the action definition. You have several options for each column:

·      If you want the column to be populated with the same data as the selected item in the roll-up or Cross-Connect, place a mark in the left-most checkbox.

·      If you want the column to be populated with the same content every time an item is created as a result of this action, type that static data in the entry field.

o  Several functions are available for use in single and multi-line columns. For a listing and definitions, see the Additional Functions topic.

·      If you want the user to populate the column when the action is executed, choose the Select at Runtime checkbox.

o  If the column must be populated, select the Required Field checkbox.

o  If you want the column to be displayed in a different order on the Action Runtime Interface than it is on the Actions Wizard interface, type the desired order in the Entry Order field. If you leave this field blank, the column will be displayed in the same order as it is shown in the Actions Wizard.

·      If you want the column in the new item to be blank, leave it blank in the definition.

NOTE: You can use any combination of static data, data copied from the selected item, and data entered by the user at runtime for the columns displayed on the Actions Wizard interface. However, you should not try to select more than one for a single column. The Actions Wizard will not allow you to select both the left-most checkbox and the Select at Runtime checkbox. And if you select a checkbox and also enter a static value for a single column, the checkbox will take precedence when the action is executed.

14. If you are working with the Winter 2006 Update or a later release and the selected list includes date columns, a Date Picker with multiple drop-downs and entry fields is available. You can:

·      Use the left-most checkbox to copy the date and time from the selected roll-up item when the action is executed.

·      Use the first drop-down to select a static date from a calendar. Navigate to the desired month and year and then click on the date you want to select.

·      Select the hour and minutes from a pair of drop-downs.

·      Select one of the CorasWorks date functions from a drop-down, so you do not need to identify a literal date. For a complete listing with definitions, please refer to the Date Functions section of this help topic.

·      Add or subtract the identified number of days from the existing value in the date column by entering a positive or negative number in the Day(s) entry field. If the date column is not currently populated, the days will be added or subtracted from today’s date. If you want to subtract days, simply precede the number by a – sign. If you want to add days, a symbol is not necessary.

·      Choose Select at Runtime to prompt the user the make a selection using any of the above options when the action is executed.

If you attempt to utilize multiple selection options, the Actions Framework will look for a date function first, then a Day(s) entry, and then a calendar date. There is no interaction between these methods, so, for example, it will not process a combination of a date function and a Day(s) value, such as adding five days to the first day of the first quarter.

15. When you are finished defining the new action, select Save. The action is now available for use in a roll-up or Cross-Connect.

 

Create an Action Definition: Delete List Item XE "Delete List Item "  XE "Actions:Delete List Item"

When a Delete List Item-type action is executed, a confirmation message will be displayed before the system proceeds with deleting the selected record(s).

All of the steps in these procedures are required, except Step 2 and Step 8.

1.  Select the Create a New Action button at the top of the Actions Wizard.

2.  In the Site URL field, type the URL of the action library that will hold the new action definition and click Add. If the action library is located in the current site, this field can be left blank.

3.  All of the libraries that have a type of Document Library and can therefore be used to store an action definition are displayed in the Document Libraries area. Highlight the action library you want to use.

·      Actions cannot be written to an action library located in a sub-area.

4.  Type the name of the new action definition in the Action Name field.

·      This is the name that will be displayed to users, so make sure the name makes the purpose of the action as clear as possible.

·      At the same time, keep in mind that the drop-down that displays the action titles will automatically resize to fit the longest title. As a result, CorasWorks recommends that you limit your action names to approximately 30 characters in length.

5.  Use the Action Type drop-down to select Delete List Item. When you make this selection, the page is refreshed and the Configure Action Type section of the display is expanded with the appropriate entry fields for that action type.

6.  In the Message Displayed for Successful Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when an action is completed successfully.

7.  In the Error Message Displayed for Failed Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when an action fails for any reason.

8.  If you also want to include any SharePoint error details when an action fails, select the Include SharePoint Error Details checkbox. When this option is enabled, SharePoint details will be appended to the error message you define in the step above.

9.  Click Save. The action is now available for use in an action-enabled roll-up or Cross-Connect.

 


Create an Action Definition: Email Item Link XE "Email Item Link"  XE "Actions:Email Item Link"

This type of action will send an email with a link to the roll-up or Cross-Connect item selected by the user. The email recipient(s) can be hard-coded in the action definition, determined by the value of a column in the selected roll-up or Cross-Connect item (e.g., Assigned To, Manager), or identified by the user when the action is executed.

For example, with this action type, you could select multiple overdue items from a task roll-up and notify the people to whom the tasks are assigned with just a few clicks of the mouse.

1.  Select the Create a New Action button at the top of the Actions Wizard.

2.  In the Site URL field, type the URL of the action library that will hold the new action definition and click Add. If the action library is located in the current site, this field can be left blank.

3.  All of the libraries that have a type of Document Library and can therefore be used to store an action definition are displayed in the Document Libraries area. Highlight the action library you want to use.

·      Actions cannot be written to an action library located in a sub-area.

4.  Type the name of the new action definition in the Action Name field.

·      This is the name that will be displayed to users, so make sure the name makes the purpose of the action as clear as possible.

·      At the same time, keep in mind that the drop-down that displays the action titles will automatically resize to fit the longest title. As a result, CorasWorks recommends that you limit your action names to approximately 30 characters in length.

5.  Use the Action Type drop-down to select Email Item Link. When you make this selection, the page is refreshed and the Configure Action Type section of the display is expanded with the appropriate entry fields for this action type.

6.  In the Message Displayed for Successful Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when the action is completed successfully.

7.  In the Error Message Displayed for Failed Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when the action fails for any reason.

8.  If you also want to include any SharePoint error details when an action fails, select the Include SharePoint Error Details checkbox. When this option is enabled, SharePoint details will be appended to the error message you define in the step above.

9.  If you want the action to utilize SharePoint to send email, select the Use SharePoint Email checkbox. When this option is enabled, it allows the action to pull configuration information from SharePoint. It uses the internal mail settings that SharePoint uses when sending alerts. If you use this option, SharePoint must be configured for email.

10. The Send Multiple Links in One Email checkbox (new with Summer 2006) allows you to send links to all of the selected items in a single email, rather than one email for each selected item in the action-enabled roll-up or Cross-Connect. When enabled, this option will be utilized when:

·      The Enter Values at Runtime option is enabled (see below) AND

·      Neither the Primary Recipient Field or the Secondary Recipient Field (see below) is utilized. If either of these is populated, a separate email will be sent for each selected item.

You can, however, identify one or multiple Mail To addresses and/or multiple CC addresses (see below).

11. If this action emails a link to an item in a document library, you can enable the Link Directly to Documents option (new with Summer 2006). This allows you to send a link directly to the specified document (or form), rather than a link that goes to the document item. When a user clicks on the link in the email, the document or form is opened, instead of the item.

12. The Enter Values at Runtime checkbox is similar but different from the Select at Runtime option available with some other action types. In this case, you cannot select the fields you want to see at runtime, nor can you select the order. Instead, when the Enter Values at Runtime option is enabled, the following values can be identified when the action is executed; the remaining values are referenced from the action definition:

·      Mail To

·      CC

·      Subject

·      Body

If you select the Enter Values at Runtime option and populate any of these values within the action definition, the values will be displayed within the entry form when the action is executed. The user can add to or edit the values as necessary.

NOTE:  Because Email Item Link actions are not configured to a list, the contents of the selection area are pulled from the current site you are on. This can affect the recipients available for selection when Enter Values at Runtime is enabled.

TIP:  With this new feature, this action type can be used to send an email even if no list items are selected. You can identify the recipient(s), subject, and body from the entry form displayed when the action is executed. No link will be included in the email.

13. If you do not want to use SharePoint to send email, use the Mail Server field to identify the Server Name (ex: mailserver.coras.net) or IP Address (ex: 10.13.99.30) that handles all email SMTP requests. If you have Use SharePoint Email enabled, leave this field blank.

NOTE: You must either use the Use SharePoint Email option or identify the Mail Server.

14. If you want to identify a literal email address to send item links to, either type that email address in the Mail To field or select from the list below the entry field. This field can be used with any combination of the CC, Primary Recipient Field, and/or Secondary Recipient Field.

·      Manually entered email addresses should be typed in this format: Support@corasworks.net

·      To identify multiple manually entered email addresses, separate each address with a semicolon (;).

·      To choose multiple addresses from the selection area, hold down either Shift or Ctrl during selection.

NOTE: The values you identify in the Mail To field and the remaining properties on the Actions Wizard are case-sensitive. For example, if you want to identify the Assigned To field in the Primary Recipient Field property, you would need to make sure you enter that name with the same capitalization used in the source list. Otherwise, the action will fail.

15. To send the email to one or more secondary recipients, type or select the desired recipient(s) in the CC field. This entry field has the same abilities and requirements as the Mail To field.

16. In the Email Subject field, you have three options:

·      If you want static content to be used as the subject each time this action is executed, type the subject that should appear in the email’s Subject line.

·      If you want the user to determine the subject each time the action is executed, leave the field blank. Make sure the Enter Values at Runtime checkbox is selected.

·      If you want to provide some standard content that can be used as the subject each time the action is executed, but want to allow the user to be able to modify it if necessary, type that content in the field and make sure the Enter Values at Runtime checkbox is selected. When the action is executed and the entry form is displayed, the content will be displayed in the entry field, but it can be edited.

17. The Email Body field is used to define the body (content) of the email. It offers the same three entry options as the Email Subject field.

·      This field holds text only; it will not do anything with variables or functions as the List Item Emailer does.

·      Hard carriage returns (line breaks) are respected.

·      If you want to identify a field to hyperlink in the body of the email, rather than showing the URL of the linked item, type the name of that field in the Link Field entry area. For example, say you want to email a link of new leads to the sales manager.  You select Company Name as the Link Field. In the email, the company name will be hyperlinked to the URL of each item.

18. The Link Field property (new with Summer 2006) is used to identify a field to hyperlink in the body of the email, rather than showing the URL of the linked item.

·      For example, say you want to email a link of new leads to the sales manager.  You select Company Name as the Link Field. In the email, the company name will be hyperlinked to the URL of each item.

19. The destination email address can be determined from the roll-up or Cross-Connect item selected by the user. If you wish to do this, type the column you want to reference in the roll-up or Cross-Connect in the Primary Recipient Field. The value looked up from that column will be used as the primary recipient of the email.

NOTE 1: You must enter a Mail To email address and/or identify a value in the Primary Recipient Field. You cannot leave both of these fields blank.

NOTE 2: This property supports field types other than User fields, as long as the value stored in the identified field is an email address.

20. The Secondary Recipient Field has a similar use as the Primary Recipient Field, except the value looked up from the column specified here will be used as the secondary recipient (cc) of the email.

21. In the Subject field, type the subject that should appear in the email’s Subject line.

22. Type the body (content) of the email in the Body field. This field holds text only; it will not do anything with variables as the List Item Emailer does.

23. When you are finished, select Save. The action is now available for use in an action-enabled roll-up or Cross-Connect.


Create an Action Definition: Go To URL XE "Go To URL"  XE "Actions:Go To URL"

This type of action will bring the user to the URL identified in the action definition. It is executed from an action-enabled roll-up, 3Cross-ConnectHelp_D2HPrivate(-7,1879)Overview3, or the 4Action PickerHelp_D2HPrivate(-9,1096)Overview4. The Action Picker is used to call actions that can be run independently, without context from a roll-up or other web part.

For example, you could give your users the ability to add a new lead from anywhere in a Sales Pipeline solution. Instead of having to go to a roll-up or Cross-Connect with an Add Item link, or having to access the list, you could define a Go To URL action called Add a Lead and use the Action Picker to make it available on each page of your solution. With a click of a button, users are brought directly to the appropriate form to add a new lead. When they are finished adding the lead, they are brought back to the page from which the action was selected.

 

1.  Select the Create a New Action button at the top of the Actions Wizard.

2.  In the Site URL field, type the URL of the action library that will hold the new action definition and click Add. If the action library is located in the current site, this field can be left blank.

3.  All of the libraries that have a type of Document Library and can therefore be used to store an action definition are displayed in the Document Libraries area. Highlight the action library you want to use.

·      Actions cannot be written to an action library located in a sub-area.

4.  Type the name of the new action definition in the Action Name field.

·      This is the name that will be displayed to users, so make sure the name makes the purpose of the action as clear as possible.

·      At the same time, keep in mind that the drop-down that displays the action titles will automatically resize to fit the longest title. As a result, CorasWorks recommends that you limit your action names to approximately 30 characters in length.

5.  Use the Action Type drop-down to select Go To URL. When you make this selection, the page is refreshed and the Configure Action Type section of the display is expanded with the appropriate entry fields for that action type.

6.  In the Message Displayed for Successful Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when the action is completed successfully.

7.  In the Error Message Displayed for Failed Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when the action fails for any reason.

8.  If you also want to include any SharePoint error details when an action fails, select the Include SharePoint Error Details checkbox. When this option is enabled, SharePoint details will be appended to the error message you define in the step above.

9.  Use the radio buttons on the Action Wizard to specify whether you want the URL to be opened in a new window or have the user return to the source page when the action is complete.

·      If the URL is opened in a new window, make sure your users’ browser is not set to block pop-ups.

10. In the URL field, type the complete URL where the user should be taken when the action is selected.

11. When you are finished, select Save. The action is now available for use in an action-enabled roll-up, Cross-Connect, or the Action Picker.


Create an Action Definition: Modify List Item XE "Modify List Item"  XE "Actions:Modify List Item"

This type of action allows the user to quickly change the values in one or more columns of a roll-up or Cross-Connect item. For example, a user could select some of the items in a My Task roll-up and then execute an action that changes the Status of all of the selected items to Completed and the % Complete value to 100.

As of the Summer 2006 release, this type of action also provides an option that allows you to append text to the beginning of a multi-line text field. If this option is not enabled, the text provided in the action definition or at runtime will overwrite the existing contents of the column. Consider using this ability to provide an audit trail. For example, a user may want to add a set of fields for historical purposes to a record, such as a message and the date and time it was updated.

This action type does not support Issues and Discussion lists due to the way these types of lists store items. Prior to the Winter 2006 Update, it also did not support document, picture, or form libraries, or any other libraries with a base type of document library.

All of the steps in these procedures are required, except Steps 2, 8, and 12.

1.  Select the Create a New Action button at the top of the Actions Wizard.

2.  In the Site URL field, type the URL of the action library that will hold the new action definition and click Add. If the action library is located in the current site, this field can be left blank.

3.  All of the libraries that have a type of Document Library and can therefore be used to store an action definition are displayed in the Document Libraries area. Highlight the action library you want to use.

·      Actions cannot be written to an action library located in a sub-area.

4.  Type the name of the new action definition in the Action Name field.

·      This is the name that will be displayed to users, so make sure the name makes the purpose of the action as clear as possible.

·      At the same time, keep in mind that the drop-down that displays the action titles will automatically resize to fit the longest title. As a result, CorasWorks recommends that you limit your action names to approximately 30 characters in length.

5.  Use the Action Type drop-down to select Modify List Item. When you make this selection, the page is refreshed and the Configure Action Type section of the display is expanded with the appropriate entry fields for that action type.

6.  In the Message Displayed for Successful Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when an action is completed successfully.

7.  In the Error Message Displayed for Failed Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when an action fails for any reason.

8.  If you also want to include any SharePoint error details when an action fails, select the Include SharePoint Error Details checkbox. When this option is enabled, SharePoint details will be appended to the error message you define in the step above.

9.  The Lists drop-down field is automatically populated with all of the lists available on the current site. To reference the schema of a list that is kept in a different site, type the URL for that site in the Add Site field.

10. In the Lists field, select the name of the list for which you want to reference the schema. The page is refreshed and the names of all the columns that can be modified by this action are displayed.

NOTE: When this type of action is executed, the changes made to the selected item(s) in a roll-up or Cross-Connect will not be saved to the list you identify here in the action definition. The list you select here is simply used as a reference so the Action Wizard knows which columns to make available to you when you create the definition.

11. Type the new value you want to apply to each column to be modified by this action. At least one value must be entered.

·      If you want the column to be populated with the same content every time an item is modified as a result of this action, type that static data in the entry field.

o  Several functions are available for use in single and multi-line columns. For a listing and definitions, see the Additional Functions topic.

·      If you want the user to populate the column when the action is executed, choose the Select at Runtime checkbox.

o  If the column must be populated, select the Required Field checkbox.

o  If you want the column to be displayed in a different order on the entry form than it is on the Actions Wizard interface, type the desired order in the Entry Order field. If you leave this field blank, the column will be displayed in the same order as it is shown in the Actions Wizard.

·      If do not want to modify a particular column, leave it blank in the definition.

12. If you are working with the Winter 2006 Update or a later release and the selected list includes date columns, a Date Picker with multiple entry fields and drop-downs is available.

·      Use the first drop-down to select a static date from a calendar. Navigate to the desired month and year and then click on the date you want to select.

·      Select the hour and minutes from a pair of drop-downs.

·      Select one of the CorasWorks date functions from a drop-down, so you do not need to identify a literal date. For a complete listing with definitions, please refer to the Date Functions section of this help topic.

·      Add or subtract the identified number of days from the existing value in the date column by entering a positive or negative number in the Day(s) entry field. If the date column is not currently populated, the days will be added or subtracted from today’s date. If you want to subtract days, simply precede the number by a – sign. If you want to add days, a symbol is not necessary.

·      Choose Select at Runtime to prompt the user the make a selection using any of the above options when the action is executed.

If you attempt to utilize multiple selection options, the Actions Framework will look for a date function first, then a Day(s) entry, and then a calendar date. There is no interaction between these methods, so, for example, it will not process a combination of a date function and a Day(s) value, such as adding five days to the first day of the first quarter.

13. When you are finished defining the new action, select Save. The action is now available for use in an action-enabled roll-up or Cross-Connect.


Create an Action Definition: Publisher

This type of action is not available with the Winter 2006 release. It is only available in the Winter 2006 Update and later releases. It allows you to copy attachments and selected column values from one list or library to another. The Publisher action type also offers two additional important abilities:

·      Ability to name new fields to be created in the destination list when the action is executed

·      Ability to write any type of value to a text field (including dates and numbers)

To prevent accidental loss of data, only copies are supported. To achieve the same effect as moving data from one list or library to another, you can make a Delete List Item action available for use after the Publisher action.

NOTE: When the Publisher action was initially introduced in the Winter 2006 Update, the source and destination lists or libraries had to exist in the same site. This limitation does not apply to Summer 2006 or later releases.

 

1.  When a Publisher action is executed, it writes to a list that is identified in the action definition. Therefore, you need to create that destination list before you create the action definition.

2.  Select the Create a New Action button at the top of the Actions Wizard.

3.  In the Site URL field, type the URL of the action library that will hold the new action definition and click Add. If the action library is located in the current site, this field can be left blank.

4.  All of the libraries that have a type of Document Library and can therefore be used to store an action definition are displayed in the Document Libraries area. Highlight the action library you want to use.

·      Actions cannot be written to an action library located in a sub-area.

5.  Type the name of the new action definition in the Action Name field.

·      This is the name that will be displayed to users, so make sure the name makes the purpose of the action as clear as possible.

·      At the same time, keep in mind that the drop-down that displays the action titles will automatically resize to fit the longest title. As a result, CorasWorks recommends that you limit your action names to approximately 30 characters in length.

6.  Use the Action Type drop-down to select Publisher. When you make this selection, the page is refreshed and the Configure Action Type section of the display is expanded with the appropriate entry fields for that action type.

7.  In the Message Displayed for Successful Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when an action is completed successfully.

8.  In the Error Message Displayed for Failed Action field, type the message to be displayed to users when an action fails for any reason.

9.  In the first field in the Configure Action Definition section, type the URL of the source list to use for mapping and click Add Site. If you leave this field blank, it will default to the current site. This list is not referenced when the action is executed. It is used for field mapping only.

10. In the Source List for Mapping field, select the name of the source list to use for mapping.

11. In the next field, type the URL of the destination list and click Add Site. As with the URL field above, if you leave this field blank, it will default to the current site.

12. Select the name of the destination list from the Destination List field. The page refreshes and an area below is populated with available source and destination fields.

13. If you want the new item to include a copy of any attachments associated with the source item, select the Include Attachments checkbox. This feature is not available with the Winter 2006 release.

·      The size of the attachments allowed is dependent upon the virtual server’s general settings.

14. Select the destination field for each of the fields you want to copy.

·      If a field exists with the same name in both the source and the destination lists, it is automatically mapped for you. You can change the mapping, create a new field, or leave the drop-down blank to exclude the field from the copy.

·      If a field does not exist in the destination list, you can either map it to a different field or create a new field in the destination and name it as you wish. Just type the name of the new field in the drop-down field. If you name a new field to be created, the same type of field as the source field will be created.

·      Any type of value can be mapped to a text field or the same type of destination field as the source. For example, a date field can be mapped to a text field or a date field. The Actions Wizard will only list compatible fields in the Destination Field drop-down.

·      Read-only fields and hidden fields can be referenced in the source list, but will not be listed as available fields in the Destination Field drop-down. So, for example, the Created By value from the source list can be mapped to a different field, but cannot be mapped to the Created By field in the destination list.

·      Calculated fields are not supported as either source or destination fields. They display a value that is calculated at run-time, so they do not store a value to copy.

15. You have the option to add a transfer message of static text to any text field in the destination list. For example, the transfer message could state the reason for the copy. If you wish to do this, select the destination field where the message should be placed and then use the entry field in the Transfer Message column to define the message.

·      No variables are supported; the message must be straight text.

·      The content of the transfer message will overwrite any value that would have been mapped from the source field.

·      If you use this field with the Select at Runtime option (see below), the user will be able to edit the contents of this field when the action is executed.

16. If you want the user to identify the value to place in a column when the action is executed, place a mark in the Select at Runtime checkbox. The value entered by the user will override the column value that would have been copied from the source item.

17. When you are finished defining the action, select Save.

·      If there are no errors, the action is now available for use in an action-enabled roll-up.

·      An error will be displayed if:

o  You mapped multiple source fields to the same destination field

o  You manually entered the name of an existing field in the destination list

 


Modify an Existing Action Definition

Any aspect of an existing action definition can be modified except the action name. To modify a definition:

1.  Access the Actions Wizard and select the Edit an Existing Action radio button.

2.  In the Site URL field, type the URL of the action library where the action you want to modify is stored and then click Add. If the action library is located in the current site, this field can be left blank.

3.  All of the libraries that have a type of Document Library and can therefore be used to store an action definition are displayed in the Document Libraries area. Highlight the action library you want to work with. The definitions stored in that library are populated in the Action Definitions drop-down.

4.  Select the name of the definition you want to modify from the Action Definitions. The page is refreshed and the definition details are displayed.

·      With the Winter 2006 Update and later releases, the existing selections are displayed when you select the name of the action definition to edit. Before the Winter 2006 Update, you would have had to re-select all of the definition settings.

5.  Make the necessary changes. Any aspect of the definition can be modified except the action name.

6.  Select Save when you are finished.

 

Delete an Existing Action Definition XE "Actions:Delete a Definition"  XE "Delete an Action Definition"

To delete an action definition, all you need to do is access the action library where it is stored and delete it as you would any other list item.

If an action is identified in a roll-up or Action Picker configuration and then later deleted from the action library where the definition is saved, the action will no longer be displayed in the drop-down list in the roll-up or Action Picker.

 

 


Date Functions

With the Winter 2006 Update and later releases, workplace actions support the population and modification of date fields. To make this feature more flexible, the date fields support the use of the CorasWorks date functions listed below. They are available from a drop-down list presented on the Actions Wizard. These date functions are all relative to the current date.

·      Today – Today's date

·      CurrentWeekStart – The first day in the current week

·      CurrentWeekEnd – The last day in the current week

·      CurrentMonthStart – The first day in the current month

·      CurrentMonthEnd – The last day in the current month

·      CurrentYearStart – The first day in the current year

·      CurrentYearEnd – The last day in the current year

·      Quarter1Start – The first day in the first quarter of the current year

·      Quarter1End – The last day in the first quarter of the current year

·      Quarter2Start – The first day in the second quarter of the current year

·      Quarter2End – The last day in the second quarter of the current year

·      Quarter3Start – The first day in the third quarter of the current year

·      Quarter3End – The last day in the third quarter of the current year

·      Quarter4Start – The first day in the fourth quarter of the current year

·      Quarter4End – The last day in the fourth quarter of the current year

·      OneWeekAgoStart – The first day of the previous week

·      OneWeekAgoEnd – The last day of the previous week

·      TwoWeeksAgoStart – The first day of the week before last

·      TwoWeeksAgoEnd – The last day of the week before last

·      OneWeekFromNowStart – The first day of next week

·      OneWeekFromNowEnd – The last day of next week

·      TwoWeeksFromNowStart – The first day of the week after next

·      TwoWeeksFromNowEnd – The last day of the week after next

·      OneMonthAgoStart – The first day of last month

·      OneMonthAgoEnd – The last day of last month

·      OneMonthFromNowStart – The first day of next month

·      OneMonthFromNowEnd – The last day of next month

 

 

Additional Functions

The following functions are available for use in the Winter 2006 Update and later releases. They can all be used with the following action types:

·      Create Item Link

·      Create List Item

·      Modify List Item

·      Publisher

[CurrentSiteTitle]

When the [CurrentSiteTitle] function is utilized, it will return the title of the site from which the action is executed. This is often used with the [CurrentSiteURL] function.

[CurrentSiteURL]

When the [CurrentSiteURL] function is utilized, it will return the URL of the site from which the action is executed, without the protocol (the “http://” or “https://” portion). Because it does not return the protocol, it should not be used in a hyperlink field.

One example of how this function could be used is when you have created a new project site and want to have it reviewed. You could add the Action Picker to your new site and use it to execute a Create List Item action that references this new variable and sends it to a reviewing committee’s workplace inbox. The Create Item Link action references a specific list item. The [CurrentSiteURL] function lets you reference a site, instead.

[ItemDisplayFormUrl]

This function returns a link to the display form of the selected list or library item, providing quick and easy access to view all available metadata for the item.

[ItemEditFormUrl]

This function returns a link to the edit form of the selected list or library item, providing quick and easy access to modify any metadata for the item.

[Me], [Date], [Time]

These functions have been available for use in CorasWorks roll-ups for some time. As of the Summer 2006 release, they are also available for use with actions to return the following information:

·      [Me] – The user information for the currently logged in user

·      [Date] – The current date when the list item is created or modified by the action

·      [Time] – The current time when the list item is created or modified by the action

 


Actions Menu XE "Actions Menu:Actions Wizard"

The Actions menu allows both administrators and users to execute common actions in lieu of utilizing search commands. The Show Version action is available to all users on the system. 

To use the Actions menu, go to the web part and drop down the web part menu options by clicking on the down arrow on the top right hand side of the web part.  Drag your mouse over "Actions" and then choose the desired option.

Show Admin XE "Administration View:Actions Wizard "

This selection causes the administration interface to be displayed, which allows administrators to determine the pre-defined actions to be displayed by the web part. This option is only available to administrators.

Show Version XE "Version:Actions Wizard "  XE "Show Version:Actions Wizard "

This selection shows version information within the web part area, including:

·      Application

·      Version

·      Organization

·      Authors

·      Build Date

The link to Close Version Window will return the page back to its original state.

NOTE: Because all CorasWorks web parts utilize this command for version viewing, every CorasWorks web part on the page will respond to the Show Version action. This allows you to view version information for all CorasWorks web parts at once.

 


Troubleshooting XE "Troubleshooting: Actions Wizard"  XE "FAQs: Actions Wizard"  XE "Errors: Actions Wizard"

What are the minimum rights I need to be able to work with action definitions in the Actions Wizard?

In order to create and save action definitions, the site designer must have Administrator access to the library where actions are saved. Contributor or Web Designer access is not sufficient. This restriction is due to the fact that the Action Wizard creates the action definitions programmatically and SharePoint requires full permissions to do so.

I tried to copy an action definition from one library to another, but it isn’t working. What is the best way to copy a definition?

An action definition is comprised of more than just its XML definition; there are additional metadata values stored in hidden columns. As a result, a definition cannot be manually copied from one library to another. CorasWorks recommends that you either build another copy of the definition using the Actions Wizard or use the Data Publisher to copy the definition.

·      The Actions Wizard will automatically create the necessary columns in your library if they do not already exist.

·      If you use the Data Publisher, you need to copy the Title column and the Action Type column. If the Action Type column does not exist in the destination library, have the Data Publisher create it.

I want to use the Publisher action to copy records to a list that doesn’t have all of the same columns as the source list. Is there an easy way to create those fields and make sure no data is lost in the copy?

Yes, there is. The Actions Wizard presents a drop-down list of available fields in the destination list or library that you can map to or, if you want, you can type a new field name in the drop-down. Just type over any text that’s shown in the drop-down. When the action is executed, if the field name you typed in the action definition does not exist in the destination list or library, that field will be created and populated for you with the value from the source list or library.

You can even create new fields to preserve system data, such as the original creation date or the ID of the last person to modify the source item.

How do actions work across site collections?

When actions were initially introduced in the Winter 2006 release, they would allow you to copy (or pull) data from another site collection into the current one. However, they did NOT allow you to write (or push) data to any site collection other than the current one. This applied to all action types that write or modify data.

If you are working with Summer 2006 or a later release, all actions can be run within or across sites, across site collections, and even across virtual servers, as long as the work is done within the same configuration database. Documents and other attachments can also be copied across sites, site collections, and virtual servers.

I’m not sure whether I want to use a Create Item Link, Create List Item, or Publisher action. Any suggestions for when to use each type of action?

The Publisher, Create List Item, and Create Item Link action types can achieve very similar results, but there are some important differences.

The key benefit of the Publisher action type is that it allows you to map fields from the source to the destination. It allows you to create new fields in the destination list or library, and name those new fields as you wish. This allows you to select only the fields you want to work with, and maintain system information such as the original creation date.

The Create List Item action type performs a similar function in that it allows you to create a copy of a record, but it does not offer any mapping abilities. You can, however, create a new item that can contain a combination of data copied from the source plus hard-wired data from the action definition.

The Create Item Link action type can be utilized as a kind of offshoot of these two action types that lets you virtually workflow information without actually moving it. With this kind of action, you send a link as opposed to the actual data. In addition to the actual link, the item can include metadata copied from the source.

Are there any recommendations or limits regarding what can and cannot be done with actions and documents?

During performance testing, CorasWorks successfully tested actions with documents totaling 125MB and creating up to 200 items.

 


Build Updates

The following updates have been made to the Actions Wizard since it was initially introduced.

Summer 2006

·      Support for multiple environments – all actions can now be run within sites, across sites, across site collections, and across virtual servers, as long as they are executed within the same configuration database

·      Ability for the user to supply data values for actions when an action is executed (Select at Runtime), and to order the prompts for that data

·      Support for required fields, and definition of field order

·      Additional date selection methods: Select at Runtime, add or subtract days

·      Ability to include SharePoint error details when an action fails

·      Pop-up messages removed for all action types except Delete List Item

·      Success and failure messages required

·      Support for additional variables: [CurrentSiteTitle], [Date], [ItemDisplayFormUrl], [ItemEditFormUrl], [Me], [Time]

·      Ability for Go To URL actions to be executed from an action-enabled roll-up

·      Support for line breaks in Notes fields (rich text and plain text)

·      Ability to append to existing text in multi-line text columns in the Modify List Item action type

·      Several Email Item Link enhancements:

o  Ability to send multiple links in a single email

o  Ability to link directly to documents

o  Addition of Mail To and CC fields, with ability to either manually enter or select from a list of email addresses

o  Addition of Link Field property, used to identify a field to hyperlink in the body of the email, rather than showing the URL of the linked item

·      Publisher action support to copy documents between sites

·      Resolved error message displayed by Publisher actions when documents are successfully copied within a site

Winter 2006 Update

·      Support for document libraries, including InfoPath libraries and picture libraries

·      Support for attachments

·      Ability to update user display column values, such as Assigned To

·      Ability to update date column values, such as Start Date and End Date

·      Added Date Picker and support for CorasWorks date functions

·      Support for new [CurrentSiteURL] function

·      New action type: Publisher

·      Fixed an issue with URLs that include a space

Winter 2006

·      Initial release