The Actions tab on the roll-up administration interface is used to select the pre-defined actions that you want to make available for use against the items in the roll-up. When the roll-up is displayed, the actions you select on this tab are listed in a drop-down menu at the top of the roll-up, next to the Search bar.
This topic includes the following subjects:
· Select Actions for Use in a Roll-Up
· How Action Definitions are Referenced by Roll-Ups
· Execute an Action Against Items in a Roll-Up
Before you choose the actions to enable for a roll-up, please make sure that they are compatible with the schemas of both the source lists included in the roll-up and the destination list. For example, if you are working with an event roll-up, you do not want to select an action that updates the status of a task (or any action that references a column that does not exist in the affected list).
If you enable an incompatible action for the roll-up and a user selects that action, it will always fail. You need to be sure that the columns that are populated or updated exist in both the source list and the destination list. Naming your action definitions clearly goes a long way toward avoiding this potential problem.
1. Access the Actions tab on the roll-up’s administration interface. If the actions you want to make available are not located on the current site, type the desired list URL in the Site URL field and then click Add URL.
· If the actions are located in more than one URL, repeat this step as necessary.
· As you identify URLs, the Available Document Libraries area is automatically updated with the names of all the libraries that have the appropriate structure to store action definitions.
NOTE: The site can be identified as either absolute or relative. For maximum portability, a relative URL should be used. If an absolute URL is identified and the action is later ported to a new site, the URL may not be reachable. For more information, see “How Action Definitions are Referenced by Roll-Ups,” below.
2. The Available Document Libraries section shows all the document libraries in the current site and in all of the URLs identified above. Highlight the libraries used to store the actions you want to make available and click Load Available Actions. The page is refreshed and all of the action definitions in the selected libraries are added to the Available Actions area at the bottom of the tab. No other types of actions are available for selection.
3. Highlight the actions you want to make available for use and click the >> button to move them to the Selected Actions area.
NOTE 1: This is where the importance of naming your actions clearly comes into play. It is important that you make sure the actions you select here are compatible with the roll-up.
NOTE 2: If you are working with a version before the Winter 2006 Update, do not activate a Create List Item or Modify List Item-type action on a document roll-up. These two types of actions did not support document libraries until the Winter 2006 Update.
NOTE 3: If you are working with the Summer 2006 release or a later version, you can select a Go To URL here. This action type was not previously available for selection from an action-enabled roll-up.
4. When you are finished, either select another administration interface tab to continue your configuration or click OK to see the updated roll-up display. The actions drop-down is included at the top of the roll-up display, and there is a checkbox to the left of each item in the roll-up.
For information on creating and modifying action definitions, see the Actions Wizard.
When you select an action to enable for a particular roll-up, the roll-up 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 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 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 in the same site) are not portable.
No activity will happen regarding an action until the user selects the roll-up item(s) they want to work with and the action they want to execute. To do this:
1. Place a check mark next to each item in the roll-up you want to work with.
2. Select the desired action from the drop-down at the top of the roll-up display.
3. Click Go.
· If the action is a delete-type action, a confirmation message is displayed before any items are deleted.
NOTE: If the action-enabled roll-up is placed in web part zone with an invalid ID, the confirmation message will not be displayed, but the selected item(s) will still be deleted. For more information on invalid web part zone IDs, see the For Developers help topic.
· If the action definition includes any values that are set to “Select at Runtime,” an entry form is displayed. Any required fields are marked with a red asterisk (*). When you are finished entering the necessary information, click Go at the bottom of the entry form.
NOTE: If the Action Runtime Interface includes a user selection drop-down (e.g., Assigned To), the users are pulled from the site collection’s user list, not the individual site’s user list.
4. A status area is displayed with the success or failure message that is stated in the action definition. If any items failed, you will also see a bulleted list of links to the items for which the action did not succeed. Each link opens in a separate window. Note that the items you selected for the action are still marked in the roll-up display. Additional SharePoint error messaging will also be displayed if that option was selected in the action definition.
· Actions can fail for a number of reasons. One common reason is that the action definition is incompatible with the roll-up. One or more of the columns referenced in the definition may not in exist in the source or destination list(s).
· Another reason may be insufficient user access to one or more of the lists in the roll-up. 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.
5. Select the Close Actions Status Window link in the area where the success or error message is displayed. The status window is closed and the roll-up display is refreshed.
NOTE: Please do not refresh the screen or use your browser’s Back or Forward button until the action has finished executing and you have closed the status area.