Actions

The list form has some pre-defined actions, such as Save, Delete, Copy or Move. You can also write your own custom action and hook it up with the list form.

The Actions page contain the following elements:

 

Table 11. Actions

Element	Description
Custom Actions	For more information, see Custom Actions

Custom Actions

This property enables you to define additional buttons in the toolbar or context menu item in the context menu. You can program that button or context menu item to do a series of actions. The List Form supports some built-in actions. However, you can write your own custom action using one of the .NET languages, compile it, and call it by the List Form. See Custom Action Help to see how to write your own custom actions.

NOTE: The toolbar button affects all the items that are selected in the List Form. The context menu item affects only the item that is being right-clicked regardless of how many items are selected in your List Form.

Here are some ways that you can use this functionality:

•	Add a custom toolbar button called "Assign All to Me" that will assign all of the selected tasks in the List Form to me.

•	Add a custom toolbar called "Approve" that will change the status of all of the selected expense items to Approved.

•	Create a custom context menu item called "Publish" that will move the right-clicked document into another document library.

•	Create a custom context menu item or toolbar item to start a workflow.

•	With the ability to write your own custom action, you can virtually do anything to the data when you click the custom button that you define.

NOTE: The custom action in the List Form does not support the Save action.

The Custom Actions element contains one Toolbar element and one Context Menu element. These elements can contain one or more Action Item elements. You can associate the Action Item with one or more Action elements. The Action element define a certain operation that is carried out by the action item when it is clicked. When you add an action item, you can configure the following:

 

Table 12. Custom Actions

Element	Description
Advanced Mode	Turn on if you want to edit Searched Fields in XML format. <CustomActions> <Toolbar> <ActionItem ID="UniqueID" Text="text" TextResourceID="textResourceID" Position="0" PromptText="promptText" PrompTextResourceID=”prompTextResourceID” ImageUrl=”URL” AccessKey=”AccessKeyCharacter”> <Action Type="Delete" / <Action Type="Move" TargetFolder="targetFolder" TargetSiteURL="targetSiteUrl" TargetListName="targetListName" /> <Action Type="Copy" TargetFolder="targetFolder" TargetSiteURL="targetSiteUrl" TargetListName="targetListName" /> <Action Type="GoToURL" URL="TargetURL"> <Parameter Name="parameterName" Source="Session" SourceName="fieldName" SessionName=”sessionName” /> <Parameter Name="parameterName" Source="RowFromAnotherWebPart" SourceName="fieldName" /> <Parameter Name="parameterName" Source="HttpRequest" SourceName="httpParameterName" /> <Parameter Name="parameterName" Source="ListItem" SourceName="httpParameterName" /> </Action> <Action Type="GoToSource"/> <Action Type="Custom" Class="IUIActionImpl" /> </ActionItem> </Toolbar> <ContextMenu> <ActionItem ID="UniqueID" Text="text" TextResourceID="textResourceID" Position="0" PromptText="promptText" PrompTextResourceID=”prompTextResourceID” ImageUrl=”URL” AccessKey=”AccessKeyCharacter”> <Action Type="Delete" /> <Action Type="Move" TargetFolder="targetFolder" TargetSiteURL="targetSiteUrl" TargetListName="targetListName" /> <Action Type="Copy" TargetFolder="targetFolder" TargetSiteURL="targetSiteUrl" TargetListName="targetListName" /> <Action Type="GoToURL" URL="TargetURL"> <Parameter Name="parameterName" Source="Session" SourceName="fieldName" SessionName=”sessionName” /> <Parameter Name="parameterName" Source="RowFromAnotherWebPart" SourceName="fieldName" /> <Parameter Name="parameterName" Source="HttpRequest" SourceName="httpParameterName" /> <Parameter Name="parameterName" Source="ListItem" SourceName="httpParameterName" /> </Action> <Action Type="GoToSource"/> <Action Type="Custom" Class="IUIActionImpl" /> </ActionItem> </ContextMenu> </CustomActions>
IsSeparator	Allows you to set the item as a separator.
ID	Allows you to enter a unique ID that will identify the item. Use a descriptive identifier to configure the action item with the editor. This field is mandatory.
Text	Allows you to enter how the action item is displayed in the toolbar. This field is mandatory.
Text Resource ID	Allows you to define this property if you support a a multi-lingual site. This attribute defines the identifier of the string in the Resource List that is used as the title of the Web Part. The Text Resource ID and the current cultural setting (identified with the Culture HTTP parameter) are used to retrieve the string in the Resource List. If the string with the given identifier and culture is not found, the value in the Text attribute is used.
Prompt Text	Allows you to prompt the user to click the toolbar button or the context menu item.
Prompt Text Resource ID	Allows you to define this property if you support a multi-lingual site. The property defines the identifier of the string in the Resource List that is used as the title of the Web Part. The Resource ID and the current cultural setting (identified with the Culture HTTP parameter) are used to retrieve the string in the Resource List. If the string with the given identifier and culture is not found, the default is used.
Access Key (Toolbar Only)	Allows you to define one character from the Text attribute that becomes the access key to this toolbar button or context menu item. For example, if you define a letter T as the access key, you can press ALT+T and the browser will put the focus on this button or context menu item. If there are multiple elements on the page with the same access key, you can repeat ALT+T repeatedly until you get the focus on this toolbar button or context menu item.
Position	Allows you to set the position of the button in the toolbar. The index starts with 0.
Show User Groups	Allows you to list SharePoint groups whose members can view the Web Part. Separate groups with commas.
Hide User Groups	Allows you to list SharePoint groups whose members cannot view the Web Part. Separate site group names with commas (for example, Administrators, Readers). If a user is a member of a group that is defined in both Show User Groups and Hide User Groups, the user cannot view the Web Part.

When you add an action, you can configure the following:

Element	Description
Name	A mandatory element which allows you to identify a given action in order to access it from another action. You can refer to this action from the GoToURL action and from ICustomActionEx Interface.
Type	Allows you to determine the type of the action. Here are the options: • Delete — deletes the item. • GoToURL — redirects the user to a specific URL. You must specify the URL and where you want the URL to open. You must specify the following parameters: • Input - the current user information as the value of the parameter • Session - the name of the session variable where the value comes from when the source is set to Session • HttpRequest - the value of the parameter that is retrieved from the HTTP parameters in the page URL. The name of the HTTP parameter is defined in the SourceName attribute. As an example, say the current page URL is http://mysite.com/default.aspx?ProductType=Hardware. If the SourceName attribute is ProductType, the value of the ProductType HTTP parameter, which is Hardware, is used as the value of the parameter. • ListItem - the value of the parameter is a list item or row • RowFromAnotherWebPart — the parameter for the GoToURL action can be retrieved from the output of another action that comes first in the sequence of actions defined in the ActionItem. There are two types of action that can produce an output: an action with Type of ExecuteOperation, and an action with Type of Custom that points to custom action implementation of ICustomActionEx Interface. You do that by defining the SourceName attribute of the action. This is the syntax of the SourceName attribute when you use ResultFormAction source: <ActionName>.<ResultType>[.Name], where ActionName refers to the Name attribute of the action that produces the output, ResultType can be OutParameter (if the action result is returned through one of the out or inout parameter) or RawData - (if the action result is returned as an object). Name is optional. It further designates the object we want to use for the parameter. You do not have to specify the Name when the ResultType is RawData. However, if the ResultType is OutParameter, this name specifies the name of the out or input key value pair. • ResultFromAction - the parameter for the GoToURL action can be retrieved from the output of another action that comes first in the sequence of actions defined in the ActionItem You must define a source name (where in the source you want to get your information from), name (the name of the parameter that is appended to the URL you specified), and Session (the name of the session variable where the value comes from when the source is set to Session) • GoToSource — redirects the user to the URL specified in the Source HTTP parameter. The URL to the page must look like: http://...?Source=URL for this option to work. • StartWorkflow — starts the specified workflow in the Workflow Name drop-down field. You must select a Workflow name. • ReturnToMasterChart — returns the user to the master chart page. You use this action type if this web part is located in the drill down page. • Custom — implements your own custom action and call it with this action type. Enter a Class name that implements the ICustomActionEx or ICustomAction interface, or select a class from the drop-down list, if available.