Actions

You can use the following form methods with the Execute a Form method action:

• In Error - You can use this method to raise your own custom errors or use it with the When a View/Form is In Error event, see Configure a Custom Error Rule
• Initialized - You can use this method to start the Initialized event from an unbound rule
• Initializing - You can method use this method to start the Initializing event from an unbound rule, see How To: Using Form States for an example of customizing the Initializing rule using different form states.
• Submitting - Use this method to start the When the Form is Submitting event, see How To: Configure Forms with Draft Functionality, Drafts in Android and Building SmartForms for Mobile Devices for more information on saving a form as a draft in the Workspace before submitting it. When you use drafts in the Workspace, you must use this rule method with the When a Form is Submitting event to move the form from the Drafts folder to the Outbox folder when you submit the form. The following images show an example of how you can create these rules:
  
  

You can use the following view methods with the Execute a method on the View action:

• Clear - You can use this method for example after you execute a SmartObject Create method to clear the view for the next input, see Configure an Action to Clear a View or Form or How To: Use the Save As PDF Control and Show a Message to Confirm the File
• Collapse - You can use this method for example to collapse a view when a form opens, see Configure the Collapse And Expand View Events And Actions
• Expand - You can use this method for example to expand a view when a form opens, see Configure the Collapse And Expand View Events And Actions
• Export to ExcelExport to Excel (List view only) - Use this method to download your List view or Editable List view as a Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) file, see Configuring Export to Excel and Export Lists to Excel
• In Error - You can use this method to raise your own custom errors or use it with the When a View/Form is In Error event, see Configure a Custom Error Rule
• Initialize - You can use this method for example to start the Initialize event from an unbound rule or use tab navigation and optimize performance by using this method when a tab is clicked, see Configure Tab Navigation To Optimize Performance
• Initialized - You can use this method for example to start the Initialized event from an unbound rule

• List item click (List view only) - You can use this method for example to transfer data when a list item is clicked on a List view

• List item double click (List view only) - You can use this method for example to transfer data when a list item is double clicked on a List view, see How To: Add Lookup Information to a Form
• List refresh (List view only) - You can use this method for example when a List view is expanded, see Configure the Collapse And Expand View Events And Actions and How To: Automatically Refresh Data on a View with a Timer Control

The following view methods are available when you use a SmartBox SmartObject on the view or form. If you use another SmartObject, these methods may differ:

• Create - You can use this method to create data in a SmartObject used in a view or form. See How To: Create a Form where you can enter data in a “header/detail” or “primary/line items” style for an example of executing the Create method

• Delete - You can use this method to delete data from a SmartObject used in a view or form
• Get List (List view only) - You can use this method and configure it with a form parameter for example to filter data when a form opens, see How to: Use a form parameter to filter data on another form

• Load - You can use this method to load a single record

• Save - You can use this method to save changes to a record, see How To: Use a Composite SmartObject Created from a Many to Many SmartObject Relationship in a Check Box List scenario and How To: Attach Multiple Files to a form using the Attachment Control

You can use the following actions together with the Error occurred condition to manually control the execution of subsequent execution blocks within the current rule when an error occurs:

• Continue to next execution – Continues to the next execution block within the current rule. Note that this action does not continue to the next rule.
• Stop rule execution – Stops execution of the current rule.

When you use the Error occurred condition in a rule and an error occurs at runtime, execution stops by default after completing the error condition's actions. You can use the Continue to next execution and Stop rule execution actions to manually control what must happen after completing the Error occurred condition block of actions. When you use the Stop rule execution action in a rule you can clearly show what happens when an error occurs, improving the discoverability and maintenance of the rule. The Continue to next execution action allows you to continue with subsequent execution blocks in the rule, even if there is an error. In other words, use the Continue to next execution action to force the rule to continue on to the next execution block after an error occurs.

The example below shows how you can configure the Continue to next execution and Stop rule execution actions with an Error occurred condition to force execution to continue and stop when you want it to. It shows rule execution if an error occurs when executing the Create method.

The sequence of the rule definition execution is explained below:

1. When the Create Button is clicked, the Create method executes.
2. If an error occurs at runtime, the rule checks if there is an error handling (if an error occurred) condition. If no error handling condition is found, the rule in this example stops automatically. If it finds the error handling condition, the rule skips to the if an error occurred execution block. In our example, an error occurs at runtime which means that the then transfer data action does not execute.
3. Next, all actions within the if an error occurred execution block execute. We use the Continue to next execution action to force the rule to continue because we want to execute the subsequent execution blocks.
4. The rule then continues to the next execution block, which is the then show a message to the user action. A message is shown at runtime.
5. Rule execution continues to the next execution block (if an advanced condition is true). If the condition evaluates to true, the rule stops execution and no further execution blocks execute. If the advanced condition evaluates to false, the rule continues to the next execution block, executes the transfer data action and then the send an e-mail action. In our example, if we assume the condition evaluates to true, so the transfer data and send an e-mail actions do not execute.

The following example shows rule execution when using the Stop rule execution action in another rule (child rule). If a child rule executes a Stop rule execution action, the parent rule also stops. This is because the child rule is part of the parent rule and execution is stopped for the entire rule.

The sequence of the rule definition execution is explained below:

1. When the Button is clicked, the then execute the Validation rule action executes. Execution continues to the Validation rule.
2. Next, the if the Form passes validation condition executes. The rule checks if all required fields on the form pass validation.
3. If the condition evaluates to true, the rule skips the else execution block and continues to the When Submit Button is Clicked rule. The rule executes the Create method and shows a message to the user at runtime.
4. If the condition evaluates to false, rule execution continues to the else execution block, which is showing a message to the user and then stop rule execution. The rule continues to the When Submit Button is Clicked rule. In our example, we assume the condition evaluates to false, so the execute a SmartObject method and show a message to the user actions do not execute.

Workflow Export rights are required when interacting with any workflow rule conditions or actions. See Server Rights for more information about assigning export rights.