Action (SAP Library - Configuration of SAP NetWeaver CE)

Action

Actions can be defined for views and items. Item actions are displayed in the preview and detail view as action buttons. View actions are also displayed as buttons and can have an effect on none, one or multiple selected items. Group actions can be used in views to render decision options directly as check boxes in the item rows, for example, for mass approval scenarios.

Each item type contains a defaultAction, which is "the" action for the item, executed when the users clicks on the item subject. Each item can however support any number of additional actions.

The handler attribute of the action determines how the action is executed - the referenced handler contains the actual implementation. There are two basic categories:

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1. Launch actions (Launchers) navigate to a user interface, in most cases directly related to the item. This user interface can be implemented as iView, SAP GUI for HTML, Web Dynpro, ITS MiniApp, or any URL, depending on the type of handler specified.

2. Functional actions call a function that is usually provided by the UWL (UIActionHandler) or the provider system connector (ProviderActionHandler), but it is also possible to call provider backend system functions directly through handlers like FunctionsModuleActionHandler, or for SAP Business Workflow: UpdatingContainerHandler and TerminatingEventHandler.

The properties of the action further refine the action behavior or are passed on as parameters to the action handler (see below).

For item types, actions are inherited from parent types.

Attributes and Their Description

Attributes	Description
Name	The action name which will be passed to the action handler
reference	If an action should be used by many item types or views, it can be defined once in the action section directly under UWL Configuration, and referenced from all other locations. Reference the names of those general actions in this attribute. The referenced action will be taken from the same configuration, or, if not found, from the uwl.standard configuration. Note that if this attribute is used, all other attributes are obsolete. Example: <Action reference="refresh" />
groupAction	Group actions by a name. This is used to create a button on the user interface, with a drop down list of group actions. Use the defaultGroupAction flag to indicate the button name and defaultaction to describe the button action when pressed. Specifies that if this action is a group action. Group actions are presented to the user as decision alternatives. List views can render group actions as check boxes (see DisplayAttribute attribute type), and the user can submit decisions for multiple items at once (for example: mass approval scenarios).
Handler	The handler determines how the action is executed. The following handlers are available: IViewLauncher, SAPWebDynproLauncher, SAPAppLauncher, SAPTransactionLauncher, SAPMiniAppLauncher, ObjectLinkLauncher, ObjectNavigationLauncher, UrlLauncher, TerminatingEventHandler, FunctionModuleActionHandler, UpdatingContainerHandler. For details of the launchers, refer to the Task Launch Customization documentation.
referenceBundle	Specifies the description bundle that contains the internationalized display texts for the action. The long descriptions in the bundle will be displayed as tool tip. Alternatively, the descriptions can also be directly added to the action using the descriptions tag.
returnToDetailViewAllowed	Specifies which page should be displayed after a functional action was executed. Yes (the default) specifies that the detail view page should remain open. No returns to the list view page in any case.
launchInNewWindow	Specifies a flag to indicate that the action should be launched in a new browser window (Yes or No).
launchNewWindowName	Window name to be used if the new window option is used.
launchNewWindowFeatures	Specifies the JavaScript features to open the new browser with. Example: "width=520, height=560, resizable=yes, scrollbars=yes, status=yes, toolbar=no, menubar=no,location=no,directories=no"

Child Tags: Properties, Descriptions, ConfirmDescriptions

Properties

Properties are name and value pairs can be added to Action, which will be passed to the provider.

Example

<Action name="defaultGlobalWizard" handler="IViewLauncher" referenceBundle="new_task" launchInNewWindow="yes"

launchNewWindowFeatures="width=520,height=560,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=no,menubar=no,location=no,directories=no">

</Properties>

</Action>

Some properties are internally used to control action and are not passed to the provider.

Reserved property names are as follows:

● type - Obsolete. Do not use. Specifies link or button for the display.

● display_order_priority - The higher the number the closer the action will be display to the left.

If the key word uwlExcludeFromPreviewDetail is used as value of this property, the action will not be displayed on the detail preview pages (for example, the action is only intended for a menu item).

Other properties are handler specific. In this sample:

● iview - name of the target iView component. This is handler specific sample. Other launch handlers may require other properties to specify the navigation target. See handler attribute documentation above.

Property values can use dynamic parameters, which are filled in at run time before the action is executed: using ${item.attribute} where attribute is the attribute name which value is retrieved from the item.

Any standard item attribute and custom item attribute can be used.

Other dynamic parameters are as follows:

● ${user} - Specifies a selection for a single user is needed. The UWL UI will prompt for a single user before calling the action.

● ${users} - Specifies a selection for multiple users is needed. The UWL UI will prompt for multiple users.

● ${usernote} - Specifies a comment should be allowed for the user selection options above.

● ${webflowUser} - Specifies a Business Workflow user, executing a Business Workflow work item

ConfirmDescriptions

Contains descriptions that are used to display a text within a confirm dialog box to the user before the action is executed.

If no confirm descriptions are present, the user is not asked to confirm the action.