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Record Action Component
SAIL Design System guidance available for Record Actions

Make taking action on your data quick, easy, and painless with record actions. Learn how to launch actions directly from any interface to save time and get your work done faster.

Function

a!recordActionField( actions, style, display, openActionsIn, align, accessibilityText, showWhen )

Displays a list of record actions with a consistent style. A record action is an end-user action configured within a record type object, such as a related action or record list action.

See also: Record Action Item, Create record actions, Record action design guidance

Parameters

Name Keyword Types Description

Actions

actions

Any Type

List of record action items to display in the field, configured using a!recordActionItem().

Display Style

style

Text

Determines how the list of actions should be displayed on the interface. Valid values: "TOOLBAR" (default), "LINKS", "CARDS", "SIDEBAR", "CALL_TO_ACTION", "MENU", "MENU_ICON". See the documentation for guidance on how to use different styles effectively.

Display

display

Text

Determines how the given action labels will be displayed in each item. Valid values: "LABEL_AND_ICON" (default), "LABEL", "ICON".

Action Behavior

openActionsIn

Text

Determines how actions should open to the user. Valid values: "DIALOG" (default), "NEW_TAB", "SAME_TAB".

Alignment

align

Text

Determines alignment of the action(s). Valid values: "START", "CENTER", "END".

Accessibility Text

accessibilityText

Text

Additional text to be announced by screen readers. Used only for accessibility; produces no visible change.

Visibility

showWhen

Boolean

Determines whether the component is displayed on the interface. When set to false, the component is hidden and is not evaluated. Default: true.

Usage considerations

Using dialog boxes with record actions

  • When using a dialog box for the openActionsIn parameter, form submission will complete the chain and the current page state is retained.
  • When the form submits and you close the dialog, this will cause all record actions in the record action field to refresh. This means any visibility conditions, labels, context, and descriptions will update as necessary.
  • If you have multiple record action fields on an interface, the form submission will only refresh the record action field where the action was launched, like from a grid or a specific column in an interface; it will not refresh all record action fields.
  • Reference local variable refresh behavior to learn how to refresh specific variables after dialog submission.
  • You can configure the size of the dialog box in the record type. The dialog box size is specific to each record action.
  • Dialog boxes do not support Application Portal and non-SAIL forms.

Using the record action component with multiple or older record types

  • Actions from different record types may be used.
  • Record types created before Appian 20.1 will need to be updated to use this component. A record type can be updated via the record type designer.

Examples

Record type object references are specific to each environment. If you copy and paste these examples into your interface, they will not evaluate. Use them as a references only.

Record action field with no configurations

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a!recordActionField(
  actions: {
    a!recordActionItem(
   /* For the "action" parameter below, replace the record-action reference 
    * (recordType!Department.actions.update) with a valid record-action reference in your environment.
    */
     action: recordType!Department.actions.update,
     identifier: ri!departmentId
    ),
    a!recordActionItem(
   /* For the "action" parameter below, replace the record-action reference 
    * (recordType!Customer.actions.flag) with a valid record-action reference in your environment.
    */
     action: recordType!Customer.actions.flag,
     identifier: ri!customerId
    )
  }
)

Displays the following:

screenshot of a record action field

Record action field with refresh variables

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a!localVariables(
  /*
  * The parameter 'refreshAfter' in a!refreshVariable() can be used to refresh data when
  * record action dialogs are submitted. Do this to update data related to the record action.
  */
  local!case: a!refreshVariable(
    value: a!queryRecordType(
        /* Replace the recordType reference below (recordType!Case) with a valid   
         * recordType reference in your environment.
         */
        recordType: recordType!Case,
        fields: {
            recordType!Case.fields.id,
            recordType!Case.fields.priority,
            recordType!Case.fields.status,
            recordType!Case.fields.createdBy,
            recordType!Case.fields.createdOn
        },
        filters: {
            filter: a!queryFilter(recordType!Case.fields.id, "=", ri!CaseId)
        },
        pagingInfo: a!pagingInfo(1, 1)
    ).data,
    refreshAfter: "RECORD_ACTION"
  ),
  {
    a!sideBySideLayout(
      items: {
        a!sideBySideItem(
          item: a!richTextDisplayField(
            labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
            value: {
              a!richTextHeader(
                text: "Case Details"
              )
            }
          )
        ),
        a!sideBySideItem(
          item: a!recordActionField(
            actions: {
              a!recordActionItem(
              /* Replace the record action reference below, recordType!Case.actions.edit, 
               * with a valid record action reference in your environment.
               */
                action: recordType!Case.actions.edit,
                identifier: local!case[recordType!Case.fields.id]
              )
            },
            openActionsIn: "DIALOG",
            style: "LINKS",
            display: "LABEL_AND_ICON",
            showIcon: true,
            align: "END"
          )
        )
      },
      alignvertical: "MIDDLE"
    ),
    a!columnsLayout(
      columns: {
        a!columnLayout(
          contents: {
            a!textField(
              label: "Priority",
              labelPosition: "JUSTIFIED",
              value: local!case[recordType!Case.fields.priority],
              readonly: true
            ),
            a!textField(
              label: "Status",
              labelPosition: "JUSTIFIED",
              value: local!case[recordType!Case.fields.status],
              readonly: true
            ),
          }
        ),
        a!columnLayout(
          contents: {
            a!textField(
              label: "Created On",
              labelPosition: "JUSTIFIED",
              value: local!case[recordType!Case.fields.createdOn],
              readonly: true
            ),
            a!textField(
              label: "Created By",
              labelPosition: "JUSTIFIED",
              value: local!case[recordType!Case.fields.createdBy],
              readonly: true
            )
          }
        )
      }
    )
  }
)

Displays the following:

screenshot of a record action with refresh

Feature compatibility

The table below lists this component's compatibility with various features in Appian.
Feature Compatibility Note
Portals Incompatible
Offline Mobile Incompatible
Sync-Time Custom Record Fields Incompatible
Real-Time Custom Record Fields Incompatible
Process Reports Incompatible

You cannot use this function to configure a process report.
Process Events Incompatible

You cannot use this function to configure a process event node, such as a start event or timer event.

Record Action Component

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