Administration Guide

Adding Interactive Create Actions

To add an interactive Create Action, follow the steps below.

INFO: For information on Interactive Actions, see Interactive Actions.

  1. From the Sidebar, navigate to Workflow and Business Logic > [Module] > [Object Class] > Workflow > Actions > Create. For example, to configure a Create Action for Incidents, go to Workflow and Business Logic > Service Desk > Incidents > Workflow > Actions > Create.
  2. Click New. The Create Action [ID] dialog box opens.

    NOTE: Note the unique auto-generated ID value. You can use this ID to quickly access the corresponding Action. For details, see Accessing Workflow Items or Components by ID.

  3. On the General tab, specify the following properties of the Action:
    1. Type the Action name in the Name field.
    2. In the Caption field, enter the text that will represent the Action in the Action Bar and in the New menu. By default the Caption field is initialized with the name you entered in the previous step.
    3. If you want a hint to appear when the user hovers the mouse pointer over the Action in the Action Bar, type the hint text in the Hint field.
    4. Optional: Enter a description of this Action in the Description field.

      NOTE: Keep the Enabled check box selected. Otherwise, this Action will be unavailable to users.

    5. For Tickets: Under Available for, specify whether this Action will be available to technicians when they configure recurrent tickets.

      NOTE: The Recurrent Tickets functionality allows technicians to set up the auto-creation of Service Desk Tickets according to a schedule. To access this functionality, select Tools > Recurrent Tickets in the Desktop App. For details, see Help: Managing Recurrent Tickets.

    6. For hierarchical objects: If this Action creates objects subordinated to parent objects (for example, Organizations/Sub-Organizations, Locations/Sub-Locations, Parent Work Orders/Child Work Orders), select the This object will be created as subordinated check box.
    7. Under Icon, specify an image that will accompany the Create Action name in the New menu:
      • To specify an icon image, click Change, select the image file and click Open. You can choose one of the standard icons supplied with Alloy Navigator, or specify your own image file.

        Standard icons or Create Actions are located in the \Resources\Icons\Pack2\New\ subfolder of your Alloy Navigator installation folder, typically:
        \Program Files\Alloy Software\Alloy Navigator 2023\Resources\Icons\Pack2\New\

        NOTE: Custom images should be in BMP, ICO, or PNG format. Recommended dimensions: 24x24 pixels.

        To apply the default icon, click Set Default.

      • If you do not want Alloy Navigator to display any icon for the Action, click Clear.
  4. Click the Condition tab and specify the availability of the Action as follows:
    1. Under Roles, specify which security roles will have access to the Action.
      • By default, the Any role check box is selected. To make the Action available only to the members of certain security roles, clear the Any role check box and select check boxes for the desired roles.
    2. To further define when the Action will be available, create conditions in the Additional Criteria section. If the criteria are met, the Action will be available, if the criteria are not met, the Action will be unavailable.
      • To build conditions, click Edit and configure the list of conditions in the Criteria dialog box.

        INFO: For details, see Building Criteria.

  5. Normally you should use a Template to initialize an object when the object is created. To assign a template click the Template tab. Here you can choose one of reusable Templates, or create a new Template.
    • To use an existing Template, choose it in the Template list.

      NOTE: If you want to customize the Template you selected, click Make Custom and make your changes as described below. For details, see Creating Templates.

    • To create a new Template, keep <Custom> in the Template field. This will create a new custom Template. You will be able to convert it into a reusable Template later, if needed. Under Template Definition, specify how this Template will assign initial values to fields of newly created objects:
      1. Click New. A new row appears.
      2. Select an object field in the Field Name field and enter its initial value in the Value field.

      Repeat these steps to assign values to other fields you want the Template to initialize. If you want to remove a field from the Template, select it and click Delete.

      NOTE: If you want to make your Template available in other Actions, click Make Reusable, enter a Template name, and save the Template. For details, see Creating Templates.

  6. Click the Form tab and choose an existing Form, or create a new Form within the Action:
    • To allow users to enter object details directly in the object details window, keep the <Full Form> value in the Form list.

      INFO: For details, see Using the Full Form.

    • To choose an existing Form, select it in the Form list.

      NOTE: If you want to customize the selected Form, click Make Custom and make your changes as described below. For details, see Creating Templates.

    • To create a custom Form, click Use Custom and follow the instruction Adding Action Forms.

      INFO: For details, see Creating Forms.

      NOTE: If you want to make your custom Form available in other Actions, click Make Reusable, enter a Form name, and save it.

  7. If your Action needs to perform additional operations on the newly-created object or generate E-mail Notifications, click the Programming tab and specify the operations to execute directly within the Action or select one of the existing Functions.
    1. Under Operations, click New > [Operation] and specify the operation details.

      INFO: For details, see Adding Operations.

      Repeat this step to add other operations as needed.

    2. By default, all operations are executed unconditionally. If needed, you can enclose your operations in conditional blocks.

      INFO: For details, see Building Conditional Statements.

      IMPORTANT: Any workflow operation within a Function, Action, or Trigger can be enabled or disabled. Only enabled operations will be executed. For details, see Disabling and Enabling Operations.

  8. If you want to categorize the Action by assigning it to one or more Processes, click the Processes tab and follow the instructions on assigning Actions to Processes.

    INFO: For details, see Assigning Workflow Items to Processes.

  9. When done, click OK.