1. Open a form, subform, page, view, or folder.

2. Choose Create - Action - Action. The Actions Properties box appears.

Note that from the Create - Action menu you can also create an action with subactions or you can insert system actions or insert shared actions. The action in an action with subactions is only a container for the subactions which appear in a drop-down menu, and performs no formula or code of its own. System actions are a group of commonly used functions such as Edit Document and Forward that can be inserted as a group then unwanted ones can be deleted. A shared action is a separate design element defining an action that can be used in multiple views or forms.

• Enter a name for the action.
• Label name - If you want dynamic labeling of actions, you can enter a formula in the label field. The dynamic label then appears as the name in the button or checkbox and on the action menu. Note that dynamic labeling works only in IBM® Lotus® Domino(TM) Designer 6 or later. Earlier versions of Domino Designer use the name as the label.
• If applicable, specify a target frame (in the current frameset) to be the target of the action. For example, if you create an action that opens a view, specify the name of the frame in which the view should open.
• Select the display type for the action. You can choose Button, Checkbox, or Menu separator.

Checkbox lets you show the state of an item (checked or unchecked). If you choose Checkbox, you can enter a Value in the Value field (for example, a formula that evalutes to true of false). You can also highlight the Click event in the Objects list of the Programmer's pane to enter a Click value. If you want the action bar's state (checkbox) to be reevaluated when a different document becomes current, make sure to check the "Evaluate actions for every document change" option at the Options tab of the Views Properties box. You can also use the @GetViewInfo function. For an example of a checkbox action, see “Displaying hidden text with a checkbox action.”

If you choose Menu separator, a menu separator appears and there is no action. You can also use menu separators between subactions of an action drop-down list.

• Check "Include action in Action bar" to make the action available as an item in the action bar.
• If the action is a button action, you can also choose to have only the icon appear in the action control bar.
• Check "Right align action control" to have the action control aligned on the opposite side of whatever is set in the Action Bar Properties box. Note that it may not necessarily be right aligned. For example, If you choose "Buttons start at left" in the Action Bar Properties box and "Right align action control" in the Action Properties box, then the button appears on the right. However, if you chose "Buttons start at right" in the Action Bar Properties box and "Right align action control in the Action Properties box, the button is actually aligned on the left, that is, on the opposite side of the setting in the Action Bar Properties box.
• Check "Include action in Action menu" to make the action available as a menu item in the Actions menu.
• If the action has subactions, you can check "Display as a split button" when the view is used as a component in a composite action. If this option is selected, the action bar will display two buttons for the action. The left button will display the icon and button label, and execute the first subaction if clicked. The right button will display a drop-down arrow, and will activate the drop-down menu of all subactions if clicked.
Note The "Display as a split button" option is only available for the Personal Information Management (PIM) composite application designs, Mail, Calendar and Contacts. See "Additional design element options for composite applications" for information on adjusting your IBM® Lotus® Notes® settings to display this option. The option is also only available for parent actions in view/folder designs, and shared actions. It is not available for parent actions in form, page, or subform designs, or for subactions in any context.
• You can select an icon to appear on the action button. The icon will not appear on the right mouse click menu. If you prefer a Notes graphic, select Notes and then click Image to select a graphic for the icon from a set available in Notes.

If you prefer a customized graphic, select Custom. In the Image field, specify the name of an image resource or click the folder icon to browse for an image resource. The image resource must reside in the current database. You can specify the name of an image resource that does not yet exist. Designer warns you that the image does not exist and that you must create it later. Click @ and specify a formula (or set of formulas) to display an image programmatically.

Tip If you do not specify a name or label for the action, Notes will use the graphic for the whole button. You won't be able to see the action in the action list, because there's no name for it, but you can click on the space at the end of the action list to access it.

5. (Optional) On the Advanced tab, specify how Notes workflow proceeds after the user activates the action.

6. In the Info List of the Programmer’s pane, click Objects and select the action you just created.

7. To program the action to run one of the client or one of the Web program code types, choose either Client or Web at the Run pull-down list.

Choose Client when the automated task will run in the Notes client. You can then select one of the following Client code options:
• Simple actions
• Formula
• LotusScript
• JavaScript (runs only on the Notes client)
• Common JavaScript (runs on both the Notes client and the Web)
Choose Web when the automated task will run in a Web browser. You can then select one of the following Web code options:
• JavaScript (runs only on the Web)
• Common JavaScript (runs on both the Notes client and the Web)

To create an action with subaction

Creating actions with one of more subactions lets you create a hierarchical list of actions. You can also drag and drop actions to create hierarchies. To create an action with subactions:

1. Open a form, subform, page, view, or folder.

2. Choose Create - Action - Action with Sub Action. A main action with an indented sub-action appears in the Action pane. The Actions Properties box also appears.

3. Define the main action and the sub-action.

You can also drag and drop other actions so they are subactions of the main action.

When you create system actions, you are creating a predefined list of common view and form actions.

1. Open the form or view.

2. Choose Create - Action - System actions. The list of actions created appears in the Action pane. These system actions include:

• Categorize
• Edit document
• Send document
• Forward
• Move to folder
• Remove from folder

To copy: select the action in the Action pane and choose Edit - Copy and Edit - Paste.

To delete: select the action in the Action pane and choose Edit - Delete.

To change properties: select the action in the Objects list and choose Design - Action Properties.

To change automation: select the action in the Objects list and edit the programming tasks in the right pane.

Actions menu

The Actions menu is a context-sensitive list of any actions and agents available for a particular part of an application, as well as some menu commands included with the Notes software. From an open view, Notes users see only those actions associated with the view, plus any manually run agents. From an open document, Notes users see the actions associated with the form used to create the document, plus any manually run agents. Web users don’t see the Actions menu.

Calling an agent

You can use a form or view action to run an agent. Use the @Command([RunAgent]), @Command([ToolsRunMacro]), or the OpenAgent URL command to call an agent.

See Also

Adding automation to applications
Actions
Creating and inserting shared actions

Glossary