Using the Graphical Action Designer

The Graphical Action Designer enables you to create an action quickly and easily using graphical tools.

You can drag and drop new action types from the Action Designer List to the Design Pane of the editor.

An existing action type can be selected to display in the Design Pane, where it can be edited.

When added to the Design Pane, the action is displayed on the Design Pane as an action block and can be configured in the Settings section.

One or more new action types can be added to the Design Pane. Add links between multiple action types to connect them in sequence order. An existing action type can be added to the Design Pane, and then new action types added and linked to create a more complex action.

In this version of Neurons for ITSM, edits to existing actions made in the Graphical Action Designer are not picked up by the Classic Action Designer. Edits made in the Classic Action Designer to existing actions are picked up by the Graphical Action Designer.

To open the Graphical Action Designer:

1.Use any of the methods to add/edit an action as described in Using Quick Actions.
This displays the Action Designer selection popup.

2.Select Graphical Action Designer.

Parts of the Graphical Action Designer

The Graphical Action Designer consists of three sections.

Graphical Action Designer

1 - Action Designer Lists

The action designer lists contain new and existing action types that you can add to the Design Pane to create an action. There are two tabbed lists:

  • New Actions: Contains a limited set of the most commonly used actions. Drag an action type onto the Design Pane to add it to your action.

  • Your Actions: Contains a list of all current actions that exist for the business object. Select an existing action to add it to the Design Pane. Actions you create and save are added to this list under No Category. You can also permanently delete an action from this list.

For descriptions of all available action types, see Action Templates.

2 - Design Pane

This is where you build your action. Once added to the Design Pane, select the action to enable configuration in the Settings section. You can add two or more actions to the Design Pane to create a composite action, and create composite links between actions.

General functions (located along the top of the Design Pane):

  • Undo and redo an edit.

  • Clear the Design Pane.

  • Fit diagram to the visible Design Pane.

  • Zoom slider.

  • Export a diagram of the action to a PNG file.

  • Switch to Form Editor. Located at the top right of the Graphical Action Designer window. Closes the Graphical Action Designer and opens the Classic Action Designer.

Any edits you have made in the Graphical Action Designer are lost if you switch to the Classic Action Designer.

  • Save. Located at the top right of the Graphical Action Designer window. The Save button is enabled (changes color to blue) when an action is configured to a state where it can be saved.

Action block functions. Select an action block to display these functions:

  • Delete the action block.

  • Clone an action.

  • Create a link to another action block.

  • Delete a link to another action block.

  • View information about the action.

  • Resize an action block. Hover the mouse pointer over the icon, select and drag to the size you want.

3 - Settings pane

Configure the settings for an action in this section. There are two tabs, Block and Common.

The Block tab is used to configure the settings specific to an individual action block.

The Common tab is used to configure settings that are common to the action block type, or to the composite action. For composite actions the configuration that is displayed in this tab is the same regardless of which action block is selected.

Creating a New Action

1.From the Configuration Console, click Build > Automation Tools > Quick Actions to open the Actions Manager workspace. The list of business objects that have actions appears.

2.Click Add/Edit to see the actions for the business object. The application displays the Action Designer selection popup.

3.Select Graphical Action Designer.

4.Select the New Actions tab to view a list of action guides. These guides are the basis for various actions.

5.Drag an action guide type onto the Design Pane from the New Actions tab. The Settings section displays the Block and Common settings tabs for the action type.

6.Select each tab and enter data into the Block and Common configuration fields as required. Each action guide uses both common and specific fields. See Common Action Fields. For specific parameters and actions for the action type, see Action Templates.

7.Click Save.

The action appears in the Your Actions tabbed list depending on the category you applied to the action in the Common settings. For example, if you selected Form Actions from the Enter Category drop-down list in Common settings, the action will appear under the Form Actions section in the Your Actions tabbed list.

If you did not select a category in Common settings, the action appears under the No Category section of the Your Actions tab.

Modifying an Action

You can change specific actions within an action. For example, you can change which fields are referenced within an action.

1.From the Configuration Console, click Build > Automation Tools > Quick Actions to open the Actions Manager workspace. The list of business objects that have actions appears.

2.Click Add/Edit to see the actions for the business object. The application displays the Action Designer selection popup.

3.Select Graphical Action Designer.

4.Select the action from the Your Actions list. The action block (or blocks if it is a composite action) are displayed on the Design Pane.

5.Select the action block.

6.Modify the configuration fields in the Block and Common configuration tabs in the Settings section as required. Each action guide uses both common and specific fields. See Common Action Fields. For specific parameters and actions for the action type, see Action Templates.

7.Click Save.

Adding Multiple Actions to an Action

See Adding Multiple Actions to an Action.

Disabling an Action

If you want to disable an action, use the Classic Action Editor to disable the action from there.

Any edits you have made in the Graphical Action Designer are lost if you switch to the Classic Action Designer.

Deleting an Action

You can only delete an action you have created, unless you are an administrator or have a role with delete permissions.

From the Configuration Console

1.From the Configuration console, click Build > Automation Tools > Quick Actions to open the Actions Manager workspace. The list of business objects that have actions appears.

2.Click Add/Edit to see the actions for the business object. The application displays the Action Designer selection popup.

3.Select Graphical Action Designer.

4.Click the Your Actions tab and hover the mouse pointer over the action you want to delete. A Delete icon appears to the right of the action.

The Delete icon is only displayed when the Design Pane is empty. If you have an action present in the Design Pane you cannot use the delete function.

5.Click Delete. The Delete Confirmation window appears.

6.Click Yes.

From the Neurons for ITSM Application

1.Log in to Neurons for ITSM.

2.Open a workspace.

3.From the Action Menu, select Edit Actions. The application displays the Action Designer selection popup.

4.Select Graphical Action Designer.

5.Click the Your Actions tab and hover the mouse pointer over the action you want to delete. A Delete icon appears to the right of the action.

The Delete icon is only displayed when the Design Pane is empty. If you have an action present in the Design Pane you cannot use the delete function.

6.Click Delete. The Delete Confirmation window appears.

7.Click Yes.