How to: Add Actions to a Page

  • Article

This topic shows how to create new actions, how to add actions to a page, and how to preview them in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client. In Microsoft Dynamics NAV, actions can be displayed on the menu bar of all pages and grouped together under the following actions buttons:

  • Actions

  • Related Information

  • Reports

Before putting an action on a page you should think about the business processes that the action supports. For example, on page 42, the Sales Orders list page, the Actions button contains actions for all tasks related to processing sales orders. Creating these actions can make it easier for the order processor to perform her daily tasks, such as posting sales orders and creating new customer orders.

For more information, see Actions Overview.

Adding Actions to a Page

To create a new action you must use Action Designer. Action Designer is a tool in Page Designer that enables you to add actions to the menu bar.

To add an action to a page

  1. Open the development environment, and then in the Tools menu, choose Object Designer.

  2. In Object Designer, select a page, and then choose Design to open Page Designer.

  3. To open Action Designer, in the View menu, choose Page Actions.

    Note

    Actions can only be linked to a page, or to a group control that has a subtype of CueGroup. Actions cannot be linked to fields, containers, or parts on a page. For information about adding actions to a CueGroup control, see Walkthrough: Creating a Cue Based on a FlowField.

  4. In Action Designer, select the first blank row, type a Name, and then type a Caption for your action.

    The caption appears on the action on page in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client.

  5. In the Type field, select one of the following Types:

    • ActionContainer

    • Separator

    • ActionGroup

    • Action

    For example, if you want to create a container for your actions, select ActionContainer.

  6. In the SubType field, select one of the following SubTypes:

    • NewDocumentItems

    • ActionItems

    • RelatedInformation

    • Reports

    • HomeItems

    • ActivityButtons

    For example, if you want to put your action in the Actions menu, select ActionItems.

  7. Choose in the second row, set action Type to Action. Your action is indented automatically under the ActionContainer. Choose the third row, and then choose the second row again. The Name field in this row is filled in automatically.

    You can use the right and left arrow buttons in Action Designer to adjust indentation, and use the up and down arrow buttons to move an action in the hierarchy.

    Note

    If you insert a new row to add a new action to the list, indentation is not automatic, so always check the indentation on your actions. If it is not correct you will get an error when you compile.

  8. With your action selected, choose View, and then choose Properties. Set the RunObject property to create an action that opens another page, for example, page 42, Sales Orders.

    Note

    In Action Designer, actions can be assigned to a page by setting the RunObject property, or by adding a C/AL trigger to a code unit.

  9. Set the Caption and CaptionML properties to make the action visible in the Actions menu.

  10. Save and compile the page.

  11. To preview an action in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client, in Object Designer, select the page and choose Run. For more information about running a page, see How to: Run a Page.

Note

If the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client is already open, you will not see changes to HomeItems or ActivityButtons until to you close and restart it.

Warning

If you change an object, for example, an action to an action container, you must also change the ID of the action. The ID serves as a reference, and must reflect the object.

See Also

Tasks

Walkthrough: Adding Actions to a Customer List Page

Concepts

Actions Overview