What is an Action?

Actions are operations that can be performed on the DataView such as creating, deleting or altering objects.

Actions are available depending on the type and configuration of each DataView, some DataViews do not expose any actions some will expose many.

An Action has one of 3 types: Create, Delete or Advanced (Other). When a DataView exposes Actions, they are located in the corresponding actions menus in the top toolbar, each menu is only visible if at least one Action of the corresponding type is available.

Performing Miracles Actions

To execute an Action, select row(s) in the Grid to perform the Action on, open the drop down menu and click the Action item. Actions will often require additional information to run, or Parameters, that you will have to fill in the dialogue that opens.


LOAD ACTIONS PARAMETERS FROM SELECTED ROW(s)


Actions that use existing objects can pre-filled Parameters values for you if a row is selected before you run the Action. Check the Default Value options.


Use the Action configuration dialogue 'Display Option' to change the behaviour and display of your action such as buttons availability and name, explanatory text, icon and location(s) of the actions in various menus.

Default Actions and Shortcuts

If a default action has been defined for a given type, it will show as ticked in the actions drop down and can be executed with a keyboard shortcut.

  • The default Create action is called with the shortcut Alt+N (New). Ctrl+N also works in the default viewer, but that shortcut can be intercepted in client applications like Navisworks
  • The default Delete action is called when pressing the Delete key
  • The default Other action is called with the shortcut Alt+E (Execute). Ctrl+E also works in the default viewer, but that shortcut can be intercepted in client applications like Navisworks


ALTERNATIVE SHORTCUTS ALT/CTRL


For compatibility with viewers that may not pass pressed keys down to the BimSens control, the shortcuts can also be triggered with Alt+Key instead of Ctrl+Key

Actions Parameters

Parameters or Arguments are used to provide input into the Actions, from the selected rows, context (e.g. application or configuration parameters, or as user inputs).

Actions Parameters can be of 4 types: Locked, Required, Optional or Reference:

  • Locked Parameters are required for the Action to be executed. They cannot be edited by the user so you must provide a Default Value.
  • Required Parameters are required for the Action to be executed; they can have a Default Value but are editable.
  • Optional Parameters are not required to execute the Action but allow you to provide additional information if needed.
  • Reference Parameters are for information only, they will not be used for the Action. They cannot be edited by the user so you must provide a Default Value.


USE OF REFERENCE PARAMETERS


Reference Parameters can be used to display an item name in plain text alongside its unique id while only the Id is used to perform the Action.


DEFAULT REQUIRED


Locked and Reference Parameters must have a Default Value OR a selected row in RowValue Default Mode, as they are not editable by the user.

Actions with missing Reference Parameters can be executed however Actions with missing Locked Parameters cannot.


In Addition to the editing types, you can decide to hide some parameters that are not relevant to the user but are needed to run the action properly anyway (e.g. database keys).

Parameters can be adorned with preceding and succeeding text as well as tool tips using the display option menu '...'.

Parameters Default Values

Some Parameters can have or require a Default Value.

The Default Value is set by selecting a Default Mode, and specifying a value to use a default. The Default Mode can be:

  • Value: the value specified as Default Value is used in plain text. This value must be compatible with the selected parameter data type
  • RowValue: the value specified as Default Value must be the name of a property of the DataView (i.e. column in the grid). The value to use will be inferred from the row that is selected at the time the Action is run.
  • ModelProperty: the value specified as Default Value must be the name of a property as recognised by a viewer (for instance in Navisworks use CategoryName.PropertyName e.g. Element.Mark). The value to use will be inferred from the Viewer ID Match for the selected row in the grid, or from the viewer selection if the selected rows have no match or no row is selected.


PUSH MODEL PROPERTIES TO DataView


You can use Default Value ModelProperty to create new records on the DataView using the same property as the ID Match.


  • A ModelViewpoint: the value specified as Default Value must be Name or Path, for the viewer to return the corresponding property of the active viewpoint
  • Calculate: the Default Value can include pre-processor syntax (e.g. DateAdd(Day, 1, 'yyyy-MM-dd')) and/or contain parameters (e.g. {paramName})

See the SQL walk through for an example of Actions and Parameters setup.

Actions Repeat and Loop Modes

When executing an action you have the option to click Create/Delete/Execute or Repeat. Clicking Repeat will execute the action and immediately reopen the Action dialogue to execute the action again. If you had selected rows, clicking Repeat execute the action on the same row.

If you select more than one row you have 2 additional options, Next and All. Clicking Next will execute the action on the first row, and reopen the Action dialogue to execute the action on the following row, and so on until the last row. Clicking All will execute the action on all rows at once.


parameters values in 'yes to all' mode


When clicking the All button, the value for the Locked parameters with a default value mode of RowValue are reloaded for every row, but the values for the Required and Optional parameters are kept the same for all rows.