To create a shared action

1. Open the database where you want to store the shared action.

2. Click Shared Code in the Design pane.

3. Click Actions. A list of shared actions appears with information about each shared action.

This information lets you know whether the shared action appears in an action bar or in a menu, whether a graphic is associated with the action, what the code type is (formula, simple action, LotusScript, JavaScript, or Common JavaScript), and whether the action appears in IBM® Lotus® Notes®, on the Web, or for mobile users.

Note that if the database is set up to be a multilingual database, shared actions can be grouped under multiple sections called shared action notes. These shared action notes act like folders for different languages.

The Actions Properties box appears.

• Enter a name for the shared action.
• Label name -If you want dynamic labeling of actions, 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.

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.
• Check "Include action in Action menu" to make the action available as a menu item in the Actions menu.
• Check "Include in right mouse button menu" to make the action available as a right mouse click menu item for views. The action will be listed in a new section at the bottom of the right mouse click menu. When the action is hidden on the Action menu, it will be hidden on the right mouse click menu. If the action is a shared action, it will be visible on the right mouse click menu of all views using that shared action.
• Check "Display as a split button" to display two buttons for the action when it is used in a composite application. 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 Notes settings to display this option.
• You can select an icon to appear on the action button. 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.

7. Click the Advanced tab and specify how Notes workflow proceeds after the user activates the action.

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

9. To program the shared 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
• Common JavaScript
Choose Web when the automated task will run in a Web browser. You can then select one of the following Web code options:
• JavaScript
• Common JavaScript

To create shared action notes

A shared action note is found only in multilingual databases and acts as a folder for shared actions of one language. Each shared action note in a database contains the same actions. The difference between the shared action notes is the language and the region to which they are set.

To create shared action notes in a multilingual database:

1. At the Design tab of the Database Properties box, check "Multilingual database" so that the database is set as a multilingual database.

2. Click Shared Code in the Design pane.

3. Click Actions. At least one collapsible shared action note appears.

4. Select the shared action note and choose Design - Design Properties. The Design Document Properties box appears.

5. At the Design tab, select the language and the corresponding region, if any, for all the actions contained in this shared action note (for example, Portuguese as the language and Brazil as the region).

6. For each new shared action note, set the language and region and make sure the note contains the same shared actions as are found in the other shared action notes in this database.

7. Right click each shared action to check its Action ID. The Shared Actions Properties box appears. At the Action Info tab for each shared action:

• Make sure each shared action in a shared action note has a different Action ID.
• Make sure the Action ID for a shared action is the same across shared action notes. For example, if a Cancel action contained in the Danish shared action note is set to Action ID 16, the Cancel action contained in the Turkish shared action note should also be set to Action ID 16.

1. Select the shared action note.

2. Choose Edit - Delete.

Note When you delete a shared action note, you delete all the shared actions it contains.

To insert a shared action

1. Open the view, folder, form, subform, or page where you want to use the shared action.

2. Choose Create - Action - Insert Shared Action. The Insert Shared Action dialog box appears.

3. Select a shared action and click Insert for each shared action you want to insert. Each shared action is added to the Action pane and also to the Objects list for the design element.

4. Click Done when you are finished inserting shared actions.

5. In the Info List, you can click Objects and select an action, or select an action in the Action pane.

The next time you use the view, folder, form, subform, or page, the shared action is available.

To edit shared actions

To edit a shared action, open the database with the shared action. Click Shared Code, then Actions, and then double-click the shared action you want to edit. The Shared Action Properties box appears.

See Also

Adding automation to applications
Actions
Creating a form, subform, page, or view action

Glossary