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Action definitions configure actions in the UI. The action has a name which is the name of the definition content node. The action is identified by this name within a certain scope, such as within a subapp. 

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Example: addContact action definition in Contacts app. A user can execute the action in the action bar or in the action popup. When the action is executed, the detail subapp is launched.

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subApps:
  browser:
    subAppClass: info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.browser.BrowserSubApp
    class: info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.browser.BrowserSubAppDescriptor
    actions:
      addContact:
        appName: contacts
        class: info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.detail.action.CreateItemActionDefinition
        subAppId: detail
        label: New contact  
        nodeType: mgnl:contact
        icon: icon-add-item   

You can use these properties with all actions.

Properties:

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class

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label

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required

Label displayed to users in the action bar or context menu.

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implementationClass

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optional

The implementation class executes the action. A default implementation class is typically hard-coded in the definition class. You only need to add this property if you want to override the default implementation, for example to perform some extra validation on a saved value.

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appName

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optional

Name of the app to launch when executing this action. This property works together with the subAppId property. They tell where the action takes place. For example, the addContact action takes place in the detail subapp of the contacts app. The detail subapp displays a form that allows the user to fill in the contact's details. Set the property value to the app name given in app configuration.

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subAppId

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optional

Name of the subapp to open when executing the action.

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icon

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optional

CSS class that identifies an icon font used on the action. See Icons.

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i18nBasename

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optional

Message bundle such as com.example.apps.messages . You don't need to set this property if your message bundle is in the i18n directory inside the module (best practice). Magnolia will find the bundle automatically. Only set the property if you put the bundle somewhere else.

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dialogName

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optional

Dialog to open when the action is executed. A dialog is an alternative to editing items in an editor. Identify the dialog using syntax  <module name>:<dialog name> , for example pages:editPage . This property applies only to actions that open dialogs (OpenCreateDialogActionDefinition and OpenEditDialogActionDefinition ).

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nodeType

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optional

Node type the action creates or operates on. This property is needed if the action calls a dialog. The nodeType property tells the dialog what node type it should operate on. When the action is executed in a detail app the property is not needed because the /browser/contentConnector/nodeType/<node type name>/name property already defines the node type.

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<action definition specific properties>

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required/optional

Some action definition classes support additional properties. For example ConfirmActionDefinition allows you to set messages and labels and DownloadBinaryActionDefinition supports file name and extension properties. See Javadocs for additional properties.

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availability

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optional

Defines whether the action is permitted on the selected item. See Action availability.

Command actions

• An action can trigger a command.
• Commands are used to perform more complicated tasks. For example, the activate command publishes content from the author instance to public instances and versions the content.
• Each command action used in the UI has its own action definition class that extends

  Javadoc resource link
  rangeHigherVersion 5.7 className info.magnolia.ui.api.action.CommandActionDefinition renderType asynchronous

   .
• If you want to implement your own command, please create your own action definition class that extends

  Javadoc resource link
  rangeHigherVersion 5.7 className info.magnolia.ui.api.action.CommandActionDefinition renderType asynchronous

   . Please also create your own action implementation class that extends

  Javadoc resource link
  rangeHigherVersion 5.7 className info.magnolia.ui.framework.action.AbstractCommandAction renderType asynchronous

   .

Commands can perform duties within Magnolia or connect to external resources. A command may be a long-running process. Additional properties allow you to control whether command actions are run asynchronously without blocking of the UI.

Example: activate action definition in Contacts app.

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browser:
  actions:
    activate:
      command: activate
      icon: icon-publish
      catalog: versioned
      class: info.magnolia.ui.framework.action.ActivationActionDefinition
      label: Publish

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versioned

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info.magnolia.ui.framework.action.ActivationActionDefinition

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activate

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icon-publish

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Publish

You can use these properties for command actions in addition to the general action properties.

Properties:

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command

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required

The name of the command.

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catalog

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optional , default is default

Name of the catalog where the command resides. You only need this property if you implement a command that has the same name as an existing command such as activate .

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asynchronous

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optional , default is false

Runs a command asynchronously in the background. This is useful for long-running commands. An asynchronous process doesn't block the UI and the user can continue to work. To run a command asynchronously, set this property to true . See also delay and parallel .

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notifyUser

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optional, default is true

Defines whether the user should be notified in the Notifications app when an asynchronous action completes. Use together with the asynchronous property.

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timeToWait

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optional, default is 5000 milliseconds

Number of milliseconds the UI should remain blocked until the user is notified that an asynchronous action will complete in the background. Use together with the asynchronous property.

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delay

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optional , default is 1 second

Number of seconds to wait before invoking the command. Use together with the asynchronous property.

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parallel

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optional , default is true

Defines whether starting multiple instances of the same action in parallel is allowed. Use together with the asynchronous property. Useful for preventing the user from starting several long-running commands. Default allows parallel actions. When you set the property to false the system will display an error when the user attempts to run the same action again while the first action is still running.

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recursive

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optional, default is false

This property is specific to the Publish action. It defines whether the action can be executed recursively. Set to true to allow recursive publication.

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modifiedOnly

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optional, default is false

This property is specific to the Publish action. It publishes only nodes that are modified or never published. It excludes nodes that are already published. Use this property to make recursive publishing faster as it eliminates already-published nodes.

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parentNodeTypeOnly

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optional, default is false

This property is specific to the Restore previous item action. Set to true to restore all descendants with the same node type as the parent node.

You can use these properties with all actions.

Properties:

Command actions

• An action can trigger a command.
• Commands are used to perform more complicated tasks. For example, the activate command publishes content from the author instance to public instances and versions the content.
• Each command action used in the UI has its own action definition class that extends

  Javadoc resource link
  rangeHigherVersion 5.7 className info.magnolia.ui.api.action.CommandActionDefinition renderType asynchronous

   .
• If you want to implement your own command, please create your own action definition class that extends

  Javadoc resource link
  rangeHigherVersion 5.7 className info.magnolia.ui.api.action.CommandActionDefinition renderType asynchronous

   . Please also create your own action implementation class that extends

  Javadoc resource link
  rangeHigherVersion 5.7 className info.magnolia.ui.framework.action.AbstractCommandAction renderType asynchronous

   .

Commands can perform duties within Magnolia or connect to external resources. A command may be a long-running process. Additional properties allow you to control whether command actions are run asynchronously without blocking of the UI.

Example: activate action definition in Contacts app.

browser:
  actions:
    activate:
      command: activate
      icon: icon-publish
      catalog: versioned
      class: info.magnolia.ui.framework.action.ActivationActionDefinition
      label: Publish

You can use these properties for command actions in addition to the general action properties.

Properties:

Asynchronous actions

Setting the asynchronous property to true allows you to run a command action asynchronously in the background. Use this feature for long-running actions that would otherwise block the user interface and prevent the user from continuing their work.

When a user launches an asynchronous action, Magnolia starts to execute the action immediately. If the action does not complete in the next five seconds, the system notifies the user that the action will take a while to complete. The execution continues in the background while the user can work on something else. The system informs the user when the action succeeds or fails. In case of failure a message in the Notifications app may refer to a log file for more detail.

Publish recursively and Delete action run asynchronously by default. These actions involve versioning of content and can be time consuming.

Action definition classes

You can use these common classes in your action definition. They all implement the 

General actions:

Asynchronous actions

Setting the asynchronous property to true allows you to run a command action asynchronously in the background. Use this feature for long-running actions that would otherwise block the user interface and prevent the user from continuing their work.

When a user launches an asynchronous action, Magnolia starts to execute the action immediately. If the action does not complete in the next five seconds, the system notifies the user that the action will take a while to complete. The execution continues in the background while the user can work on something else. The system informs the user when the action succeeds or fails. In case of failure a message in the Notifications app may refer to a log file for more detail.

Publish recursively and Delete action run asynchronously by default. These actions involve versioning of content and can be time consuming.

Action definition classes

You can use these common classes in your action definition. They all implement the 

General actions:

Command actions:

Command actions:

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Reusing an action

Reuse the existing Magnolia actions in your own app. Many actions are so basic that you can just copy the action definition. Some actions have their own properties. You may need to set them for the action to work.

Example: The DownloadBinaryActionDefinition allows you to download a binary node from the repository to your computer. This action is available in the Assets app by default where the user can download images from the dam workspace. In this example we use the same action in the Contacts app to download a contact photo.

Image Added

Example: Download binary action definition:

downloadContactPhoto:
  binaryNodeName: photo
  icon: icon-download
  class: info.magnolia.ui.framework.action.

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Reusing an action

Reuse the existing Magnolia actions in your own app. Many actions are so basic that you can just copy the action definition. Some actions have their own properties. You may need to set them for the action to work.

Example: The DownloadBinaryActionDefinition allows you to download a binary node from the repository to your computer. This action is available in the Assets app by default where the user can download images from the dam workspace. In this example we use the same action in the Contacts app to download a contact photo.

Image Removed

Example: Download binary action definition:

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DownloadBinaryActionDefinition
  label: Download photo

Properties:

Contact exported to XML, helps you find the property names:

<sv:node sv:name="photo">
  <sv:property sv:name="jcr:primaryType" sv:type="Name">
    <sv:value>mgnl:resource</sv:value>
  </sv:property>
  <sv:property sv:name="jcr:uuid" sv:type="String">
    <sv:value>ed5f5ed0-26fc-4c43-8d63-21aca30ca151</sv:value>
  </sv:property>
  <sv:property sv:name="extension" sv:type="String">
    <sv:value>jpg</sv:value>
  </sv:property>
  <sv:property sv:name="fileName" sv:type="String">
    <sv:value>vangogh</sv:value>
  </sv:property>
  <sv:property sv:name="height" sv:type="Long">
    <sv:value>479</sv:value>
  </sv:property>
  <sv:property sv:name="jcr:data" sv:type="Binary">
    <sv:value>/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEASABIAAD

Action availability

Action availability defines whether the action is permitted on the selected item. For example, the addCategory  action below is permitted when:

• The selected item is a category, meaning you can create subcategories.
• The selected item is a folder.
• At the root level of the workspace, meaning you can create a category without selecting an item.
• The selected item is not marked for deletion.

You can add multiple availability rule classes. See the example below. The rules parent node contains subnodes, one for each rule. The rules are combined with a logical AND operator. Each rule must have the implementationClass property which points directly to the rule class.

actions:
  addCategory:
    availability:
      nodes: true
      root: true
      nodeTypes:
        category: mgnl:category
        folder: mgnl: folder
      rules:
        - name: isNotDeletedRule
          implementationClass: 

downloadContactPhoto:
  binaryNodeName: photo
  icon: icon-download
  class: info.magnolia.ui.framework.action.DownloadBinaryActionDefinition
  label: Download photo

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photo

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info.magnolia.ui.framework.action.DownloadBinaryActionDefinition

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icon-download

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Download photo

Properties:

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binaryNodeName

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optional, default is binaryNodeName

Subnode that holds the binary property. Export a content item into XML to find the name, see example below.

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dataProperty

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optional, default is jcr:data

Property that holds the binary data, usually right below the binary node in the exported XML.

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fileNameProperty

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optional, default is fileName

Property that holds the file name of the binary.

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extensionProperty

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optional, default is extension

Property that holds the file name extension of the binary.

Contact exported to XML, helps you find the property names:

<sv:node sv:name="photo">
  <sv:property sv:name="jcr:primaryType" sv:type="Name">
    <sv:value>mgnl:resource</sv:value>
  </sv:property>
  <sv:property sv:name="jcr:uuid" sv:type="String">
    <sv:value>ed5f5ed0-26fc-4c43-8d63-21aca30ca151</sv:value>
  </sv:property>
  <sv:property sv:name="extension" sv:type="String">
    <sv:value>jpg</sv:value>
  </sv:property>
  <sv:property sv:name="fileName" sv:type="String">
    <sv:value>vangogh</sv:value>
  </sv:property>
  <sv:property sv:name="height" sv:type="Long">
    <sv:value>479</sv:value>
  </sv:property>
  <sv:property sv:name="jcr:data" sv:type="Binary">
    <sv:value>/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEASABIAAD

Action availability

Action availability defines whether the action is permitted on the selected item. For example, the addCategory  action below is permitted when:

• The selected item is a category, meaning you can create subcategories.
• The selected item is a folder.
• At the root level of the workspace, meaning you can create a category without selecting an item.
• The selected item is not marked for deletion.

You can add multiple availability rule classes. See the example below. The rules parent node contains subnodes, one for each rule. The rules are combined with a logical AND operator. Each rule must have the implementationClass property which points directly to the rule class.

info.magnolia.ui.api.availability.IsNotDeletedRule

        - name: anotherRule
          implementationClass: com.your.customapp.app.action.

availability.AnotherAvailabilityRule

actions:
  addCategory:
    availability:
      nodes: true
      root: true
      nodeTypes:
        category: mgnl:category
        folder: mgnl: folder
      rules:
        - name: isNotDeletedRule
          implementationClass: info.magnolia.ui.api.availability.IsNotDeletedRule
        - name: anotherRule
          implementationClass: com.your.customapp.app.action.availability.AnotherAvailabilityRule

Properties:

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Actions on multiple items

Action availability defines whether an action can be executed on multiple items. Delete, move, publish and unpublish are examples of actions that can be executed on multiple items. Actions that extend AbstractMultiItemAction can handle multiple items. By default, the delete action is available for multiple items in all content apps.

Example:  activate  action supporting multiple items:

Actions on multiple items

Action availability defines whether an action can be executed on multiple items. Delete, move, publish and unpublish are examples of actions that can be executed on multiple items. Actions that extend AbstractMultiItemAction can handle multiple items. By default, the delete action is available for multiple items in all content apps.

Example:  activate  action supporting multiple items:

info.magnolia.ui.framework.action.ActivationActionDefinition

    command: activate
    icon: icon-publish
    availability:
      multiple: true

actions:
  activate:
    catalog: versioned
    class: 

actions:
  activate:
    catalog: versioned
    class: info.magnolia.ui.framework.action.ActivationActionDefinition
    command: activate
    icon: icon-publish
    availability:
      multiple: true

Properties:

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