Creating Actions and Data Types Using Create Action

Create Action is a tool for creating:

• An action to start an application

• One or more data types for an application's data files

• Actions for opening and printing the application's data files

Create Action is also useful for creating simple actions for running operating system commands and shell scripts.

• "What Create Action Does"

• "Limitations of Create Action"

• "Creating an Action and Data Type for an Application with Create Action"

For reference information, see the dtcreate(1X) man page.

What Create Action Does

Create Action includes a main window and a set of dialog boxes for creating an action and its associated data types.

Create Action does the following:

• Creates an action definition that runs a command.

• Creates a file HomeDirectory/.dt/types/action_name.dt. This file stores the action and data type definitions created for the application.

• Creates an action file in the user's home directory. The action file is an executable file with the same name as the action.

  The action file's representation in File Manager is called an application icon because double-clicking it starts the application.

  Optionally, you can make the action icon a drop zone by specifying dropable data types when you create the action.

• Creates one or more data types for the application's data files (optional).

• Creates an Open action for each data type.

• Creates a Print action for each data type (optional).

• Reloads the database of actions and data types. This makes the actions and data types take effect immediately.

Limitations of Create Action

Create Action is designed to create actions and data types for running applications. However, actions and data types are very flexible, and include additional functionality that can only be accessed if you create the definitions manually.

For more information, see:

• Chapter 12, Creating Actions Manually

• Chapter 13, Creating Data Types Manually

Action Limitations

You cannot use Create Action to create the action for an application if any of the following conditions are true:

• The command line requires a non-file argument (parameter).

  For example, you cannot use Create Action to write an action for the command:

	lp -ddevice filename

where the user has to supply device each time the command is executed.

• The application icon must have a different label than the action name.

  For example, you cannot use Create Action to provide a local-language version of an existing action.

• The action requires any of the advanced features of the action database.

  Examples of these advanced features are actions that:

  • Launch commands on systems remote from the action definition

  • Invoke other actions

  • Must be run as a different user (for example, as superuser)

  • Make extensive use of the ``map'' feature

  • Have very different behaviors depending on the number of file arguments supplied to the action