Action Element (WorkflowInfo)

Applies to: SharePoint Foundation 2010

Contains the information that is needed for the workflow engine to process a workflow activity, which is called an action in Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010. A workflow Action element represents a workflow activity, such as sending email notifications, updating SharePoint Foundation 2010 list items, creating and assigning tasks, and many other activities.

By default, SharePoint Foundation 2010 provides 23 built-in workflow actions. These are defined in the WSS.ACTIONS file.

<Actions>
    <Action>
        <Parameters>
        </Parameters>
        <RuleDesigner>
        </RuleDesigner>
        <DataSources>
        </DataSources>
        <Modifications>
            <Modification>
            </Modification>
        </Modifications>
        <ActionVariables>
        </ActionVariables>
        <ActionBody>
        </ActionBody>
        <ActionConditions>
        </ActionConditions>
    </Action>
</Actions>

Attributes

Attribute	Description
Name	Required text. Represents the description of the workflow action that is displayed to the workflow editor.
ClassName	Required text. Fully qualified name of the class that implements the workflow action; for example, Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions.EmailActivity.
Assembly	Required text. The Microsoft .NET assembly name that contains instructions to implement the Action element. The text should include the PublicKeyToken, Version, and Culture.
FunctionName	Optional text. For sandboxed solutions, specifies the name of a function to call.
Category	Optional text. Provides a category for the workflow action. This text is used to filter the list of available actions.
CreatesTask	Optional Boolean. If set to true, a task list item is created in the workflow. If left blank, the assumption is false, and no task list items are created.
CreatesInList	Optional text. If a value is set for this attribute, the workflow creates an item in a list. Values must map to a parameter name that contains the ID of the list or document library.
AppliesTo	Required text. Indicates whether this workflow action should be available for lists, document libraries, or both. Valid values include list, doclib, and all.
IsError	Optional Boolean. If set to true, instances of this Action element are considered an error by the client application.
ListModeration	Optional Boolean. If set to true, this Action element applies to a list or document library that has content approval enabled. If left blank, the assumption is false.
UsesCurrentItem	Optional Boolean. If set to true, indicates that the current item should be used or modified. If set to false or left blank, this Action element uses only the SharePoint list or document library item that is specified.
CreatedTaskFormType	Optional text. Specifies the type of a created task: DataCollectTask to create a task that collects data from one user; GroupAssignedTask to create a task that collects data from one or more users; TodoItemTask to create a task that does not collect data from users but only exists for a user to validate that they have done something; or TaskProcess to create a task that has a form that allows for ad-hoc collaboration and might collect data from one or more users.
__SolutionId	Optional text. Specifies a GUID that the client application writes to the implementation-specific action. The server uses the GUID to help locate the assembly at run time of the workflow.
SandboxedFunction	Optional Boolean. If set to true, the client application inserts an implementation-specific action when this action is selected. The action should be configured to call a function defined by the conjunction of AssemblyName, ClassName, and FunctionName. If set, AssemblyName, ClassName, FunctionName, and __SolutionId must also be set.

Child Elements

Parameters RuleDesigner DataSources Modifications ActionVariables ActionBody ActionConditions

Parent Elements

Actions

Example

The following code example demonstrates how to construct an Action element so that it is displayed in the workflow editor. Note that this XML has been modified for readability.

<WorkflowInfo>
  <Conditions>…</Conditions>
  <Actions Sequential="then" Parallel="and">
    <Action Name="Update my custom SharePoint list"
            ClassName="CustomActivities.OrderListFunctions"
            Assembly="CustomActivities,      
                      PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, 
                      Version=1.0.0.0, 
                      Culture=neutral"
            Category="My Custom Actions"
            CreatesTask="true"
            CreatesInList="UpdateList"
            AppliesTo="all"
            ListModeration="false"
            UsesCurrentItem="true">
      <RuleDesigner Sentence="Update %1">
        <FieldBind Field="UpdateList"
                   Function="UpdateOrderList"
                   DesignerType="ChooseListItem"
                   ID="1"
                   Text="My Custom List">
        </FieldBind>
      </RuleDesigner>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Type="System.String, mscorlib"
                   Direction="In"
                   Name="UpdateList"
        </Parameters>
    </Action>
  </Actions>
</WorkflowInfo>

See Also

Tasks

.ACTIONS File Example

Concepts

Creating Declarative, No-Code Workflow Editors

Default Workflow Actions

Default Workflow Conditions

WorkflowInfo Schema and WorkflowActions Schema Overview