Actions is a Spotfire concept that offers a wide range of possibilities to perform tasks from within an analysis, and can also include tasks that affect external systems. The actions can be added to text areas and visualizations, and they are initiated using various controls or triggers. For example, you can create actions that control the workflow through an analysis, run scripts, or let people send data externally. That is, the contents of the actions can differ a lot, and in addition, the way they are added differs depending on the context.
Actions
that perform tasks within an analysis
These actions can be triggered from text areas or from some visualizations.
Text area buttons and links are provided that can initiate tasks like
application of bookmarks, navigation workflows, or execution of data
functions and scripts. These types of actions can also be defined
in KPI charts and graphical tables. You can also add triggers performing
certain actions in all visualizations. Scripts can be added as a part
of an analysis. If the scripts are packaged together as actions in
an action mod, they can be signed
and shared as a part of the mods framework. Script actions can be
added to links, images or buttons in text areas, they can be triggered
when a document property is changed, or they can be triggered when
you are clicking on a graphical item in a visualization.
For more information on how to create such actions, see How
to Use the Text Area and Adding
an Action Trigger to a Visualization.
Actions
that perform tasks involving external systems
Your findings in a visualization might sometimes make you want
to take an action in another system. For example, you might want to
send certain information and data that you see to another application.
Such external actions can be triggered directly from a visualization.
A configurator defines which triggers should be available in
the visualizations, and what information the action should send. Anyone
opening the analysis can potentially use the configured action trigger
to send data. Before you give approval to send any data externally,
you can review it.
See Adding
a New External Action to an Analysis for more information about
external actions.