Home

Action(s)

1. 2006 2009 The Apache Software Foundation http james apache org Datafile Copyright 2004 Infomata http datafile sourceforge net Dnsjava Copyright 1999 2009 Brian Wellington http www dnsjava org Various part of the Jakarta Project Copyright 1999 2009 The Apache Software Foundation http jakarta apache org JavaBeans Activation Framework Copyright 2006 2007 Sun Microsystems Inc http java sun com javase technologies desktop javabeans jaf index jsp JavaMail Copyright 2006 2009 Sun Microsystems Inc http java sun com products javamail SwingX Copyright 2005 Sun Microsystems Inc and contributors http swinglabs org Content COn eNt s sn ionammieniemnmsiinnstenatanmioienuisanase 3 Introducing ACHON S sessions ccmussaseneusmsenionce 5 System FEQUIFEMENKES ss ssuncacssmsesereneresmsstenemrmsneennnnienceseema 6 InstallatiO sii ss en idiots n 8 RESOUFCES ah ses asarda E raie cuits A A 9 W ODSI Cys P E A E 9 BIO A E E E E A 9 VOCH SPECS arreter ee dar en 9 Mailing LIST LR Dita ani nt hanm side louer dt ei 10 Feedback and Bug R pOrtingsssssssssssssnsscsrenmmmsensteeenateenni nennse 10 Software UCAS cmsccutrnnraneninihiademeiudrucinnuniedtenambadedniuonanens 10 Chapter 1 An overview Of ACtiOn S scssseesseneeeeseeeas 11 Workflow actions variables The concepts behind Action s 11 ACUONS RER te berdeaeeeseudertenien teense 11 Work lOM seesivnee undue sarneesie
2. buttons Run Step and Stop With these buttons you can have more control over the execution of the workflow you are currently building The Run button starts the workflow The Step button also starts the workflow but executes only the first action and then pauses the workflow You can then resume the workflow by pressing Run or Step The Stop button stops the workflow during its execution However a workflow cannot be stopped in the middle of an action execution If you press the Stop button the workflow will stop only when the current action is complete Next time you press the start button the workflow will commence from the first action When a workflow is running a new button Pause replaces the Start button Pressing this button will pause the workflow after the current action execution is complete You can then resume the workflow by pressing Resume or Step 25 Chapter 3 Saving and re opening workflows Saving and re opening a workflow When you have created a workflow you can save it in order to be able to re use it later Simply click on the Save button in the top left hand corner of the window and specify the location of your workflow file Workflow files always end with wkfl You can re open your workflow later by double clicking on the file it will automatically start Action s or by launching Action s and clicking on the Open button in the top left corner of the window Executable workflows You wil
3. can imagine opening a file printing a document resizing a picture sending an email and even for things that you cannot imagine Actions can wait for data as an input and can generate an output For example an action that applies a filter on an image will expect to receive images as an input And as an output it will return the new images processed with the filter By ordering your actions in the workflow you can make sure that the result of one action is the input of the next one Action s comes with dozens of actions that correspond to the most common things you might want to do with your computer And if this is not enough the Action s website is a gold mine of new actions that you can use in your workflows Visit http app jbbres com actions more to discover and download new actions If you have some knowledge of software development you can create your own actions easily and share them with the rest of the world Visit http app jbbres com actions developers for more information 11 Workflow With Action s you can create workflows Workflows are sequences of actions that are executed in a defined order Each action starts when the previous one has finished so you can picture your workflow as a journey where each step is an action When you reach the last action the workflow is complete and ends Workflows are stored in files with the wkfl extension If you double click on a workflow file it will automa
4. expects from the previous action input and what it will send to the next action result The workflow pane If all the actions in the library are the ingredients for your workflow the workflow pane is the recipe This is where you put all your actions in the order that you want them to be executed with the specific settings for each one But the workflow pane is much more From this pane you can also see what information is going to be sent from one action to the next creating an information flow 15 Action name Remove from the workflow Lo C Show when running the workflow Balloon Paradise jpg Balls Collection jpg Add Remove Christmas decorations jpg Christmas Nature jpg RTS j Christmas Sledge jpg pe a Christmas tree ipq Cone and Line jpg Golden Balls jpg jp A v f Execution successfull sult Balloon Paradise jpg Balls Collection jpg Christmas decorations jpq iO Hide Display the result Result of the action Status of the action This picture shows what a single action looks like in the workflow pane When you drag an action from the actions column into the workflow pane the other actions already in the workflow move around to make room for it When you release the mouse button the dropped action appears in the workflow pane Tip If you double click on an action in the actions column this action is automatically added at the end of the workflow pan
5. is Image Files It is the name give by Action s to let you know that once the action is executed it will send a list of image files to the next action Step 3 Copy Files You will find this action in the Files and Folders category This is a very important action it makes a copy of the specified files and folders in our case the one defined during step 2 in order to make sure that you will not overwrite the originals To specify in which folder you would like 19 Tip The workflow that we are creating will always be executed on the files that you provided in the Get Pictures action But you can also check the show when running the workflow box and Action s will ask you each time you execute the workflow which files you would like to use This is much more useful than always applying the same filter to the same pictures the copies to be stored choose from the combo box or select other and manually choose any folder on your computer Here again you can have Action s ask you where you want to store the files while running the workflow so that you can choose a different destination each time Simply check the show when running the workflow option Now every time you execute the workflow a dialog window will appear to ask you where you want the newly duplicated files to be stored Step 4 Apply Filter to Image File This action that you can find in the Images category applies a fil
6. Action s User Manual app jbbres com Edited and written by Jean Baptiste Br s Copyright 2010 app jbbres com All rights reserved The owner or authorized user of a valid copy of Action s software may reproduce this publication for the purpose of learning to use such software No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes such as selling copies of this publication or for providing paid for support services Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is accurate app jbbres com is not responsible for printing or clerical errors Because Action s frequently releases new versions and updates to its applications and Internet sites images shown in this book may be slightly different from what you see on your screen Information in this document including URL and other Internet Web site references is subject to change without notice Other company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective companies Mention of third party products is for informational purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation app jbbres com assumes no responsibility with regard to the performance or use of these products ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Action s uses portions of the following open source frameworks and code Aspirin Copyright 2009 Kate Rhodes http github com masukomi aspirin including some part of the James Project Copyright
7. ane For each variable the variable pane shows e The variable name it is the easiest way to identify the variable Each variable has a different name You can change the name by double clicking on it in the variable pane and entering a new name that will help you remember what this variable is used for For example original file or picture description 23 e The variable type each variable can store different types of data For example files text or date The variable type lets you know what type of data is being stored e The variable value this field displays the current information stored in the variable If you want to remove a variable from the workflow right click on it in the variable pane and choose Delete variable Setting and getting variable value in the workflow If you want to use the value stored in a variable during the workflow execution simply drag the variable from the variable pane into the workflow pane A new action like element will appear in your workflow This element will send the content of the variable to the next action in the workflow When you add storage variables to the workflow an option box will appear Set the result of the previous action as the new value of the variable If you check this option the value returned by the previous action will be stored in the variable If the variable already has a value stored in it the old value will be erased The value stored in a syst
8. e 16 Chapter 2 Creating workflows Create a workflow an example In order to show you how to use Action s and how powerful the application is we will now create a very simple workflow If you like photography you know how complicated it can be to add a simple effect such as a black and white filter to your pictures and how it can take a very long time to do so if you want to apply it to a lot of pictures Well with Action s you can do all of this very easily and in less than a minute 17 000 Action s designed by app jbbres com z WF 00e Run Step Stop Ask for Confirmation Message Message 1 ry This example workflow will copy four desktop picture images to a location you W choose apply a quartz composition filter you choose and open the processed 4 images as collection in Preview OK Cancel Get Pictures C Show when running the workflow o a m A B Parana sey Salis Collection jpg Christmas decorations jpg Christmas Nature jpg ge RYE Christmas Sledge jpg Christmas tree iog Cone and Line jpg Golden Balls jpg _ en Getting started x The library above displays all the Create New Folder variables LJ Show when running the workflow Name Processed images your choice will be displayed jbbre To add an action or a variable to in ld the workflow drag it to the workflow area Step 1 Ask for a confirmation In the Other ca
9. em variable cannot be modified Some actions already have variables built into them For example the Copy Files action allows you to choose a file variable as a value for its copy to parameter If you add a New File or Folder variable into your workflow it will automatically be added to the copy to list box of the Copy Files action For some other actions for example the Ask for Confirmation action or the Show Message action you can drag a text variable into the text fields or text panes in order to use the variable content The variable name will appear between signs and will be replaced by the variable content during the workflow execution 24 Tip If something goes wrong and the workflow stops before all the actions have been executed the problematic action will have a red sign in bottom left corner Click on it to see what went wrong Tip You can also use the keyword shortcuts to run and control the execution of your workflow click F9 to start the workflow CTRL F9 cmd F9 on Mac for running only the next step F10 to pause and F11 to stop Running the workflow You can now try to execute the workflow by clicking on the Run button in the top right hand corner of the application window You can see the actions being performed one after the other When an action ends a green sign appears in the bottom left corner of the action In the top right section of the window you can find three
10. f it you can find the action icon and the action name On the top right a close button allows you to remove the action from the workflow The central section of the box is specific to each action In this section you can define the settings that will influence the behaviour of the action during the execution 21 Once you have run the action at least once a new section appears at the bottom of the box it display the result of the last execution including the status success or error and if any the result that has been sent to the next action Input and output As we saw it previously actions can receive inputs and generate outputs The output of an action is passed as input to the next one creating a flow of data that is enriched and updated action after action When two subsequent actions are compatible meaning that the output of the first action can be use as input of the next one Action s notify you by creating a link between the two actions If the result of the first action is not compatible with the input of the second one for example your first action returns a date and the second expect a file or if the first action does not provide any output or the second does not accept any input no link is created between the two actions This meant that the flow will stop there and all the data will not be sent to the following actions A link between two actions No link between the actions Using variables Variab
11. l for the job System requirements The system requirements for Action s are Mac OS version Mac OS X 10 5 Leopard or later 256 Mo ram Windows version Windows XP Windows Vista Windows 7 or later Java SE 6 or later 256 Mo ram Additional notes about system requirements Action s is built on a modern foundation that takes advantage of the latest computer technologies And while you can rest assured that the application will work without any performance glitches on your computer it is still good to know which systems Action s relies on Operating System Action s has been created to be a multi platform tool it can run on Mac OS Windows or any operating system that supports Java SE 6 All Action s functionalities are available on all platforms however you might encounter some slight cosmetic differences between versions Java Java s technological versatility efficiency platform portability and security make it the ideal technology for Action s This application has been built for Java SE 6 It might work well with Java SE 5 but some features like Click and drag tools and some pre designed actions do not work or are limited when running the application Java SE 5 In addition the majority of performance improvements are available only with Java SE 6 For more information about Java please visit http www java com Java Web Start Java Web Start allows you to download and run applications from the web The Ja
12. l notice that when you open a regular workflow it automatically opens in the main Action s window so that it can be easily modified and or executed However when your workflow is running properly you might want to execute it without having to go through the main window This is what the executable workflows are made for just being able to run the workflow without any intermediary steps In contrast to regular workflows when you open an executable workflow by double clicking on it it does not open the main Action s window the workflow is automatically executed This is very useful when you are using a workflow every day To create an executable workflow select File gt Create an executable workflow and then specify the location of your executable workflow Executable workflows always carry the ending wexe To start an executable workflow simply double click on it 26
13. les are memorized info chunks that you can reuse in an Action s workflow exactly as in real programming languages You can see the 22 Tip If you want to store data but you are not sure what kind it is use the New Storage variable it can store any data whatever it is available variables by clicking on the Variables category in the library panel Action s comes with a lot of useful variables covering different type of data such as date files and text but we can distinguish two major types of variables e Storage variables The variables with a blue icon are storage variables they can be used to store data temporarily Later on in the workflow you can re access the data by getting the value of the variable e System variables The variables with a purple icon are system variables their content is defined automatically by Action s and might change from one computer to another or from one execution to another For example you can find a system variable pointing to the document folder of the user or the current date and time The variable pane If you want to use a variable in the workflow double click on the variable to select it You will notice that a new area will appear at the bottom of the workflow pane this is the variable pane The variable pane displays all the information you need regarding the variable available in your workflow Every time you add a new variable to the workflow it will appear in this p
14. rified M Allow all applications from app jbbres com with this signature Show Details Deny Now that you have installed Action s it s time to launch in on your computer You will find the program in your Start menu Windows or in your Applications folder Mac Resources Though this manual is a good starting point for learning how to use Action s there are many more resources available to you Website The Action s website is all about Action s It features lots of up to date information about the application including new and updated features development news and tutorials Technical support for new and registered users is also available via the Action s website at http app jbbres com actions Blog One of the most entertaining and fun places on the Action s website is the blog at http app jbbres com blog which is written by the developers One can find articles about the development process of Action s tutorials tips and tricks inside information about developers press releases descriptions of upcoming features and many interesting happenings in the Action s world Tech Specs An in depth list of available features and technologies used in Action s can be found at http app jbbres com actions specs Mailing List You can subscribe to the Action s s mailing list at http app jbbres com subscribe to be the first to hear about new releases and special offers from
15. s 26 Executable Workflows sims ontarien de avineererels 26 Introducing Action s D Pa Keene rt ar dite LE Action s lets you build workflows that accomplish manual chores quickly efficiently and effortlessly You don t have to know scripting languages or write any code Instead you create and execute automation workflows simply by dragging and dropping each individual step action of a process It s like creating a kitchen recipe Action s is Simple Action s comes with dozens of prebuilt actions that you can use to populate your workflows For example say you want to resize dozens of images and send them to your friends by email By dragging individual actions into a new workflow you tell Action s which files to resize how big to make them where to save them and who to send them to Then you run the workflow and within minutes all the images are in your friends inboxes There s no limit to what you can do Add more actions and you can do even more You can save your workflows to use again and even share them with friends regardless of the operating system they are using Action s is Powerful Action s can do in seconds and minutes what would take you hours to do manually It gives you direct access to and control of all the functionalities of your computer file management photo editing Internet emails When you have to tackle complex or repetitive tasks Action s is the right too
16. space you can hide the library pane by choosing Window gt Library You can bring the toolbar back by choosing Window gt Library again Tip To see all the actions available on your computer click on Actions in the library column e New Open Save These buttons control the creation opening and saving of workflows e Run Step Stop These buttons control playback of the workflow you re building The library pane The Library pane is the entire left section of the Action s window It includes the library list the information box and the list of actions or variables list All of these are described below Library list The library column displays categories of actions and variables that you can use within your workflow Files Images Text When you choose a category the action column displays all the actions corresponding to it Actions list This column displays the content of the category you have selected in the library column For example if you select Images in the library the actions column will show you all the actions related to image manipulation available on your computer In order to create your workflow you can drag and drop the actions from this list into the workflow Information box The information box displays all the useful information on how to use your actions When you click on an action in the actions column this box 14 displays what the action does what type of data it
17. tegory look for the Ask for Confirmation action and add it into the workflow by dragging it into the workflow pane or by double clicking on it This action will be displayed during the execution of the workflow A dialog box will appear telling the user what the workflow is doing 18 Tip if you want the dialog box to display a more shinny message click on the icon on the left side of the action settings and choose a more expressive icon Remember this action can be edited You can not only change the title and the text of the dialog box but also modify the name of the OK and Cancel buttons Process images Process images This example workflow will copy pictures you choose to a new folder named Processed images in your user directory apply an image filter you choose and open the processed images Cancel It is always a good idea to start your own workflow with a dialog box like this one in order to remind you what is going to happen Step 2 Get Pictures You can find this action in the Pictures category Add it to the workflow by dragging it into the workflow pane or by double clicking on it This action allows you to select the pictures that you want your workflow to work on Use the Add and Delete buttons to modify the file list in order to add your own files You can also drop files from your file explorer directly into the list In the information box you might notice that the result of this action
18. ter to the pictures saved during step 3 In our example it will apply a Comic Book effect but you can choose a different filter from the combo box for example you can choose to increase or decrease the contrast Step 5 Display Images This last action from the Images category takes the pictures that we applied the filter to in step 4 and displays them in a special dialog box on your screen From there you can have a look at them rotate them or save them in a new folder Using actions At this stage you should already have a pretty good idea how to use actions into your workflow You can add actions to the workflow either by dragging them from the action list into the workflow pane either but double clicking on the action name in the action list 20 The action box Action name Remove from the workflow Lo C2 Show when running the workflow y Add Remove Il P ise j ion j Balloon Paradise jpg Balls CollectionJpg Christmas decorations jpg Christmas Nature jpg ae Christmas Sledge jpg a Cone and Line jpg Golden Balls jpg p Christmas tree jpq 4 v f Execution successfull sult Balloon Paradise jpg Balls Collection jpg Christmas decorations jpq O1 Hide Display the result Result of the action Status of the action This picture shows how a single action looks like in the workflow pane Once added to the workflow pane an action is displayed in a new box On the top left o
19. the Action s Team Feedback and Bug Reporting Though the Action s developers invest a lot of time and hard work into making sure Action s is a high quality application as with any other software bugs still sometimes find their way into the application This is why it is very important to keep developers informed about any difficulties you are experiencing or any improvements that you think should be made in order to better the application And the sooner developers are informed the faster they can act to fix or improve a feature Feedback about the User Manual you are reading now is also very welcome Use the Report a Bug or Provide Feedback forms at http app jbbres com feedback to let the Action s Team developers know about any bugs or feature requests you have Software Update Because of the advanced technologies that Action s uses you do not need to manually initiate the update of this software When a new version is available it will automatically and transparently be downloaded and installed on your computer 10 Chapter 1 An overview of Action s Workflow actions variables The concepts behind Action s Before going into details let s have a little look at the concepts used in Action s Actions Actions are pre defined tasks each corresponding to a specific functionality of your computer Each action does only one simple thing but it does it very well There are actions for everything you
20. tically open in Action s and be ready to be executed or modified Variables Variables in Action s are very powerful components Variables are memorized info chunks that you can reuse in an Action s workflow exactly as in real programming languages And as always http app jbbres com actions more is the perfect place to find even more variables that can answer all of your needs The interface When you launch Action s the interface opens with a Library pane on the left for selecting actions or variables a workflow pane on the right where you drag the actions to build your workflow and a toolbar at the top 12 Library column Actions column 6 WE New Open Sav Factions ali Files and folders Apply Filter to Image File Text images Wu Ask for Files Internet Ask for Pictures Email Ask for Text Other Variables Getting started 4 The library above displays all the Lal available actions and variables that you can use in your workflow Click on a category and the actions or variables related to your choice will be displayed 1 To add an action or a variable to the workflow drag it to the workflow area Workflow pane LA Report a bug Drag Drag or add actions here to create your workflow Information box The toolbar At the top of the Action s window the toolbar offers six fairly self explanatory buttons From left to right 13 Tip To save screen
21. twe naenksexineesnears ences eenreanivemuenanewes 12 VOA D S EA late iersit ie dentistes ins 12 The interface ancre dns nanas 12 The ODA ou ananas aie im ne mine 13 The library pane cine sense eo rescuenes discut s cducnus 14 Library Saints nennen EREE ARK EERE EREE ERKE EER E ERDEVEN AARTE 14 Actions NS Eer eitus rnnr siy PERKER REEE ERENLER RE elec sienne anus 14 Information DOX visa ierssseurinieutisseuenpsiwts eee teakuesiderieieuussaxaes 14 The workflow Dares santa antennes tain 15 Chapter 2 Creating workflows sssssssnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 17 Create a workflow an example cccccseessccseeeeeseeeeseccenenseceeens 17 Step 1 Ask for a confirmation iciceterseidvreiesresdedideves tensed ee eess 18 Step 3 COBY FES saisine iirndrasiiiianerendisientss 19 Step 4 Apply Filter to Image File sssccmermasseresaneresnemsrentass 20 Step 5 Display IMaJeS srsisssrsserrrirrarrirrsrririnnrinsiririnarrsrensiia 20 USING ACCIONS wie aan e seine near amendes shin ne een ie 20 Th action DOX sata bi sr ie dre PASS STE 21 Inpu utand OUDU Lisa here n ah de ta sd nee ds et ea da Pass 22 USING variables iriiri aneii a innia nat na 22 Th Variabl pane 4er cessemesndn enari E nE EEATT 23 Setting and getting variable value in the workflow 24 Running the workflow see eve nen sins s nr anne sean an 25 Chapter 3 Saving and re opening workflows 26 Saving and re opening a workflow cece eee eee ee eneeee
22. va Web Start software provides an easy one click activation of applications and guarantees that you are always running the latest version of the application and eliminates complicated installation or upgrade procedures If you want to find out more about Java Web Start visit http java com en download faq java_webstart xml RAM Nearly all the newest computers come with more than enough RAM so there is no need to worry about whether it ll be enough However just like any other application out there Action s will use your RAM to its advantage Hard Drive Yet another element that helps Action s run smoothly is the available disc space Please make sure you always have at least a few Gigabytes of free Hard Drive space since Action s uses it to store temporary files Those will disappear when you close the application Installation Installing Action s is quick and easy All you need to do is visit the Action s webpage at http app jbbres com actions and click on the orange Launch button amp Launch The installation will start shortly A window indicating the progress of the application download and installation will appear During the installation process you may be asked to confirm that you allow Action s to access your computer Click on Allow to complete the installation ADM The application Action s from app jbbres com is requesting access to your computer The digital signature could not be ve

Action(s)

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents