Event Actions

Overview: What Are Event Actions?

Event Actions let you run FileMaker scripts or run JavaScript when an event takes place in DayBack. "Events" are things users do, like hovering over an event, which can now call a script using the "On Event Hover" action. You can use that to call a tootip as described here: Tooltips.

The actions available are:

On Event Hover

On Event Create

On Event Click

Before Event Save

On Event Save

On Event Delete

Note that many of the actions above are already running FileMaker scripts: when you drag and event to edit it, for example, a FileMaker script makes that edit. So in most cases you'll want to turn on the FileMaker script debugger and edit or branch the FileMaker script that is already being called. (Here's how we do that: movie.)

Enabling Event Actions

Event actions were introduced as an in-app update in version 10.42

Each source can have its own Event Actions and you'll specify them in the script "Load Source Settings at Startup --- Describe Your Sources Here ---". Find the comment "Event actions for WebViewer events..." at about line 32 and add your action in the SetVariable line that follows. Here is what that SetVariable calc looks like if we're adding an On Event Hover action to show a tooltip:

Each action has four elements:

1. The trigger name, like "On Event Hover" which can be any of the 6 action names above.

2. The action itself which is usually a FileMaker script name in the form "ScriptName" ; or inline JavaScript as shown in the scerenshot above. For inline Javascript, the JS follows the word "javascript" like this:

"javascript:dbk.tooltip(event.title);"

You can also reference JavaScript by exporting a JS file and then using the filename in your event action. This is the same way you'd export files for custom actions and is described here. Then you can reference your JS like this:

"file:myeventaction.txt"

3. A flag, true or false, to prevent the default action. For example, when you click on an event, DayBack normally shows you the event in popover or opens the event in your layout: that's the "default action". If you wanted to do something completely different on click, like just show a tooltip, you'd set this flag to true.

4. The last option states the kinds of events that can trigger this action: use this to restrict your action to only editable events, for example.

Referencing Fields in Your JavaScript Event Actions ,

Your event actions have access to the event in which they are running and you may want to reference fields from that event in your action. In the tooltip example above, you'll see the title of the event referenced as event.title. That's the under-the-hood name for the event title.

You'll find a list of all these under-the-hood names, as well as tips for using them in JavaScript actions here: JavaScript Custom Actions. Note that these names are used anytime you're writing JavaScript to run inside DayBack: in both event actions (behaviors) and custom actions (buttons).

Additional Fields

If you'd like to include one or more of your additional fields in the tooltip, you reference those somewhat differently: '[[fieldname]]' where fieldname is the actual FileMaker field name without the table occurrence name in front of it. So you might do this:

"javascript:dbk.tooltip(event.title + '<br />' + event.resource + '<br />' + '[[notes]]');"

What kinds of JS objects and methods are availble?

Check this out: ActionObjects.