# Action Syntax ## Availability This feature is available since Orbeon Forms 2018.2. ## Rationale Orbeon Forms supports services and actions. With Orbeon Forms 2018.2, a first step towards more powerful actions is introduced. There is no interface for it yet, but instead an XML configuration which you can paste into the form definition via the ["Edit Source"](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/edit-source) dialog. ## Enhancements In addition to the features available through the [Simple Actions dialog](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/actions), the following enhancements are available: * Call an action in response to *multiple events*. * Support *more event types*. * Call an *arbitrary number* of services. * Run actions *without* calling services. * Clear repeated grid or repeated section repetitions. * Add repeated grid or repeated section repetitions. * *Repeatedly run* parts of an action. \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] * *Conditionally run* parts of an action. \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] ## Updating the form definition You place listeners and actions within the source code, preferably before the end of the main `` content. For example: ```xml ... ``` ## Examples For concrete examples of Action Syntax use, see [Action Syntax examples](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/action-syntax-examples). ## Listeners ### Basic syntax A listener looks like this: ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `version` | Yes | format version | always `2018.2` | | `modes` | No | space-separated list of modes | The listener is enabled for each mode listed only. If absent, the listener is enabled for all modes. | | `events` | Yes | space-separated list of event names | When more than one event name is present, the listener reacts if *any* of the listed events is present. | | `controls` | Yes for events which relate to a particular control, like `enabled` or `value-changed` | space-separated list of control names | When more than one control name is present, the listener reacts if an event is dispatched to *any* of the listed controls. | | `actions` | No, but nothing will happen if there is not at least one action referenced | space-separated list of action names | When more than one action name is present, *all* the specified actions are called when the listener reacts to an event. | *NOTE: It is disallowed to mix and match, in a single listener, events for which a control name is required and events for which a control name is not required. Instead, use multiple listeners.* ### Modes supported * `new` * `edit` * `view` * `pdf` ### Events supported Controls: * `enabled`: the control has become enabled * `disabled`: the control has become disabled * `visible`: the control has become visible (for example in a wizard page) * `hidden`: the control has become hidden (for example in a wizard page) * `value-changed`: the value of an enabled control has changed * `activated`: the control has been activated (clicked, or enter in text field) * `item-selected`: an item of an enabled control has been selected * `item-deselected`: an item of an enabled control has been deselected Form load: * `form-load-before-data`: run before the data's initial values are calculated * `form-load-after-data`: run when the data is ready * `form-load-after-controls`: run after the controls are ready See also [Running processes upon page load](https://doc.orbeon.com/configuration/properties/form-runner/form-runner-detail-page#running-processes-upon-page-load) for the detail of the form load events. ## Actions ### Basic syntax An action looks like this: ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | -------------- | ------------------------------------- | | `version` | Yes | format version | always `2018.2` | | `name` | Yes | action name | must be unique in the form definition | ## Control structures ### Iterating over data \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] #### Basic usage ```xml ... ``` `` allows you to iterate over data. The contained actions are executed once for each value returned by the expression. Containing actions can include one or more calls to services. | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | | `ref` | Yes | sequence XPath expression | runs in the current XPath evaluation context | In the following example, each repetition adds a row to the grid, calls a service, passing the attachment id, and sets the attachment value on the last row. ```xml ``` #### Nesting of iterations \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.2] Calls to `` can be nested. This allows, for example, filling nested repeated sections and/or grids with the result of a service call that returns hierarchical data. Example: ```xml ``` ### Conditions \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] ```xml ... ``` `` allows you to conditionally run a block of actions. | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | ----------- | --------- | ------------------------ | -------------------------------------------- | | `condition` | Yes | boolean XPath expression | runs in the current XPath evaluation context | In the following example, with the repetition performed by ``, the call to the service that retrieves an attachment depends on whether there is a non-blank attachment id provided. ```xml ``` ## Asynchronous actions [\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2023.1\]](https://doc.orbeon.com/release-notes/orbeon-forms-2023.1) Previously, actions were always run *synchronously*. That is, they were blocking any other form processing until completed, even when calling, for example, external services. It is now possible to run actions *asynchronously*. This means that, if the action contains services calls, form processing can continue while service calls are pending in the background. Once services terminate, the rest of the actions is processed. Changing this mode only matters for actions that include service calls. You can enable asynchronous actions either: * at the action level, using the `async="true"` attribute * at the form level, using the `oxf.fr.detail.actions.async.*.*` property Example of configuration property: ```xml ``` It is currently not possible to mix and match synchronous and asynchronous service calls within a given action. An asynchronous action, by default, causes a response to the client (web browser) to wait "forever" for its completion. This is done to enhance backward-compatibility. This can be disabled: * at the action level, using the `response-must-await="0ms"` attribute (or `0` followed by any other unit allowed as shown below) * at the form level, using the `oxf.fr.detail.actions.response-must-await.*.*` property Example of configuration property: ```xml ``` If `response-must-await` is set to `0ms`, a response to the client doesn't wait for the completion of asynchronous actions. Instead, the response is sent immediately, and the pending action's service calls continue to wait in the background. The client polls the server at regular intervals to check for the completion of such pending services, and then resumes the processing of the actions. This is useful when an action calls long-running services, and you don't want to keep the client waiting for its completion. Possible values for this property and attribute are: * `forever` * `"$length$unit"` (whitespace allowed around and between tokens) * `$length` is a positive long integer value * `$unit` is as described below | Unit | Description | | ---- | ------------ | | `h` | hours | | `m` | minutes | | `s` | seconds | | `ms` | milliseconds | Practically, units in the `ms` and `s` ranges are the most useful. Examples: * `response-must-await="0ms"`: don't wait * `response-must-await="200ms"`: wait up to 200 milliseconds * `response-must-await="5s"`: wait up to 5 seconds * `response-must-await="forever`"\`: wait indefinitely For example, the Form Runner Landing page runs multiple background services to load lists of published forms. The page waits a few hundreds of milliseconds for the completion of those services, and if they take longer, for example due to a slow database, the page is shown to the user, and the services continue to run in the background. In the future, asynchronous actions will likely be enabled by default. ## Resolution of form controls Many individual actions refer to form controls. When form controls are present in a repeated section or repeated grid, there can be ambiguity as to which control is being referred to. For this reason, an optional `at` attribute can be specified. That attribute is a space-separated list of tokens, one for each repetition level. A token can take the following values: * `start`: the first repetition * `end`: the last repetition * a strictly positive integer: the repetition at that specific position * `all`: all controls [\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2023.1\]](https://doc.orbeon.com/release-notes/orbeon-forms-2023.1) When the `at` attribute is not present, it defaults to being relative to the action source. This usually means targeting the first repetition. The following example sets the value of the control `my-repeated-value` in all repetitions of the `my-repeated-value` repeated grid to `42` ```xml ``` Assume now that the control `my-repeated-value` is within a repeated grid, itself nested within two levels of repeated sections. The following example sets the value of the control `my-repeated-value` in the third repetition of the last repetition of the first repetition to `42`: ```xml ``` ## Individual actions ### Calling a service ```xml ``` `` calls a service by name. | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | --------------------------- | --------------------------- | | `service` | Yes | name of the service to call | must be an existing service | #### Passing a value ```xml ``` or: ```xml ``` When calling an [HTTP service](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/http-services), you can set XML request body values using nested `` elements. | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | | `control` | No | control name | either this or `value` must be specified | | `value` | No | value expression | either this or `control` must be specified | | `ref` | Yes | destination expression | points to an element or attribute in the request XML | #### Passing a URL parameter ```xml ``` When calling an [HTTP service](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/http-services), you can pass URL parameters using nested `` elements. | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | `control` | No | control name | either this or `value` must be specified | | `value` | No | value expression | either this or `control` must be specified | | `name` | Yes | parameter name | URL parameter name | #### Passing a SQL parameter ```xml ``` When calling a [database service](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/database-services), you can pass parameters using nested `` elements. | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | `control` | No | control name | either this or `value` must be specified | | `value` | No | value expression | either this or `control` must be specified | | `index` | Yes | positive integer | SQL query parameter index | ### Removing all repetitions of a repeat ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | `repeat` | Yes | repeated grid or repeated section name | | | `at` | No | space-delimited position tokens: `start`, `end`, or a positive integer | missing leading tokens default to `end` | This action starts by identifying a single repeated grid or section with the `repeat` attribute. See `` for details. The only difference is that with this action, `at` is only used to identify the ancestor repeated sections if any. With `my-repeated-grid` nested within `my-repeated-section`: * Remove all repetitions of `my-repeated-section`: ```xml ``` * Remove all repetitions of the last `my-repeated-grid`: ```xml ``` * Remove all repetitions of the first `my-repeated-grid`: ```xml ``` * Remove all repetitions of the second `my-repeated-grid`: ```xml ``` ### Adding repetitions to a repeat ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | ---------------- | --------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `repeat` | Yes | repeated grid or repeated section name | | | `at` | No | space-delimited position tokens: `start`, `end`, or a positive integer | missing leading tokens default to `end` | | `apply-defaults` | No | whether to apply initial value formulas when adding iterations:`true` or `false` | if missing, use the repeated section or grid's "Apply initial value formulas when adding iterations" | `apply-defaults` is \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2026.1]/\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2025.1.1]/\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2024.1.5]/\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2023.1.9]. This action starts by identifying a single repeated grid or section with the `repeat` attribute. If the repeated grid or section is at the top-level, there is only one possible match. If the repeated grid or section is *nested* within one or more repeated sections, then a single repetition of the ancestor repeated sections is determined using the optional `at` attribute. With `my-repeated-grid` nested within `my-repeated-section`: * Insert a new repetition at the end of the last `my-repeated-grid`: ```xml ``` or: ```xml ``` or: ```xml ``` * Insert a new repetition at the end of the first `my-repeated-grid`: ```xml ``` * Insert a new repetition at the start of the first `my-repeated-grid`: ```xml ``` * Insert a new repetition after repetition 2 of the third `my-repeated-grid`: ```xml ``` * Insert a new repetition at the end of `my-repeated-section`: ```xml ``` or: ```xml ``` ### Removing repetitions from a repeat ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | `repeat` | Yes | repeated grid or repeated section name | | | `at` | No | space-delimited position tokens: `start`, `end`, or a positive integer | missing leading tokens default to `end` | This action starts by identifying a single repeated grid or section with the `repeat` attribute. See `` for details. With `my-repeated-grid` nested within `my-repeated-section`: * Remove the last repetition of the last `my-repeated-grid`: ```xml ``` or: ```xml ``` or: ```xml ``` * Remove the last repetition of the first `my-repeated-grid`: ```xml ``` * Remove repetition 2 of the third `my-repeated-grid`: ```xml ``` ### Setting the value of a control ```xml ``` `` sets the value of a form control. | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------- | | `control` | Yes | control name | identifies the control to modify | | `value` | Yes | value expression | resolves to the value to set | | `at` | No | space-delimited position tokens: `start`, `end`, `all`, positive integer | missing leading tokens default to `end` | ```xml ``` ### Clearing the value of a control \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2020.1] ```xml ``` `` clears the value of a control. For attachment controls, this clears the file but also the file metadata (filename, mediatype, and size). | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | `control` | Yes | control name | | | `at` | No | space-delimited position tokens: `start`, `end`, or a positive integer | missing leading tokens default to `end` | Example: ```xml ``` ### Setting the choices of a selection control ```xml ``` `` sets the choices (or "itemset") of a selection control such as a dropdown or radio buttons. | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | `control` | Yes | control name | | | `items` | Yes | XPath expression returning one XPath item for each choice | | | `label` | Yes | relative XPath expression returning the label for the current choice | | | `hint` | No | relative XPath expression returning the hint for the current choice | \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2020.1] | | `value` | Yes | relative XPath expression returning the value for the current choice | | | `at` | No | space-delimited position tokens: `start`, `end`, or a positive integer | missing leading tokens default to `end` | *NOTE: Hints are only supported for checkboxes and radio buttons as of Orbeon Forms 2020.1.* ### Writing to a dataset ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ------------ | ------- | | `name` | Yes | dataset name | | This action takes the latest service result and saves it to the dataset specified by name. Example: ```xml ``` ### Clearing a dataset \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2022.1.2] ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ------------ | ------- | | `name` | Yes | dataset name | | This action clears the content of the dataset with the given name. Specifically, it replaces it with a single anonymous root element (`<_/>`). Example: ```xml ``` ### Calling a process \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | -------------- | ------- | | `scope` | Yes | property scope | | | `name` | Yes | process name | | ### Navigating to a page or URL \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | AVT | Comment | | ---------- | --------- | --------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ----------------------------- | | `location` | Yes | path or URL | 2024.1.1 | | | `target` | No | `_self` or `_blank` or name of the browsing context | | where to display the location | ### Setting the value of an attachment control \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ------------ | ------- | | `control` | Yes | control name | | When the response of a service is binary, this action allows setting the value of an attachment control to the content of the service response: ```xml ``` This supports the following controls: * `` * `` The mediatype and received by the service and the actual size of the attachment are automatically set. However, the filename is not set automatically. See also the following actions: * `` * `` * `` ### Setting the filename of an attachment control \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ---------------- | ---------------------------- | | `control` | Yes | control name | | | `value` | Yes | value expression | value of the filename to set | This action allows setting the filename of an attachment control. Example: ```xml ``` This supports the following controls: * `` * `` ### Setting the mediatype of an attachment control \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ---------------- | ----------------------------- | | `control` | Yes | control name | | | `value` | Yes | value expression | value of the mediatype to set | This action allows setting the mediatype of an attachment control. Example: ```xml ``` This supports the following controls: * `` * `` Note that the `` action automatically sets a mediatype. ### Setting the size of an attachment control [\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2023.1\]](https://doc.orbeon.com/release-notes/orbeon-forms-2023.1) ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ---------------- | ------------------------ | | `control` | Yes | control name | | | `value` | Yes | value expression | value of the size to set | This action allows setting the mediatype of an attachment control. Example: ```xml ``` This supports the following controls: * `` * `` Note that the `` action automatically sets a size. ### Setting the focus on a form control \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2022.1.2] ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ------------ | ------- | | `control` | Yes | control name | | This action allows setting the focus on a form control. Example: ```xml ``` ### Marking a form control visited or unvisited \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2022.1.2] ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ----------------- | ------------------ | | `control` | Yes | control name | | | `visited` | No | `true` or `false` | defaults to `true` | This action allows setting whether a form control is visited or not. Example: ```xml ``` In Orbeon Forms, a form control can be *visited* or not. Visited controls have been visited by the user, which means that the user navigated through the form control, possibly without changing its value. One way to visit form controls is to navigate using the "Tab" key, or to click on the form control and then click outside of it. Another way is to use the default "Save" or "Send" buttons, which by default visit all the form controls before proceeding. The notion is used to determine whether to show validation errors associated with that form control. [\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2023.1\]](https://doc.orbeon.com/release-notes/orbeon-forms-2023.1) Form controls can also be visited when they are calculated, visible, and their value changes. When working with actions, some form controls can benefit from having their "visited" status reset so that the user doesn't see extra errors appear. The `` action allows doing that. ### Alert for debugging \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2022.1, 2021.1.2, 2020.1.7] The `` action is intended to be used for debugging, allowing you to get some visibility on the value of intermediary results, or more generally the value of any expression is at a given point. The value of the `message` attribute uses the [AVT syntax](https://doc.orbeon.com/xforms/core/attribute-value-templates), so the example below would show a dialog with the message "The answer is 42". ```xml ``` | Attribute | Mandatory | Value | AVT | Comment | | --------- | --------- | ----------- | --- | ------- | | `message` | Yes | path or URL | Yes | | ### Copying control content [\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2023.1\]](https://doc.orbeon.com/release-notes/orbeon-forms-2023.1) #### Description The `` action allows you to copy form content: * from non-repeated form controls to other non-repeated form controls * from non-repeated form controls to repeated form controls * from repeated form controls to other repeated form controls See also [Synchronizing repeated content](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/synchronize-repeated-content). #### Example Assuming that: * `control-1`, `control-2`, `control-3`, and `control-4` are all within repeated grids or repeated sections * `non-repeated-control` is non-repeated, and `control-5` is repeated Then, in the following example, each `` expresses that all repeated controls denoted by the `left` attribute (source) are copied to the corresponding repeated controls denoted by the `right` attribute (destination). ```xml ``` ![Example form showing copied content](https://4129616727-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-LEkBiSDvlXs3VWiO0Zu%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-f61b08c2a47aa981ff4e1277bcfcef57c5c1a36a%2Fcopy-content.png?alt=media) #### Repeated source and destination When both the source and destination are repeated, the destination repeat's iterations are enforced, which means: * Extra iterations in the destination are removed from the end if needed, to match the number of iterations in the source. * New iterations in the destination are added at the end if needed, to match the number of iterations in the source. * For each iteration, the values of controls specified with `` are copied over. Each `` element can individually refer to separate repeated grids and sections. In other words, not all `left` need to be in the same repeated grid or section, and not all `right` need to be in the same repeated grid or section. #### Non-repeated source and destination When the source is non-repeated and the destination is also non-repeated, the value of the control is simply copied. #### Non-repeated source and repeated destination When the source is non-repeated and the destination is repeated, the value of the control is copied to one or more of the destination controls. The `right-at` attribute can be used to control this behavior: * `start`: first control only * `end`: last control only * strictly positive integer: specific position * `all`: all controls #### Repeated source and non-repeated destination This scenario is not supported yet. #### Warning the user When the `warn` attribute is set to `true`, the action will show a warning dialog if the action will overwrite existing content in the destination. An overwrite is considered when: * The destination has more iterations than the source. * The destination has the same number of iterations as the source or less, but the action would overwrite a non-blank destination value. The default is `false`. ## Error handling With Orbeon Forms 2018.2, errors when running services are silently ignored and the action continues. With Orbeon Forms 2019.1, errors: 1. cause the entire action to stop. 2. run the `oxf.fr.detail.process.action-service-error` process The default implementation of the service error process is as follows: ```xml error-message("service-error") ``` You can provide your own service error process in properties-local.xml. ## Evaluation context of XPath expressions The context item used for XPath evaluations is set as follows: * At the beginning of an action, it is the root element of the form data. * Within an ``, and until a service response is available, it is the current iteration item. * After a service call, whether at the top-level or within an ``, it is the root element of the preceding action response. \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2019.1] You can explicitly set the XPath evaluation context to the current iteration item within a `` with the `expression-context` attribute set to `current-iteration`. In the following example, without the `expression-context="current-iteration"` attribute, the second `` would evaluate within the context of the first service call's response. ```xml ``` To be more explicit, the attribute can also be set on the first ``: ```xml ``` ## See also * Blog post: [Making sense of Form Runner Actions](https://www.orbeon.com/2024/09/making-sense-form-runner-actions) * [Services and actions overview](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions) * [Action Syntax examples](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/action-syntax-examples) * [Editing the source code of the form definition](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/edit-source) * [Synchronizing repeated content](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/synchronize-repeated-content) * [Simple Actions](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/actions) * [HTTP services](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/http-services) * [Database services](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/services-and-actions/database-services) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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