# XForms actions

## Introduction

The actions in this page are called "XForms actions" because they closely match actions found in the XForms specification.

## xf:setvalue

\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.7]

Set a value in the form data.

* parameters
  * `ref`: required XPath expression, relative to the root element of the form data, points to the nodes to set.
  * `value`: optional XPath expression, relative to the node to set, specifies the value to set.
  * `all`: \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2018.1] optional boolean
    * If `"false"` (the default) the First-item rule is applied: if the `ref` XPath expression returns a sequence of size greater than 1, the first item in the sequence is used.
    * If `"true"`, all the items in the sequence are used.

If `value` is omitted, the value selected is the empty string.

Examples:

```
xf:setvalue(ref = "//first-name")                            // clear the value of the `first-name` element, if found
xf:setvalue(ref = "//submit-date", value = "current-date()") // set the value of the `submit-date` element, if found, to the current date
```

## xf:dispatch

\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.3]

Dispatch an XForms event by name to an XForms target.

* parameters
  * `name` (default parameter): specifies the name of the event to dispatch
  * `targetid`: specifies the event's target id,  `fr-form-model` by default. \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.4]

## xf:send

\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.3]

Send an XForms submission.

* parameters
  * `submission`: specifies the id of the submission to send

## xf:show

\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.3]

Open an XForms dialog by id.

* parameters
  * `dialog`: specifies the id of the dialog to open

## xf:hide

\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.10]

Close an XForms dialog by id.

* parameters
  * `dialog`: specifies the id of the dialog to close