Actions

An Action is a preconfigured main Workflow and all the objects that contribute to the configuration of that Workflow. These objects are Jobs, Includes, PromptSets, Variables and, optionally, other Workflows. An Action has a predefined folder structure where the objects are stored.

For technical reasons, Actions reside in Action Packs. This implies the following:

• To create an Action, you must start by creating the Action Pack to which you add the Action
• The marketplace contains Actions Packs (and not Actions) that you can download and install.

Actions simplify the creation of Workflows because they provide out-of-the-box reusable and already tested building blocks for frequently needed operations.

The purpose of an Action (the main Workflow) is to execute a single operation. An Action can be a simple Workflow with only one task or it can be a complex one with embedded Workflows.

As a designer, you use Actions to design Workflows. When you create a Workflow, you can start adding tasks to it from scratch or you can add Actions instead. Or you can combine both.

For more information about Action Packs, see Packs.

Folder Structure

An Action consists of the following folders:

• <ACTION_NAME>

  The main Workflow is stored here. This is the Workflow that contains the targeted functionality that you want to execute in your system. The name of the Action is the same as the name of this Workflow.

  Naming Conventions

  When you create an action, you must give it a title. The name of the Action is automatically defined based on this title. The name consists of the following:

  Prefix + name of the Action Pack + title

  The prefix is predefined and it can be one of the following:

  • PCK.AUTOMIC for Actions in Actions Packs provided by CA Automic in the marketplace
  • PCK.CUSTOM for Actions in Action Packs that you create

• INCLUDES

  Include objects that are used in the main Workflow or, if available, in any of the other Workflows in the Action.

• JOBS

  Job objects that are used in the main Workflow or, if available, in any of the other Workflows in the Action.

  Depending on the type of Action that you are creating, this folder is either empty (REST and Composite Actions) or it contains two Jobs (CLI Actions)

• PROMPTSETS

  PromptSet objects that are used in the main Workflow. If you open the main Workflow and go to its Variables & Prompts > PromptSets page, you can see that the PromptSets are applied there.

• ROLLBACK

  Workflow that provides custom backup and rollback. If the main Workflow fails, this Workflow is executed.

• VARIABLES

  VARA objects used by the main Workflow. Typically, these VARA objects contain lookup values for the PromptSet.

Types of Actions

You can create the following types of Actions in an Action Pack:

• CLI Actions
• REST Actions
• Composite Actions

See also: