Interaction of active links with guides
Most of the active link Execute On conditions do not interact with a running guide. If the Execute On condition occurs while a guide is running, active links are executed normally, independent of the guide. For example, if a guide executes a Run Macro action that sends a request, the Execute On Submit condition is processed before the next guide action. However, active links that are available to the form and independent of the guide can interact with active links contained in a guide. See the following table for a summary of how active links interact in guides.
You can use the $GUIDE$ keyword in qualifications to determine whether an active link is executing as part of normal workflow or in the context of a guide. When $GUIDE$ = $NULL$, the guide is not running. Otherwise, the name of the current guide is the value of the $GUIDE$ keyword.
For more information about qualifications, keywords, and active links, see Operators, wildcards, keywords, and NULL values.
How active links interact with guides
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Execute On Condition
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Interaction
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Submit After Submit Search Modify After Modify Display
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These conditions can be triggered only when a guide is executing a Wait action or as the result of a Run Macro action that the guide executes. The conditions are executed in sequence.
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Window Open
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Active links with this condition are executed during guide execution. Thus, if a guide action causes a window to open, any active links tied to the Window Open condition are executed before the next guide action is executed. If a guide is executed by an active link tied to a Window Open condition, then the guide is initialized but not started, because the user interface is not yet visible. Next, any other active links with the Window Open condition are executed, which is followed by any Set Default processing (described in the next row). When the user interface is set up, the guide executes.
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Set Default
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This is the most subtle of all conditions. There are several cases to consider:
Case 1: Active links tied to a Set Default condition are executed when a guide is waiting and the user selects the Set to Defaults menu item.
Case 2: A guide is executed by an active link tied to a Window Open condition. In this case, the guide is initialized but not started, because the user interface is not yet visible. After the guide has initialized, the active links tied to the Set Default condition execute. After the field list and display symbols are set up, the guide is executed.
Case 3: When the "on new" or "on search" behaviors are set to "set fields to default values," any active links tied to the Set Default condition are executed when a guide is waiting or as the result of a Run Macro action executed by the guide (after a send or a search).
Un-Display Window Close |
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If you close the form on which a guide is running, the guide is terminated. Active links tied to the Window Close condition are executed before the guide terminates. Usually this occurs while a guide is waiting, but it can happen when a guide executes a Run Macro action.
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Button/Menu Item
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Active links that have this condition execute when a guide waits. If you click a button while a guide is in a wait, the guide displays the "user is off the guide" dialog and executes the active links tied to the button.
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Row Double Click or Return Menu/Row Choice
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These conditions can be triggered only when a guide is executing a wait action. If the field focus is changed by an action associated with the On Return trigger, then the Wait condition on the guide ends.
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Gain Focus
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When a guide executes a Change Field Set Focus action, any active links associated with the field's Gain Focus condition execute before the next guide action is executed. When a guide is in a wait condition, the user cannot change field focus unless the running guide is terminated.
Lose Focus |
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When a guide executes Change Field Set Focus action, any active links associated with the current field's Lose Focus condition execute immediately. The newly focused field's Gain Focus condition is then processed. After all Lose Focus and Gain Focus active link processing is completed, the next guide action is executed. When a guide is in a wait condition, the user cannot change field focus unless the running guide is first terminated.
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Copy To New
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No interaction.
Interval | If an Interval condition executes during an active link guide, the guide waits until all the workflow related to the interval condition is complete before the remainder of the guide finished. |
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Event
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Active links with this condition are executed during execution of an event. Thus, if a guide action sends an event, any active links tied to the Event condition are executed on the target window before the next guide action is executed.