Difference between revisions of "Activity:OpenExternal (Activity)"
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{{Attention|This activity does not automatically save changes. If you want to persist the newly created instance, you need i.e. a subsequent [[Activity SaveObject|SaveObject activity]]!}} | {{Attention|This activity does not automatically save changes. If you want to persist the newly created instance, you need i.e. a subsequent [[Activity SaveObject|SaveObject activity]]!}} | ||
| − | ==Example== | + | ==Example: open an Excel document== |
Show the Excel file ''E:\Results.xlsx'': | Show the Excel file ''E:\Results.xlsx'': | ||
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|} | |} | ||
| − | ==Example== | + | ==Example: open image file with explicit application== |
Show the graphics image file ''E:\Graph.jpg'' with a certain image viewer application that allows to pass the additional command line argument "/clipcopy" which copies the loaded picture to the clipboard. Therefore, the needed arguments are simply separated by space characters, consisting of the image file path and the additional argument. | Show the graphics image file ''E:\Graph.jpg'' with a certain image viewer application that allows to pass the additional command line argument "/clipcopy" which copies the loaded picture to the clipboard. Therefore, the needed arguments are simply separated by space characters, consisting of the image file path and the additional argument. | ||
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|} | |} | ||
| − | ==Example== | + | ==Example: open image file with default application== |
Alternatively to the previous example, showing the image ''E:\Graph.jpg'' with it's system default application can simply be done by specifying it's document path as the file name. | Alternatively to the previous example, showing the image ''E:\Graph.jpg'' with it's system default application can simply be done by specifying it's document path as the file name. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | width = "50%" | {| class="wikitable" | width = "50%" | ||
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|} | |} | ||
| − | ==Example== | + | ==Example: execute a batch file with command line arguments== |
Another use case could be executing batch files. We have a batch file ''E:\ProcessData.bat'' that processes the data of the text file ''MyData.csv'' in the working directory "E:\". If there is a problem we want to specify a timeout of 30 seconds for this processing step to avoid blocking the workflow for a long time. | Another use case could be executing batch files. We have a batch file ''E:\ProcessData.bat'' that processes the data of the text file ''MyData.csv'' in the working directory "E:\". If there is a problem we want to specify a timeout of 30 seconds for this processing step to avoid blocking the workflow for a long time. | ||
Revision as of 15:11, 25 November 2014
| Open External | |
|---|---|
| Name | OpenExternal |
| Purpose | Open an external document or executable file |
| Category | UBIK File Primitives |
| Returns | success of opening the file |
| Version | 2.4+ |
The OpenExternal Activity opens an external document or executable file combined with optional arguments.
Contents
Arguments
| Argument | Type | Direction | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| string | FileName | In | The path to the executable file or the document file. |
| string | Arguments | In | Additional arguments to use (optional, used to pass arguments for executable files). |
| string | WorkingDirectory | In | Working directory (optional, used to specify a working directory for executable files). This value only has effect together with executable files. |
| int | TimeOut | In | Time out value in seconds (optional, to wait for a maximum amount of time for the invoked process to finish). Leaving this value empty or setting it to 0 means that the workflow continues execution immediately, otherwise the specified amount of seconds will be spent waiting for the process to finish. |
| Result | bool | Out | true if process successfully finished, false if not |
Usage
This activity is used to open file documents or executable files during the execution of a workflow. This activity can be used for showing documents like Excel files, JPG Pictures etc. It can also be used to execute a batch file if needed.
 | This activity does not automatically save changes. If you want to persist the newly created instance, you need i.e. a subsequent SaveObject activity! |
Example: open an Excel document
Show the Excel file E:\Results.xlsx:
| Argument | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| string | FileName | "E:\Results.xlsx" |
Example: open image file with explicit application
Show the graphics image file E:\Graph.jpg with a certain image viewer application that allows to pass the additional command line argument "/clipcopy" which copies the loaded picture to the clipboard. Therefore, the needed arguments are simply separated by space characters, consisting of the image file path and the additional argument.
| Argument | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| string | FileName | ""C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfanView\i_view32.exe"" |
| string | Arguments | "E:\Graph.jpg /clipcopy" |
Example: open image file with default application
Alternatively to the previous example, showing the image E:\Graph.jpg with it's system default application can simply be done by specifying it's document path as the file name.
| Argument | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| string | FileName | "E:\Graph.jpg" |
Example: execute a batch file with command line arguments
Another use case could be executing batch files. We have a batch file E:\ProcessData.bat that processes the data of the text file MyData.csv in the working directory "E:\". If there is a problem we want to specify a timeout of 30 seconds for this processing step to avoid blocking the workflow for a long time.
This can be done by defining the following arguments:
| Argument | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| string | FileName | "E:\ProcessData.bat" |
| string | Arguments | "E:\MyData.csv" |
| string | WorkingDirectory | "E:\" |
| string | TimeOut | 30 |
