Add an Action to a Folder

To add an action to a folder, follow these steps:

1. In the Folder Tree, click on the folder you want to work with, then click the Smart button and choose Actions from the pop-up menu.

2. Zoot opens the Actions Dialog. This is where you specify the actions you want performed on the items assigned to your folder. Select the type of action you want performed:

Modify Item Properties

Select this option if you want your action to modify an item property or a delimited field. This is the default choice. The item properties that can be modified are listed in the drop-down list below.

Manipulate Items

Select this option if you want your action to transfer items (copy or move) to another database or to assign items to folders in the active database.

Synchronize / Import

Select this option if you want your action to initiate a synchronization process. An action can be set up to synchronize two Zoot databases over a LAN, or to synchronize a Zoot database with a folder in Microsoft Outlook.

3. Once you have selected the type of action you want performed, select the specific action you want performed from the drop-down list below.

4. Next indicate when you want the action to be performed. Generally you have three choices:

·

Actions are performed as soon as an item is assigned to the folder.

·

Actions are performed only when you click on the folder to open it.

·

Actions are performed only when you issue the Run Actions command via the Smart button menu.

5. The last step is to provide details about the action to be performed. This typically involves specifying the new value to be assigned to an item property or specifying the folders to which items are to be assigned.

Take a moment to review the selections you have made, then click the Add button to add your new action to the list of actions below. At this point you can click the OK button to close the Actions Dialog or you can continue to add more actions if desired.


Running Actions
When you close the Actions Dialog, Zoot will immediately perform any actions you have specified on the items currently assigned to the folder unless you have specified that the actions only be performed when you issue the Run Actions command. If you chose the Run Actions option, you can run the actions as follows:

1. Click on the folder to open it.

2. Click the Smart button and choose Run Actions from the pop-up menu.

Tip: Since actions can modify your items in dramatic ways, it's generally a good idea to save your database to file before creating a new action, so that you can restore the database to its original state using the Edit | Undo Special command, should the action produce undesired results.