Naming agents

The names you give to manually-run agents appear as choices in the Actions menu. The names are case-sensitive and can be any combination of characters, including letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation. Choose a name that reflects the purpose of the agent.

Naming tips

  • Choose short names for form and view actions that will appear as action bar buttons.
  • Choices on the Actions menu appear in alphabetical order. To force names to appear in a different order, number them or assign letters to them.
  • Use consistent names across applications to enable users to recognize identical agents.

Aliases

An alias is another name, or synonym, for a particular agent. Using an alias, you can change or translate the name that users see without disabling formulas that reference the original name. Aliases follow the same naming rules as regular names. Aliases do not work with form actions and view actions.

To create an alias, add a | (vertical bar) symbol and the alias name to the right of the original name. Always keep the original name as the leftmost name.

Agent1 | Agent1_Alias

You can have more than one alias. Separate each with the | (vertical bar) symbol.

Shortcut keys

A shortcut key is an underlined letter in an item on the Actions menu. Microsoft® Windows® and UNIX® users type only the shortcut letter to select the menu item. To specify a shortcut for the Actions menu, type an underscore before the letter you want to assign as the shortcut. For example, S is the shortcut for this Save action:

_Save

The name of an action on the action bar displays no underline.

Cascading names

If you do not want to overwhelm users with long lists or if you have related actions or agents that should be grouped together, group them so that related menu choices appear under one main menu choice. You can create only one level of cascading names.

Enter the name you want to appear on the Actions menu followed by a \ (backslash), followed by the action or agent name. For example:

Mail Tools\Add Sender to Address Book
Mail Tools\Choose Letterhead