A detailed look at the fields and dependencies in the Actions records, how to create a new Action record & editing existing Actions.
The “Action” record is used with records to denote a specific action that an individual user takes in the course of their work. It is also sometimes used with Jobs/Work Items often in place of free text. Actions can be entered with the “Actions Done” form with Jobs/Work Items.
Some features are dependent upon your select plan for your account.
Indicates a feature is only available in Standard or above.
Indicates a feature is only available in Enterprise.
Actions can be limited to specific Product Categories i.e. where a Job/Work Item applies to a specific Product/Equipment the Actions can be restricted.
Actions can also be charged for during billing 
if a Sale Price entered. Similarly, Actions can hold a list of Products to automatically add to billing as if it was entered as parts used.
Where Action Records are Used
The following files refer to Action records so if you plan to use any of these, setting up the records in this file will be important or even critical:
Work Items:
- Generic Job
- Installation
- Field Maintenance
- Internal Maintenance
- Field Task
- Internal Task
Activity/Forms
- Actions
Pre-requisite Files for Action Records
When setting up Action records, it is recommended to review the other data files that may need to be referred to by each record. These are the files that you may need to setup in advance:
- Manufacturers
- Categories (Product)
- Categories (Action)
- Tax Rates
- Currencies
- Products
Field Descriptions for Price Book Records
The ID section holds the unique ID for the record:
Reference - holds the unique ID for the record (most records in Solarvista have one of these). It cannot contain any spaces or non-standard characters. Once the record is saved, it is not possible to edit it afterwards. In most default situations, the Reference is automatically set using a counter sequence, however, you can setup your own if you prefer.
The Details section holds basic information about the Action such as Name, Type & Duration:
Name – the name of the Action.
Description – a full description of the Action to help describe the contents in a short way.
Type – there are two types of Action; “Primary” which is an action that can be selected as a key instruction as part of a Job/Work Item and “Secondary”, which is an action that cannot be selected as part of a Job/Work Item but I available as an “activity” based action i.e. something that a user would record during the process of carrying out their work.
Duration (Hours) – the expected duration of the work in hours. This is not mandatory but will assist users later when they scheduling work using the Calendar.
The Applicability section holds the definition of the product categories or manufacturers where the Action should be available for selection:
Product Categories – contains a list of Product Categories that are applicable to this Action. If not populated, the Action is available to Jobs/Work Items/Activity on ALL products in all product categories.
Manufacturers – contains a list of Manufacturers that are applicable to this Action. If not populated, the Action is available to Jobs/Work Items/Activity on ALL manufacturers of all products.
The Financial section holds the pricing and products to be used for billing 
. These fields are still available in LIVE Lite 
for reference only:
Sale Price – the price that should be used for any billing applicable.
Cost Price – the price that should be used for summary “cost” of doing the Action (i.e. in the Journal).
Prices Inc Tax – if checked, denotes that the Sale Price includes any taxes applicable.
Tax Rate– the Tax Rate applicable to the Sale Price.
Currency – the currency that the Sale Price is denominated in.
The Other section holds miscellaneous additional information:
Memo – a free text field that can be used for any purpose.
Category – a category for the Action e.g. ‘Repair”, ‘Upgrade’. These are defined in the Categories file and set with a Type= “Action”.
Code – used to hold an optional alternative ID code. This may be applicable in situations where information is being transferred to other systems via Connectors and the code here is used to identify the record to the other system.
Status – defines whether the record is visible or not. If set to “Enabled” they will appear but if set to “Disabled” they will not appear.
Creating a New Action Record
To create a new Action record:
- Click on the “Plus” button.
A menu will appear. - Within the “Data Sources” section, find “Action”.
- Click on “Action”.
- A new “empty” Action record will appear.
- Populate all fields as you require.
- Click on the “Create” button.
- You may need to refresh the page to see the new record in a view using the Refresh button on the top bar.
Editing an Action Record
To edit an Action record:
- From the main menu, select Action.
The default view for Action will open. - Click on the Quick Filter button. The Quick Filter slide-in pane will open.
- Enter criteria for the Action record you are looking for and click Apply button.
- The view will update. Find the record you are wanting to edit.
- Click anywhere on the row that shows the record. The record will open.
- You can edit any field that allows editing (some could be set to read only).
- Click on “Save” button to save changes.
Deleting an Action Record
To delete an Action record.
- From the main menu, select Action. The default view for Price Book will open.
- Click on the Quick Filter button. The Quick Filter slide-in pane will open.
- Enter criteria for the Action record you are looking for and click Apply button.
- The view will update. Find the record you are wanting to delete.
- On the left side of the view is a column containing checkboxes.
- Check the box of the record you want to delete.
- Click the “Delete” button on the top right.
A slide in dialog will appear prompting you to confirm the delete, by typing in the word “DELETE” again. - To confirm, click the “Delete” button and the record (or records will be deleted).
Note: You can delete Action records referred to only by other Data Sources however this will leave those records without an associated to a valid Action record. If this happens by accident, you can manually recreate the record ensuring the Reference is identical. You can also change the status of the record to prevent it appearing on screen in future whilst maintaining historical integrity.
Customising or Adding New Fields
Solarvista™ is built upon a uniquely flexible platform that allows you to edit fields (or remove them in some cases) as well as add your own fields. These new fields (or edited characteristics of existing fields) automatically become available within the web portal and the mobile apps. For more information, refer to the Customising section.
Importing Action Data in Bulk using Import Tool
If you have a lot of Action information to enter, you may prefer to upload this using the Import Tool that’s built into Solarvista. The Import Tool enables Action records to be created from “CSV” text files. CSV files can be created from a wide range of popular applications including Microsoft Excel. For more information on importing data into Solarvista, please refer to the article here.