Limitations of Create Action

Create Action is designed to create actions and data types for running applications. However, actions and data types are very flexible, and include additional functionality that can only be accessed if you create the definitions manually.

For more information, see:

• Chapter 12, Creating Actions Manually

• Chapter 13, Creating Data Types Manually

Action Limitations

You cannot use Create Action to create the action for an application if any of the following conditions are true:

• The command line requires a non-file argument (parameter).

  For example, you cannot use Create Action to write an action for the command:

	lp -ddevice filename

where the user has to supply device each time the command is executed.

• The application icon must have a different label than the action name.

  For example, you cannot use Create Action to provide a local-language version of an existing action.

• The action requires any of the advanced features of the action database.

  Examples of these advanced features are actions that:

  • Launch commands on systems remote from the action definition

  • Invoke other actions

  • Must be run as a different user (for example, as superuser)

  • Make extensive use of the ``map'' feature

  • Have very different behaviors depending on the number of file arguments supplied to the action

Data Type Limitations

You cannot use Create Action to create the data type for an application if any of the following conditions are true:

• The data type must have additional actions associated with it other than Open and Print.

• The Open action for the data type is not the action's command.

  For example, you cannot use Create Action to create the data type that provides a unique icon for the directory representing the application's application group.