Grouping actions

You can create groups of actions. For example, an action group might contain several actions: Hide Image_1, Hide Text Block_1, Stop Audio_1, Show Image_2, Show Text Block_2, Play Audio_2. You can group these actions so that they run as a single command and be triggered from several different objects..

The order of the actions in the Project Explorer is important. For example, an action of Exit/Close project before an action of Modify Variable might cause issues since the project is closing before updating the variable. Another example to illustrate the importance of order is with variables involving math. For example, Modify Variable Add 2, Modify Variable Add 3, Modify Variable Multiply by 5 is not the same as Modify Variable Add 2, Modify Variable Multiply by 5, Modify Variable Add 3. The first example yields 25 (2+3 x 5) while the second example yields 13 (2 x 5 + 3). Review the order if you are experiencing issues or receiving errors.

A page with 25 or more media configured to automatically start within action groups might experience issues on mobile devices. For more information, see Automatically playing media on mobile devices.

Finally, to trigger the action group once you have created it, select the Run Action Group action on another object. When Run Action Group is triggered, the actions contained within the action group will begin executing one-by-one, from top to bottom, as the actions are listed within the group in the Project Explorer. For details, see Selecting the action.

To create an action group, you can either create a group then add the actions or create the actions then designate them as a group.

To create an action group starting with a group:

In the Project Explorer, select the location into which you want to add the group and do one of the following.
- Click Group from the Add More group on the Insert ribbon.
- Type Ctrl+5

The group is added to the Project Explorer.

To add an existing object to the group, drag and drop the existing object from the Project Explorer into the group. Complete this by selecting the object and while holding down the left mouse button, drag the object until the cursor is positioned over the group object and the name of the group is highlighted. Release the left mouse button to add the object to the group.

You can select multiple objects by holding down the Ctrl key while selecting objects.

To create an action group starting with an action:

In the Project Explorer, select the location into which you want to add the action group.
Do one of the following:
- From the Insert ribbon, click Group from the Add More group.
- Type Ctrl+5
The group is added to the project. Use the controls on the Properties ribbon to change the appearance of the group.

To add an existing action to the group, drag and drop the existing action from the Project Explorer into the group. Complete this by selecting the action and while holding down the left mouse button, drag the action until the cursor is positioned over the group object and the name of the group is highlighted. Release the left mouse button to add the action to the group.

You can select multiple actions by holding down the Ctrl key while selecting actions.

The action group is added to the project.

See also: Grouping and ungrouping objects