Understanding Actions in Odoo

In Odoo, actions are pivotal in defining the system’s response to user activities, such as logging in, clicking a button, or selecting an invoice. These actions can either be stored in the database or returned as dictionaries in methods like button actions.

All actions share two essential attributes:

• Type: This attribute categorizes the action and determines how it is interpreted and which fields are applicable.
• Name: A brief, user-readable description of the action, often displayed in the client interface.

Forms of Actions

Actions in Odoo can be represented in four forms:

1. False: Closes any currently open action dialog.
2. String: If it matches a client action tag, it is interpreted as such; otherwise, it is treated as a number.
3. Number: Reads the corresponding action record from the database, which can be a database identifier or an external ID.
4. Dictionary: Executed as a client action descriptor.

Bindings

Actions also have optional attributes to integrate them into a model’s contextual menu:

• binding_model_id: Specifies the model the action is bound to.
• binding_type: Determines the contextual menu where the action appears (e.g., action or report).
• binding_view_types: A list of view types (e.g., list, form) where the action is available.

Window Actions (ir.actions.act_window)

Window actions are the most common and are used to present a model’s views. Key fields include:

• res_model: The model to present views for.
• views: A list of (view_id, view_type) pairs specifying the views to use.
• res_id (optional): Specifies a particular record to load.
• search_view_id (optional): Specifies a particular search view.
• target (optional): Determines where the views open (e.g., current, fullscreen, new).
• context (optional): Additional context data for the views.
• domain (optional): Filters to apply to view search queries.
• limit (optional): Number of records to display by default.

Examples:

# Open customers with list and form views
{
    "type": "ir.actions.act_window",
    "res_model": "res.partner",
    "views": [[False, "tree"], [False, "form"]],
    "domain": [["customer", "=", true]],
}

# Open a specific product's form view in a new dialog
{
    "type": "ir.actions.act_window",
    "res_model": "product.product",
    "views": [[False, "form"]],
    "res_id": a_product_id,
    "target": "new",
}

<record id="action_product_product" model="ir.actions.act_window">
        <field name="name">Product</field>
        <field name="res_model">product.product</field>
        <field name="view_mode">tree,form</field>
        <field name="domain">[]</field>
        <field name="context">{}</field>
        <field name="help" type="html">
            <p class="o_view_nocontent_smiling_face">
                Add a new Product
              </p>
        </field>
</record>

URL Actions (ir.actions.act_url)

URL actions open a specified URL via an Odoo action. Key fields include:

• url: The address to open.
• target (default=new): Determines how the URL opens (e.g., new window, same window, download).

Example:

# Open Odoo's homepage in the current window
{
    "type": "ir.actions.act_url",
    "url": "https://odoo.com",
    "target": "self",
}

Server Actions (ir.actions.server)

Server actions execute various operations, such as running Python code or creating/updating records. Key fields include:

• id: The database identifier of the server action.
• context (optional): Context data for the action.

Example:

# Server action to raise a warning with a partner's name
<record model="ir.actions.server" id="print_instance">
    <field name="name">Res Partner Server Action</field>
    <field name="model_id" ref="model_res_partner"/>
    <field name="state">code</field>
    <field name="code">
        raise Warning(record.name)
    </field>
</record>

Report Actions (ir.actions.report)

Report actions trigger the generation and printing of reports. Key fields include:

• name: The report’s file name.
• model: The model the report is about.
• report_type (default=qweb-pdf): The type of report (PDF or HTML).
• report_name: The QWeb template for rendering the report.

Client Actions (ir.actions.client)

Client actions are implemented entirely on the client side and triggered by a tag. Key fields include:

• tag: The identifier of the client action.
• params (optional): Additional data for the client action.
• target (optional): Determines where the action opens (e.g., current, fullscreen, new).

Example:

# Start the Point of Sale interface
{
    "type": "ir.actions.client",
    "tag": "pos.ui"
}

Automated Actions (ir.cron)

Automated actions run on a predefined schedule. Key fields include:

• name: The name of the automated action.
• interval_number: The frequency of execution.
• interval_type: The unit of measure for the frequency (e.g., minutes, hours).
• numbercall: Number of times to run the action (-1 for indefinitely).
• model_id: The model on which the action is called.
• code: The code content of the action.

Example:

# Automated action to call a method on the model
model.<method_name>()

By understanding these various types of actions and their configurations, you can effectively harness the power of Odoo to automate and streamline your business processes.

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