Invoking Actions from a Command Line

Syntax of dtaction

dtaction [-user user_name] [-execHost hostname] action_name [argument [argument]...]

The dtaction client has additional command-line options. For more information, see the dtaction(1) man page.

Creating an Action that Runs Another Action

Use dtaction in the EXEC_STRING of the action.

For example, the following action uses a built-in action named Spell (the action is labeled ``Check Spelling'' in Application Manager). The new action runs Text Editor and the Spell action, displaying the spelling errors in a separate terminal emulator window.

ACTION EditAndSpell
{
 WINDOW_TYPE    NO_STDIO
 EXEC_STRING    /bin/sh -c 'dtaction Spell \
     %Arg_1"File:"%; dtpad %Arg_1%'
}

Creating an Action that Runs as a Different User

Use the following syntax in the EXEC_STRING:

EXEC_STRING   dtaction -user user_name action_name [file_argument]

The new user (user_name) must have display access to the system through one of the following mechanisms:

For example, the following two actions provide the ability to become root and edit an app-defaults file.

ACTION AppDefaults
{
 WINDOW_TYPE  NO_STDIO
 EXEC_STRING  /usr/dt/bin/dtaction -user root \
              EditAppDefaults %Arg_1"File:"%
}
ACTION EditAppDefaults
{
 WINDOW_TYPE  TERMINAL
 EXEC_STRING  /bin/sh -c 'chmod +w %Arg_1%; \
              vi %Arg_1%; chmod -w %Arg_1%'
}