Action Tool without a Question

[AndrewL]

Recently, I was asked if it was possible to have a question included in a macro that would not show to the user in the configuration window.

In this case, the user was trying to create a random seed value to pass into the Create Samples tool. The way he had it worked out was to create the random seed value in a formula tool and then pass that into a Drop Down question to update the Create Samples tool.

This method worked just fine, except it showed an extra question in his macro configuration that he didn’t want the end user to see since they couldn’t change anything.

As it turns out, you can use an Action tool without a question to achieve this task. Simply connect the Action tool (in the Interface category of your palette) to the desired tool - in this case, the Create Samples tool -- and configure it as planned.

In the attached sample, the macro takes some dummy input and creates a random seed value. The macro itself when run as a workflow won’t return any results, but you can open the Interface Designer and select “Open Debug” to view the random seed value change.

Workflow and Action tool Configuration:

As viewed in Interface Designer - Open Debug:

Download the attached workflow and try for yourself!