workspace sdk contextual actions

About contextual actions

Contextual actions appear in right-click context menus throughout Security Desk and Config Tool. They provide context-sensitive operations for entities, tiles, maps, and other UI elements.

Use a contextual action when the operation depends on what the operator right-clicked, such as an entity, a tile, or a map object, rather than on a standalone task or page.

How contextual actions work

1. Your module creates a ContextualAction or ContextualActionGroup and initializes it with the workspace.
2. The module retrieves IContextualActionsService from Workspace.Services.
3. It registers the action or action group with that service.
4. When the user opens a supported context menu, the framework evaluates whether the action applies to the current context.
5. If the action is supported, Security Center shows it in the context menu and invokes it when the user selects it.
6. When the module unloads, it unregisters the action or group.

ContextualAction

Create a contextual action by inheriting from Genetec.Sdk.Workspace.ContextualAction.ContextualAction:

public class MyAction : ContextualAction
{
    public override Guid Id => new Guid("...");

    public override bool CanExecute(ContextualActionContext context) => true;

    public override bool Execute(ContextualActionContext context)
    {
        // Perform action
        return true; // Return true on success
    }
}

ContextualAction members

Member	Type	Description
Id	Guid (abstract)	Unique action identifier
Group	Guid (virtual)	Action group identifier
Priority	int (virtual)	Sort priority (lower values appear first)
Name	string (virtual)	Display name
Icon	ImageSource (virtual)	Menu icon
Workspace	Workspace	Workspace instance

Abstract methods

Method	Returns	Description
CanExecute(ContextualActionContext)	bool	Return true if action is available
Execute(ContextualActionContext)	bool	Perform the action, return true on success

Context types

The ContextualActionContext parameter indicates where the action was invoked. Check the context type to access relevant data.

ConfigurationContextualActionContext

Actions in Config Tool configuration panels.

Member	Type	Description
Page	Page	The currently active configuration page
SelectedEntities	IList<Guid>	GUIDs of selected entities

AddEntityContextualActionContext

Actions when adding new entities.

EntityBrowserContextualActionContext

Actions in entity browser dialogs and lists.

Property	Description
SelectedEntities	Currently selected entity GUIDs

MapContextualActionContext

Actions on map surfaces.

Member	Type	Description
MapId	Guid	The map GUID
Location	GeoCoordinate	Click location on map
SelectedEntity	Guid	First selected entity GUID
SelectedEntities	IList<Guid>	All selected entity GUIDs
EditMode	bool	Whether the map is in edit mode
ViewArea	GeoBounds	Current visible map area

TileContextualActionContext

Actions on tiles in Security Desk.

Member	Type	Description
State	TileState	The tile's current state

Access tile content through State.Content which returns a ContentGroup containing the displayed entity.

SystemStatusContextualActionContext

Actions in system status displays.

Registering contextual actions

Register contextual actions using IContextualActionsService:

public class SampleModule : Module
{
    private MyAction m_action;

    public override void Load()
    {
        var service = Workspace.Services.Get<IContextualActionsService>();

        m_action = new MyAction();
        m_action.Initialize(Workspace);
        service.Register(m_action);
    }

    public override void Unload()
    {
        var service = Workspace.Services.Get<IContextualActionsService>();
        service.Unregister(m_action);
    }
}

Action groups

Group related actions together by creating a class that inherits from ContextualActionGroup:

public class MyActionGroup : ContextualActionGroup
{
    public override Guid Id => new Guid("...");

    public override string Name => "My Actions";

    public override int Priority => 100;
}

Register the group with the service:

var service = Workspace.Services.Get<IContextualActionsService>();
service.Register(new MyActionGroup());

You can also use predefined groups from the ContextualActionGroups static class:

• ContextualActionGroups.Copy
• ContextualActionGroups.Maintenance
• ContextualActionGroups.Relation

Set your action's Group property to the group's ID:

public override Guid Group => MyActionGroupId;

Priority ordering

The Priority property controls menu ordering. Lower values appear before higher values. The default is int.MaxValue, placing actions at the end.

public override int Priority => 10; // Appears near top

Conditional availability

Use CanExecute to control when the action appears. Return false to hide the action from the menu entirely.

public override bool CanExecute(ContextualActionContext context)
{
    return context is ConfigurationContextualActionContext configContext
        && configContext.SelectedEntities
            .Select(Workspace.Sdk.GetEntity)
            .All(entity => entity is CustomEntity customEntity
                && customEntity.CustomEntityType == MyCustomEntityTypeId);
}

Accessing context data

Cast the context to the appropriate type to access specific properties:

public override bool Execute(ContextualActionContext context)
{
    if (context is not ConfigurationContextualActionContext configContext)
        return false;

    IEnumerable<Entity> entities = configContext.SelectedEntities
        .Select(Workspace.Sdk.GetEntity)
        .Where(entity => entity is CustomEntity customEntity
            && customEntity.CustomEntityType == MyCustomEntityTypeId);

    foreach (Entity entity in entities)
    {
        // Process each selected entity
    }

    return true;
}

For a complete example, see the ContextualActionSample on GitHub.

See also

• About the Workspace SDK
• About workspace modules
• About workspace services
• About workspace commands
• About custom actions