▶ PPPTools Dokumentation
📚 Bibliothek
DE EN
Contents

Action Manager

Created: 2026-07-11 · Updated: 2026-07-12

The Action Manager organizes Actions — executable code scripts that do or change something instead of creating an object. Typical examples: reformat text in all text boxes, rename slides, batch operations on the presentation.

Action vs. Snippet

A Snippet creates an object/shape on the slide. An Action runs a function — it does not create a visual object. Both are written in the Advanced Snippet Editor; you choose the target type when saving.

Open the Action Manager via the burger menu (≡) → Actions or from the ribbon group Action Manager (buttons Action Manager / Manage, placed before Settings). Like the other managers it has two areas: Gallery and Manage.

Creating an Action

Actions are written in the Advanced Snippet Editor:

  1. Write the code (e.g. a batch operation via ppptools).
  2. Save ▾ → As Action (the first entry in the dropdown).
  3. Fill in the metadata — including a parameter description (what the code / parameters do) and, optionally, a preview image.

No automatic preview image

Because an Action does not create a shape, there is no automatically generated preview image. You can upload your own image (PNG/JPG) in the dialog or later in the Manage area.

The gallery shows all Actions as tiles, with the same filters, sorting and views as Snippets/Slides. The action button here is labelled "Run" instead of "Insert".

  • Run: select an Action → Run (or double-click). If the Action defines parameters (@param), the parameter dialog appears first.
  • Multiple Actions: select several tiles with Ctrl/Shift → run them one after another.
  • Edit: the Edit button jumps to the Manage area with the Action pre-selected.

Execution uses the same vetted path as the editor (Roslyn + security scan). See Security.

Manage — metadata, image, code, publishing

In the Manage area (list on the left, detail on the right) you edit an Action:

  • Metadata like every manager (name, category, language, audience, status, classification, author, tags, version).
  • Parameter description — especially important for Actions, since no visual object explains the purpose.
  • Preview image — the file name is shown as a locked field at the top. Below the preview are two buttons: "Edit code" (left) and "Load preview image" (right, sets/replaces the image).
  • Run and Delete as usual.
  • Publish — see below.

Editing the code

The "Edit code" button (below the preview image) opens the Advanced Snippet Editor in Action edit mode with a reduced button bar — everything else is hidden:

  • Run — test the code
  • Save — overwrites this Action (same metadata, new code)
  • Save as — creates a new Action; editing switches to the new Action
  • Draft online — upload as a draft to the online library
  • Close — back to Manage, with the (possibly new) Action pre-selected
  • Help

Load code directly in the editor

In the Advanced Editor you can also open an existing Action's code via Load ▾ → From Action (with a filter by name / category / tags).

Publishing (network sharing)

As with Snippets/Slides, you can make a private Action available to the company library:

  1. ↑ Publish in the detail area (sets the Action to Awaiting approval).
  2. An admin approves or rejects it.
  3. Once approved, the Action appears for all users on the next Sync (read-only).

For the full flow see Publish Flow and Public Library. Publishing requires a Pro license and a configured public network path.

Online Library — curated Actions

In online mode (🌐) the gallery shows curated Actions from the Online Library. They are read-only and are downloaded when you run them.

Security confirmation before running

An online Action runs third-party code on your machine. The first time you run one, PPPTools therefore shows the source code and requires an explicit confirmation ("I trust this source"). Only run an Action if you trust the source. Online Actions are additionally curated (only vetted authors can upload).