odoo-ui-navigation-actions-menus

name	Odoo UI Navigation (Actions & Menus)
description	Configure Actions and Menus to expose models in the User Interface.

Odoo UI Navigation (Actions & Menus)

Goal

Create menu items and window actions to allow users to interact with the estate.property model.

1. Actions (ir.actions.act_window)

Actions define how the system reacts to user interactions (e.g., clicking a menu). File location: my_module/views/my_model_views.xml

Example Window Action:

<record id="action_estate_property" model="ir.actions.act_window">
    <field name="name">Properties</field>
    <field name="res_model">estate.property</field>
    <field name="view_mode">list,form</field>
</record>

• id: Unique XML Identifier.
• name: Action name (displayed in the breadcrumbs).
• res_model: The model this action is linked to.
• view_mode: Comma-separated list of allowed views (e.g., list,form).

2. Menus (ir.ui.menu)

Menus organize the navigation. File location: my_module/views/my_model_menus.xml (or same as views).

Menu Structure:

1. Root Menu (App Switcher).
2. Parent Menu (Top Bar).
3. Action Menu (Dropdown/Item that triggers action).

Example:

<!-- Root Menu -->
<menuitem id="menu_real_estate_root" name="Real Estate">
    <!-- Parent Menu -->
    <menuitem id="menu_real_estate_first_level" name="Advertisements">
        <!-- Action Menu -->
        <menuitem id="menu_estate_property_action" action="action_estate_property"/>
    </menuitem>
</menuitem>

3. Data Files & Manifest

XML files MUST be added to the __manifest__.py under data (or views). Order matters! If a menu references an action, the action must be defined first (or in a file loaded earlier).

'data': [
    'security/ir.model.access.csv',
    'views/estate_property_views.xml',
    'views/estate_menus.xml',
],

4. Default Field Values

You can set default values in the Python model.

active = fields.Boolean(default=True)
state = fields.Selection(..., default='new')
date_availability = fields.Date(default=lambda self: fields.Date.today() + relativedelta(months=3))

5. UI attributes

In the Python model, you can control UI behavior:

• readonly=True: Field cannot be edited.
• copy=False: Field value is not copied when duplicating the record.