Action import/export

[Jkoseattle]

Having trouble exporting an action and importing it into another project.

I have a source project with an action in it that is listed in the Actions window when a certain group is highlighted. The group is not a top-level group, it is nested inside another group. I see the action in the Actions window when this group is selected. When selecting certain layers within the group, the action is visible in the Actions window, but when other layers in the group are selected, the action is listed but is grayed out. What's that about?

When I double click the action, I see all kinds of nice keyframes just like I'm s'pose'ta.

Anyway, I exported the action...

In the target project, the layers and groups are set up identically. But when I double click on the action, no keyframes are there. The timeline changes color like it's displaying an action, but there's nothing in it. Also, no matter which layer is selected, the action name is grayed out in the Actions window. Of course, the action doesn't work when inserting into the timeline.

I remember learning at some point that it matters which layer is highlighted when importing an action, but I've tried highlighting lots of different layers and groups when importing and get the same results every time.

What am I doing wrong, and how should I do this? I'm going to be using this action in a lot of future projects, so eschewing actions entirely is not practical. Also, the source project is long since finished, and I don't want to change anything in it that's going to break it unless that's the only solution.