SharePoint - Workflow Forum

how to setup a workflow that would prevent decision responses from overwriting?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:37:52 Z

I have created a workflow for the Request for Proposal group of users and tried to collect their inputs to reflect (Bid, No Bid, or Participate) as part of the decision response. As a result, the answers have been overwritten one another, which I do not want. Could someone please help me layout the steps of the process that would prevent the bid decision responses from overwriting?

how to move the item from a discussion board/list to another?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:05:48 Z

i want to move an item from a discussion board/list to another. For that, i created a workflow in sharepoint designer, selected the action of "copy list item",and started the workflow! The result is , that the discussion item was moved to the destination list, but all the replies of the discussion were lost, only leaving an original topic. i opened the website using sharepoint designer, and found a strang file named "1_.000" in the content list of the destination borad/list...... can anyone answer my question, thank you!

workflows not working for a list created by list template which has workflows.

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:13:28 Z

Hi

I am working on MOSS07 and in my team site i am using a list template (which has some data and workflows) to create a new list. I am able to find all data in new list but workflows are not working in newly created list. i mean they are not triggering.

Please kindly help me to resolve the issue. please ask if you need any more information.

thank you
Raj

OnTaskChanged event doesn't fire after SPWorkflowTask.AlterTask

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:57:46 Z

Hi guys

I've been following Robert Shelton's tutorial on creating an approval workflow, but ran into an issue I'm having a hard time resolving. After the approval task is created, we create a While loop and wait for a private member, 'taskCompleted', to equal true before completing the task. Within the while loop is an OnTaskChanged that should set taskComplete = true and exit the loop. Once we exit the loop, CompleteTask runs and finishes my workflow.

In other words, this is what the flow looks like:

CreateTaskWithContentType -> OnTaskCreated -> WhileActivity -> OnTaskChanged -> CompleteTask

I'm debugging my workflow in VS, but never hit the WhileActivity->OnTaskChanged section. I tried disabling the OnTaskCreated step and now find that I do hit the WhileActivity step when initially starting the workflow. However, once the content approver returns to the workflow and clicks either Approve or Reject (in either case, we run a "SPWorkflowTask.AlterTask" method), OnTaskChanged doesn't fire.

Any ideas what the issue is or how to further investigate?

Tks in advance

steven

sharepoint Task completed should be made read only

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:53:32 Z

I am creating a task in custom approval wokflow. The apporver edit the task and approve / reject. Once the task is completed i want to make that task as read only. how to do this thro code.

Workflow user context

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:26:21 Z

I have a workflow and was wondering if I can force it to run as the administrator? You can obviously do this kind of thing when writing .NET code.

Am I correct in assuming that a workflow will run as the user who triggers it?

What I am trying to do is set permissions on a form within a list (based on info contained within the form) but for some users the workflow will fail and I believe it is because the user is lacking in permissions. If I raise their permissions through the admin screens I will break the item level security.

Workflow - which manager approves it?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:34:58 Z

We have a Travel Expense Form (infoPath). I want the approval workflow to start with the manager of the one who filled out the form. Obviously there are several managers. How may I automate it to pick the right manager?

Thanks, Dave

Workflow Condition not working

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:24:21 Z

Hi all,

I have my 'workflow 1' which assigns a form to user and it also adds a task to Tasks list in share point. My second workflow 'workflow 2' is started automatically whenever a new item is added to Tasks list. This workflow updates a column in the Tasks List. Now I would like 'workflow 2' to update List column only if the task item has been added by 'workflow1'. I tried adding conditions in 'workflow 2' to check fields in Tasks list.

I set a condition to check if the workflow Name of the new item in Tasks equals 'workflow 1' and only then update List column. But it does not seem to work and the List column is updated for every new item added to Tasks even by other workflows. The condition does not seem to work here. Please let me know if I am missing something.

Thanks

Approval Workflow process when editing list item

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:39:57 Z

Hi,

I am in process of defining the approval process of Lists I have in my site collection. Couples of my lists are Master Lists and rests are transactional lists which have Lookup type columns from Master Lists.

Now I want to define the workflow for approval process of individual list items. Only approved items should be available to outside world via the SharePoint web service. It works absolutely fine with new items.

Q: How can we apply workflow for existing items when they are edited? As there are no published copy of these lists. Existing items are already been used by someone and when we try to change it the Approval Status changes and the Item won’t be available to anyone. But the actual behavior should allow users to still use the previous version of that item and once new version is approved should replace the previous version of item. What will be best/ automated way of achieving this type of workflow?

Thanks,

Amit Tiwari

Question about the account that declaritive (SPD) workflows run under

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:02:55 Z

Hi

I have a SPD workflow that I start manually on a list. This workflow simply takes the list and dumps it to xml in a different document library (via a custom action that I have written). The idea here is that that xml can then be processed using xsl via a workflow on that document library. What I am finding is that the second workflow is not executing on my production server.
The error in the log is: Declarative workflows cannot automatically start if the triggering action was performed by System Account

When I started looking into why this works on one machine but not the other I spotted that the the xml document that is dumped into the doc lib has a "Modified By" of my login name on the machine that works but "System Account" on the machine where the workflow doesn't work.

This blog gives a very good explanation as to why the workflow triggered by the system account wont start, but what I cant figure out is why the "Modified By" differes like this.

Any ideas? Surly it should be the logged in user account on both machines. Could it be that a particular service or app pool is running under the wrong account.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or ideas.

share point work flow - Approval one time only

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:50:59 Z

Hi,

I would like to use the three state work flow for a share point list. Three states
New
Inprogress
Complete

When new item is add, email will send to a person for approved. This is work fine.
Now that everytime I change the state, the approve status change back to "PENDING" and no one can see the change until I have to APPROVE it again.

I would like when the state change, no approved is required and no email send for approve again.
How do i do this?

Please help.

Thanks,
Ddee

.

Two sets of Approvers in a work flow

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:31:10 Z

Hey All,

I got a request to have two sets of approvers in a work flow.

One to go to group "A" and after it is accepted by all then to automatically start the work flows for group "B"

Can this be done with designer using conditional steps ? or which way would you suggest on a moss system

your input would be great

Thanks for your time and energy

How to get all instances of a workflow?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:30:02 Z

Hello.

I'm new to sharepoint and i have a question about workflows.

I'm trying to build a class library that uses the workflow runtime to get some information about running workflows.

I want to get all the instances of a running workflow and with the instances get information about the state, possible states and so on.

I know how to get the last part but i can't get all the instances of a particular workflow. Can you guys help me with that?

Thanks.

PS: I've been searching for 2 days and i only found how to get the instances of a workflow from an item of a sharepoint list but that's not what i need.
If i wasn't to clear please say so maybe i can reformulate my question.

How to edit the "look" of a built in Workflow

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:55:50 Z

I am currently using a workflow based on the OOB Approval workflow in Sharepoin 2007. I would like to know if it is possible to do the following:

Change the subject of the notification Emails
Change the view or edit task page (I wish to change the button text and disable the "Reject" button)

Is this even possible? If yes, what tools do I need to do this?

Thanks.

how to add activities to a custom or sequence activity dynamically in sharepoint state machine workflow

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:03:17 Z

hi all

i wish anyone could help me in this problem.

i am creating a sharepoint state machine workflow using visual studio 2008.

the workflow is deployed as a feature on sharepoint 2007.

the workflow consists of three state:

1-the first state and the last state are the initial and final states respectively.
2-the second state consists of state initialization activity. in the state intialization activity i have a custom activity that sends an email

question:

what i want to do is that i want to add activities to the custom activity dynamically .

so how can i achieve this.

How to Create Custom Work Flow Through Sharepoint Designer

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:15:08 Z

1. Design Casual Labour Request List + approval steps ( 1^st Dept. Manager & 2^nd director) Fields – Company, Position, Duration(Start date & End Date), Reason (free text), Budget rate/day.

2. Once request is approved, it automatically loads to the entry to “Casual Labour List” enabling HRA to secure the casual worker in terms of the approval.

3. “Casual Labour List” Fields – Employee No., ID No.: Start Date(Default), End Date(Default), + Casual Labour Request fields defaulted(uneditable) + “scope Complete” field with actual days worked (only field that is editable after dept. Manager approval), trigger dept managers payment approval

4. Once “Casual Labour List” is updated by HRA, it once again goes through a secondary approval by Dept Manager only and once Dept Manager approves, none of the fields are editable except for “Scope Complete Field” which is done by HRA.

5.       “Scope Complete” field in “Casual Labour List” after completion of casual service, which HRA completes and thereafter triggers Dept. Manager approval for payment, Once dept manager approves, it triggers payment steps(Finance Dept.) to the casual worker. Dept Manager can change duration to lesser values only for days worked. Scope comments free text for Dept. Manager.

This is my spec

1)       In this spec the first step how to do the approval work flows in the sharepoint Designer
2)      And remaining steps also create automatically through work flow conditions
Just can u guide me steps for this work flows

Please help me

Regards
Ravi

How to get modified field's old value ?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:15:15 Z

I am using WSS 3.0 and trying to write a workflow that wakes when an item in a list is modified. I need to know how to get the old value of the field that was just modified. Here is my code:

public Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWorkflowActivationProperties workflowProperties = new Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWorkflowActivationProperties();

private void codeActivity1_ExecuteCode(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

      SPList listName = workflowProperties.List;
      SPListItem selectedItem = workflowProperties.Item;
      string NewValue = selectedItem["ProjectName"].ToString();

      string OldValue = ??????

    }

Add MOSS workflow templates to WSS?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:02:33 Z

I need the three workflow templates included in MOSS.
Approval
Collect Feedback
Gather Signatures

Since we are a small organization running WSS 3.0, is there a way to import/add these into our WSS 3.0 environment? In my google searching of this issue, it appears that this is not possible, but did not see anyone specifically asking this question.

Thanks,

Charlie

User Article Acknowledgement - Record name to list

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:22:01 Z

Wanting to create a workflow??
That will record a person's name when they read an article after they acknowledge they read it at the bottom. Like they have to put in the name from the directory. Small directory so this should be easy??

I am going to add a column to the article list creation that will allow for this as a choice yes/no for acknowledge when you create the new article. That way it will populate on the screen I hope?

What is the best way to go about something like this?

Anyone have an examples?

workflow email reminders for recurring events

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:04:17 Z

I have a workflow which was created to send out email reminders if a task was approaching but I can't get it to work for recurring events.

anyone have any guidance for setting up recurring reminder email workflows using Sharepoint Designer?

workflow failed on start if list item added proramatically

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:58:07 Z

Hi friends,

am stuck in this issue from past 2 days.
my work flows gets triggered when i add list item manually.
but when i add list item programatically it says "Failed on Start (retrying)"

thanks in advance...

ullasjoshi

How to create a numeric field (like a UniqueID field) which automatically populates and automatically in the form without the user involvment.

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:07:32 Z

Scenario: When a user come to create a new item he is asked to fill a form. In that form UniqueID should get populated automatically by sharepoint as 1. When a second user comes the same form should now show UniqueID to be 2. So on.

The best example is like Employee ID which is unique.

Only through SP DESIGNER or SP.

Through GUI only no code please.

Thanks in advance.

CopyTo method error, keynotfoundexception

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:57:22 Z

Hi,

I have a problem when i try to use CopyTo method, each first time i use a workflow with it CopyTo method throw an keynotfound exception.
If i retry, no problem.
The exception only occurs the first time.

Any idea about this problem ?

Regards,

Loïc M.

How to set a state for a StateMachineWorkflowInstance?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:08:17 Z

Hello everybody.

I have built a desktop application with a few buttons that do the creation of the workflow runtime, the creation of the workflow instance, the creation of the StateMachineWorkflowInstance and so on. I press these buttons in order. After those buttons i press the set state to... button. unfortunatly the code that i have written for this button doesnt work. After setting the state, reading the currentstatename reveals that the property is null.

Down bellow is the code. Can you please let me know what i'm doing wrong?

PS: I'm a beginner in SharePoint and Workflows.

WorkflowRuntime runtime;
WorkflowInstance instance;
StateMachineWorkflowInstance stInstance;

//the start workflow runtime and workflow instance button
private void btnStartWorkflow_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                runtime = new WorkflowRuntime();

                string connectionString = "Data Source=ONTWIKKEL3\\OFFICESERVERS;Initial Catalog=SqlPersistenceService;Integrated Security=True";
                SqlWorkflowPersistenceService sqlPersistenceService = new SqlWorkflowPersistenceService(connectionString, true, new TimeSpan(0, 0, 0, 360, 0), new TimeSpan(0, 0, 0, 10, 0));
                SqlTrackingService sqlTrackingService = new SqlTrackingService(connectionString);

                runtime.AddService(sqlPersistenceService);
                runtime.AddService(sqlTrackingService);
                runtime.StartRuntime();

                instance = runtime.CreateWorkflow(typeof(Workflow1));

                instance.Load();
                instance.Start();
                lblStatus.Text = "Workflow started with instance id: " + instance.InstanceId;
            }
            catch(Exception ex)
            {
                lblStatus.Text = ex.Message;
            }
        }

//the start StateMachineWorkflowInstance button
private void btnCreateInstance_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                stInstance = utils.CreateInstance(runtime, instance, "");
                lblStatus.Text = "Instance created with id: " + stInstance.InstanceId;
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                lblStatus.Text = ex.Message;
            }
        }

//the set state to RevieweApproval button
private void btnSetStateReviewerApproval_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {

                //either this
                StateActivity state = (StateActivity)stInstance.StateMachineWorkflow.Activities["stateActivity_ReviewerApproval"];

                stInstance.SetState(state);

                //or this
                stInstance.SetState("stateActivity_ReviewerApproval");

                if (stInstance.CurrentState != null)// HERE IS WHERE THE CURRENT STATE IS NULL
                {
                    lblStatus.Text = "Current state is: " + stInstance.CurrentStateName;
                }
                else
                {
                    lblStatus.Text = "The state could not be set.";
                }

                instance.Resume();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                lblStatus.Text = ex.Message;
            }
        }

Thanks!

String replacement using SPD

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:44:34 Z

Is it possible to replace part of a string in a workflow variable using SharePoint Designer? I need to be able to replace a space with a %20%. Can this be done using Build Dynamic String or some other way. Is there an example that someone can provide?

Thanks

Workflow error

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:22:07 Z

"Errors were found when compiling the workflow. The workflow files were saved but cannot be run"

"Unexpected error on server associating the workflow"

what should i do? im new with sharepoint so i didn't know where to start to solve this error.

Thank you.

Workflows and Content Query Web Part

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:05:43 Z

Please can you let me know how to create announcements workflow on a team site and use content query web part to display the team site announcement on the home page. This is what the process should be: When the announcement is created on the team site, it goes into a workflow, once the workflow is approved, it should display on the home page using content query web part, if the workflow is in pending or not approved, it should not show on the home page.

System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Feature

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:14:50 Z

Hello All,

on my system only wss is installed , when i try to deploy the sequential workflow, i got the following error,

Please suggest me , where i will get this dll Feature 'cd19ae89-b437-4113-b063-e740929cc27c' could not be installed because the loading of event receiver assembly "Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Feature, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" failed: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Feature, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' or one of its dependencies.

The system cannot find the file specified. File name: 'Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Feature, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' at System.Reflection.Assembly._nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, Assembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection) at System.Reflection.Assembly.nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, Assembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection) at System.Reflection.Assembly.InternalLoad(AssemblyName assemblyRef, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean forIntrospection) at System.Reflection.Assembly.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean forIntrospection) at System.Reflection.Assembly.Load(String assemblyString) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPFeatureDefinition.get_ReceiverObject() WRN: Assembly binding logging is turned OFF.

To enable assembly bind failure logging, set the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog] (DWORD) to 1. Note: There is some performance penalty associated with assembly bind failure logging. To turn this feature off, remove the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog].

Reg:How to load persited workflow instance with mysql database.

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:07:20 Z

Hi,

I am new to windows workflow.I have implemented StateMachineWorkflow to my application

In this we have used Persistence Service also.But When the InstanceID is not used for 2 miniutes it is give the same state till releated event get fires .

If second time i fire the event and run the scheduler.runworkflow()(Manual Workflow Scheduler) for the same workflowinstance it is executing the state and pass to next state.

I think when i am executing the workflow instance for particular event it got unloaded from the memory and saved in persistence store DB.

But again when i am trying to raise the event for the same instance it is executing the state but it is not forwarding to next state.

If again i try to raise the event for the same instance it is working fine and forwrding the state.

I am using ManaualSchedular Service ang SQL Persiatence Services as runtime Services.

After raising the related workflow event i am running the schudular.runworkflow(InstanceID) also.

Please some give me way how can i resolve this problem.

Thanks & Reagrds
AP_Workflow

How to let people involved in the workflow know that a specific value in the item has been changed.

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:11:24 Z

How to let people involved in the workflow know that a specific value in the item has been changed.

Scenario 1: User A changes field called Name, after creation has been already done. Now i want everyone in the workflow to get email stating that this particular field (Name) has been changed by this particular person (User A) on this particular item (Item 1).

Scenario 2: User B changes field called Country, after creation has been already done. Now i want everyone in the workflow to get email stating that this particular field (Country) has been changed by this particular person (User B) on this particular item (Item 2).

Through SP Designer only. No coding please.

Thanks in advance.

Edit Properties in Document Error

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:04:28 Z

Hello,
I'm not sure how to describe my situation, but I'll give it a try.

I have a 3-state workflow in Sharepoint. Once I've clicked on Edit Properties in the document I select two different email addresses for whom I would like to send the document to. I then start the workflow. Once one of the people, I've sent the doc to, updates the form both email addresses get updated with that one persons name.

Can anybody tell me why this is happening? Does anyone else have this problem?

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Chris

How do I terminate an orphaned SPD-created workflow?

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:50:15 Z

I created a simple workflow with SharePoint Designer 2007. It fires off whenever a new browser-based InfoPath 2007 form is added to a form library in MOSS 2007 Enterprise. The workflow waits until a specific field is given a value by the user, then continues. No problem.

However, some forms have been deleted before the workflow could complete. I know how to terminate a workflow when the item it was attached to still exists. But I cannot figure out how to terminate these orphaned workflows.

If this is a common scenario, how do others prevent it from happening?

This task is currently locked by a running workflow and cannot be edited

Fri, 11 May 2007 13:46:54 Z

Hey, I created a workflow that would I would get the above message after a few days of maddness, I tried the HelloWorldSequential from the ECM Starter Kit and am getting the same message. (If first you don't succeed, try reading the instructions) But alas I get the same error.

Can anyone shed some light on this..

Steps to recreate:

1) Deploy the HelloWorldSequential from the ECM

2) Associate to a document library and start a workflow on a doc.

3) Fill out the init Form and submit (so far so good, debugs as well)

4) Now select task review, add feedback info and submit.

5) Please wait while your task is updated... is displayed for about 30 seconds / debugger is not entered. / onTaskChange is not fired

6) Select the task again, press submit on the form and

"This task is currently locked by a running workflow and cannot be edited" error is displayed.

Terminate Workflow start again - Debugger works but still the same problem.

Anyone have the same type of issue....

Thanks!!

Bruce VB

workflow task list content type advantage?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:15:58 Z

I would like to know why having a content type for workflow task list is better than using regular default task list? I got this from SDK:

"For ease of programming, we strongly recommend that developers create content types for their task types, and that each task content type schema exactly match the schema of its designated edit task form. This approach provides one-to-one mapping of properties, and eliminates the need to parse the extended properties field to extract additional values."

can someone show in sample code how both are different. I have used ExtendedProperties to transfer data to task forms but I would like to know how it will work if i dont use ExtendedProperties.

how to use SharePoint to manage work items (tasks)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:05:39 Z

Hello everyone,

I am using SharePoint 2007 Enterprise + Publishing portal template + Windows Server 2008. I want to utilize SharePoint to manage work items and I want to let gurus here to recommend me some good tutorials for newbie like me for this field (better through configuration ways, not through coding).

My requirements are,

1. Manager could assign task to workers, and manager could edit task description, due date;
2. Workers could see the tasks assigned to them, and could update task execution status (may attach some documents);
3. Manager could review all tasks assigned by the manager, and updates by workers;
4. Better to have a calendar view with the tasks.

thanks in advance,
George

SP Designer workflow uncertainty

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:35 Z

I am trying to build workflows on a list (SP Designer). This is my first attempt and I am not sure when something should be another workflow, or when it should/could be an additional step in an existing workflow. I need it to work like this:

Employee A creates list item which consists of quite a few columns. When Employee A creates the list item it kicks off an automatic email to Employee B. I've got that workflow (#1) done and it works.

Now when Employee B returns to the list to edit it, Employee A needs to be notified. Should a separate workflow(#2) be created for this, or could Employee A just use auto email alert or RSS alert to be notified. Is one method better than the other?

Also, if Employee B selects a Yes form a Yes/No column item in the list, it needs to kick off an email to Employee C. Is that a separate workflow (#3), or is that an additional step in workflow #2? The problem I envision here is that Employee A wants to be notified every time the list item is edited. However, we only want Employee C to receive that email notification once.

Thank you for any advice on setting this up.

Error Compiling Workflow in SPD

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:15:40 Z

When I try to compile a workflow in SPD 2007 I get an error: (-1, -1) Compilation failed. Cannot execute a program. The command being executed was "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v3.5\csc.exe" /noconfig /fullpaths @"C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\vzanoz9f.cmdline".)

I checked the folder on the computer I'm using SPD on - \windows\microsoft.net\framework64\v3.5 and the csc.exe file is there.

how to add picture to a SharePoint list?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:35:27 Z

Hello everyone,

I am using SharePoint 2007 Enterprise + Publishing portal template + Windows Server 2008. I want to add a list with two columns, one column displays picture, and the other column displayes rich text. I did not find a way to display picture itself into a list (picture type column of list seems only add a link of picture to the column, not the picture itself). Any ideas how to implement? And is it possible to implement paging on list -- e.g. display 20 items on each page, and if 100 items, display by 5 pages (end user could use page-up and page-down to control paged view)?

thanks in advance,
George

workflow list design

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:11:13 Z

I need to develop a workflow that will approve parts of a form sequentially. for example, i have a form with 4 parts(collection of fields) which will be approved by 4 different departments. Each department will only be able to edit their part while reading the previous departments data.

So I am thinking of making 1 list that will have all 4 department fields in it and also make 4 task list content types to save this data from each department which will be updated to the main list as the departments fill them. My question is if its the right approach? if not then any recommendations?

Three-state workflow error on InfoPath Form library

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:04:20 Z

Relevant details: MOSS 2007; InfoPath 2007

Situation: I have a form library that has several workflows associated with it, one of which is the three-state workflow. Everything works fine for the most part. However, there is one very specific scenario that seems to casue a problem. Basically, if a user has a form open and they try to complete the assigned task, the three-state workflow will fail and report that an "Error Occurred". Reviewing the workflow history and reports provides really no detail as to what happened. Rather, you have to look through the logs and that is where you'll find the following exception:

Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException: The file "http://aUrl.com/Projects/Requests/Request-2009-11-18T10_15_50.xml" is checked out or locked for editing by someone. ---> System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x81020036): The file "http://aUrl/Projects/Requests/Request-2009-11-18T10_15_50.xml" is checked out or locked for editing by NT_GATEWAY\rrosebeck.     at Microsoft.SharePoint.Library.SPRequestInternalClass.AddOrUpdateItem(String bstrUrl, String bstrListName, Boolean bAdd, Boolean bSystemUpdate, Boolean bPreserveItemVersion, Boolean bUpdateNoVersion, Int32& plID, String& pbstrGuid, Guid pbstrNewDocId, Boolean bHasNewDocId, String bstrVersion, Object& pvarAttachmentNames, Object& pvarAttachmentContents, Object& pvarPropert...  
ies, Boolean bCheckOut, Boolean bCheckin, Boolean bMigration, Boolean bPublish)     at Microsoft.SharePoint.Library.SPRequest.AddOrUpdateItem(String bstrUrl, String bstrListName, Boolean bAdd, Boolean bSystemUpdate, Boolean bPreserveItemVersion, Boolean bUpdateNoVersion, Int32& plID, String& pbstrGuid, Guid pbstrNewDocId, Boolean bHasNewDocId, String bstrVersion, Object& pvarAttachmentNames, Object& pvarAttachmentContents, Object& pvarProperties, Boolean bCheckOut, Boolean bCheckin, Boolean bMigration, Boolean bPublish)     --- End of inner exception stack trace ---     at Microsoft.SharePoint.Library.SPRequest.AddOrUpdateItem(String bstrUrl, String bstrListName, Boolean bAdd, Boolean bSystemUpdate, Boolean bPreserveItemVersion, Boolean bUpdateNoVersion, Int32& plID, String& pbstrGuid, Gui...  
d pbstrNewDocId, Boolean bHasNewDocId, String bstrVersion, Object& pvarAttachmentNames, Object& pvarAttachmentContents, Object& pvarProperties, Boolean bCheckOut, Boolean bCheckin, Boolean bMigration, Boolean bPublish)     at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPListItem.AddOrUpdateItem(Boolean bAdd, Boolean bSystem, Boolean bPreserveItemVersion, Boolean bNoVersion, Boolean bMigration, Boolean bPublish, Boolean bCheckOut, Boolean bCheckin, Guid newGuidOnAdd, Int32& ulID, Object& objAttachmentNames, Object& objAttachmentContents, Boolean suppressAfterEvents)     at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPListItem.UpdateInternal(Boolean bSystem, Boolean bPreserveItemVersion, Guid newGuidOnAdd, Boolean bMigration, Boolean bPublish, Boolean bNoVersion, Boolean bCheckOut, Boolean bCheckin, Boolean suppressAfterEvents)     at...  
Microsoft.SharePoint.SPListItem.Update()     at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.Application.IssueTracking.IsTaskCompleted(Guid taskId, SPWorkflowTaskProperties creationProps, Hashtable properties, String executor, String& outcome)     at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.Application.IssueTracking.CheckFlags(Object sender, EventArgs e)     at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Activity.RaiseEvent(DependencyProperty dependencyEvent, Object sender, EventArgs e)     at System.Workflow.Activities.CodeActivity.Execute(ActivityExecutionContext executionContext)     at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityExecutor`1.Execute(T activity, ActivityExecutionContext executionContext)     at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityExecutor`1.Execute(Activity activity, ActivityExecutionContext executionContext)  ...  
at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityExecutorOperation.Run(IWorkflowCoreRuntime workflowCoreRuntime)     at System.Workflow.Runtime.Scheduler.Run()

What makes this situation even more flaky (at least to me) is that if you actually go and open the form, an information panel is displayed that provides you with a button to “Edit (the) Task” associated with the form. That’s a convenient feature, but if you actually use that approach to complete the task (and the form is still open) you’ll fall into the trap mentioned above and hose the workflow.

So my question is, how can I keep the workflow from failing? Obviously, I can tell my users to close the form before completing the task. But, is that really a solution? Shouldn't the workflow be able to handle that situation?

Any help would be appreciated.