Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Cody Schouten — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 05:32:12 GMT

Thank you very much for this article. I've been hearing for months that SharePoint 2007 has workflow built into it, but I didn't really understand the value of it. Great article.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

CK — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 07:34:36 GMT

Very cool stuff I've been playing around with it... One thing I couldn't find was if there was the ability using the "SharePoint Designer" to move a document from one library to another on an event? Like if the doc was approved to move it to a library that more people had access too.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 20:58:06 GMT

You can use the "Copy Item" and "Delete Item" actions in the designer to "move" the document. You can also write a custom activity that does this using the object model and import it into SPD.

Tech Talk PT » Blog Archive » Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Tech Talk PT » Blog Archive » Introduction to SharePoint Workflow! — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 13:27:17 GMT

PingBack from http://techtalkpt.wordpress.com/2006/06/09/introduction-to-sharepoint-workflow/

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Hao Zhai — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 00:32:13 GMT

Thank you, Eilene. Great intro to SharePoint workflow.

SharePoint Designer deploys workflows as XML and compiles it on-the-fly. What’s the implication of this in terms of performance? Will the same workflow created by Visual Studio perform better because it’s compiled into assemblies and deployed in the GAC? Is there a pre-compiling and caching mechanism for SharePoint Designer workflows similar to how execution plans are generated for SQL Server stored procedures?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Prasanna Vignesh — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 10:21:39 GMT

I get the clear concept of workflow, sharepoint office services. thank you for this post..

The ECM Starter Kit

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Team Blog — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 20:17:43 GMT

Hi, everyone!
&nbsp;
As a follow-up to my “Introduction to SharePoint Workflow” post on the SharePoint...

2007 Microsoft Office Server System Reference Material

The Boiler Room - Mark Kruger, SharePoint MVP — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 20:22:11 GMT

Download SharePoint Beta2:

Important Documentation Prior to SharePoint Beta 2 Installation
Get...

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Jeanine Flanders — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 21:15:56 GMT

Great information! thanks.

Does the workflow also work with InfoPath forms?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 11:13:37 GMT

Yes, Office SharePoint Server workflows work with InfoPath forms, which can be displayed in a browser via InfoPath Form Server or as dialogs inside the core Office client apps. (keep an eye out for a post on the ECM blog for details;)). However, Windows SharePoint Services workflows do not and can only use aspx forms.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Mihai Durcau — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 20:10:25 GMT

How to trigger a SharePoint workflow when an item in the list is deleted?
In SharePoint designer you can associate an workflow only on CREATE and MODIFY events... very strange that the DELETE was left out...

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

David DeWell — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 18:59:58 GMT

Ok, but explain how workflow would control a document that requires certain information to be hidden or displayed differently. Additionally, how would you take this workflow and place it in a new blank project? This all seems to be template driven?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

David DeWell — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 21:37:23 GMT

Additionally, I know there are plans to have security in these classes but the even the "DoesUserHavePermission" property is still a Todo. Unfortunately, it is in Beta so we may never know until it hits market. All I know is I have not been able to use WWF to create a proper workflow in Sharepoint 2007 as of yet without manually coding it myself.

Walkthrough: Using the SharePoint Server 2007 Approval Workflow

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Team Blog — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 01:59:10 GMT

Hi everyone,
As promised in my intro to workflow&nbsp;post on the SharePoint blog, I'd like to walk...

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 10:24:58 GMT

Hi guys, thanks for your comments:) Let me try to answer some of your questions.

Hello Mihai, with regards to the triggering on item deletion, keep in mind that each workflow binds to an item, so if the item is deleted, there's nothing to start that workflow on. This is why the "start on delete" option is not available. However, an already running workflow can listen for the event that its item is deleted, so as an alternative, you can have a workflow run on the item when it's created that waits for the deletion and then does its thing. To get this functionality in SPD, you can code an action that uses the OnWorkflowItemDeleted activity in Visual Studio and import it.

Hi David, I'm not sure I understand your question, but in general, you can code your workflow to parse and process documents, properties, lists, etc. by using the SharePoint object model and other methods of choice. So since you have access to the document itself, you can hide text or format it as you wish during the workflow execution. You can create workflows for SharePoint using the normal WF VS designer and SharePoint activities that handle events, manage tasks, etc. If you're interested, we have some custom workflow samples and project templates in the ECM Starter Kit (see above) that might help you get started. As for DoesUserHavePermission, it should be implemented; it may just appear to be a todo because the intellisense documentation isn't implemented yet;). Actually, pretty much all methods should be implemented, so if you find bugs, do let us know.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Carol Puszewski — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 22:20:23 GMT

Does this approve and reviewer functionality stand up in a court of law around reconciliations and financial type reviews that are required for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We are thinking about implementing the workflow as evidence or preparation and review of financial documents, but are not sure if the electronic documentation would suffice in a court of law. The current process is to print out financial documents and sign-off manually, which is very manual but legally seems to be what will stand up in a court of law (the handwritten original signature).

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Lasse Bisbjerg — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 12:59:31 GMT

Hi Eilene,

Is it possible to set up a workflow (with SharePoint Designer),
which will automatically approve a document or article page, if a certain field in the item is set? I've tried to set up such a workflow, but it always fails with an Access Denied:
Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED))

The workflow is as follows: if a user creates a new article and sets a specific site column for the article: displayforalluser = no, then the article should automatically be approved when it is submitted for approval.

Your help is much appreciated.

Give me a B, Give me a P, Give me a M - What's that spell - BPM!

Tom Rizzo's SharePoint Blog — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:31:05 GMT

If you haven't seen it yet, we launched a new Business Process Management site at http://www.microsoft.com/bpmEven...

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 15:10:52 GMT

Hi Carol and Lasse,

Carol, let me preface this by saying that I'm not a lawyer, so this may not be completely accurate, but I'll try to give some recommendations on what I think might work in this case.:) You should definitely consult with a lawyer to get the scoop and recommendation for your location and the situations you think you'll encounter.

While I believe you could use workflow for signoff, I wouldn't recommend it as the primary method if you need a strong case. I would recommend digital signatures with workflow to support. Here are more details on what I mean:

I believe workflow could be used to audit signoff, as long as it's implemeted correctly and takes the right security measures. For example, you need to make sure that your custom workflow secures the approval tasks so that only the approver can edit it. As long as the user's account hasn't been compromised, SharePoint permissions would probably hold up in court.

However, if brought to court, it may be hard to prove that your custom implementation of the workflow you're using is bulletproof. Digital Signatures on the document itself that use certificates from trusted vendors, on the other hand, would be much stronger.

I'd recommend using digital signatures in the document and having the workflow route the document to collect the signatures. This way, you can use electronic documents, use workflow to facilitate the process, and know that you have something secure.

You might also want to use some of our other records management and policy features baked into SharePoint Server like auditing and holds, which were created to assist with legal purposes. If you use these, you can track every read or edit, and combined with workflow, this would make a case even stronger. For more information about these features, take a look at the Records Management team blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/recman/ :)

Lasse, yes, this is definitely a scenario you could implement in SPD. Set the workflow to auto-start on creation/change, use a conditional, then the Set Field action to approve it. I'm guessing this is a permission eror. Is this happening when you click Finish and it's trying to deploy to the site? You need to be a list administrator on the list you're trying to deploy the workflow to. Make sure you have the right permissions. If it still doesn't work, let us know and we can try something else.:)

Hope this helps,
Eilene

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Jobs — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 09:52:16 GMT

Hi everybody,

How to set automatically rejected shared document when upload document.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Vrushali Ranjalkar — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 13:21:48 GMT

Hi Eilene ,

I saw your demonstration of how to create workflow in VS 2005 for sharepoint. I created the workflow, filled feature.xml and workflow.xml and install.bat files properly.Ran the install.bat file.It gave completed successfully without any error.When I went in sharepoint site and workflow setting to add a workflow,I saw my workflow.So selected that and clicked on "ok" button.It is giving error that "The form cannot be displayed because session state is not available. ".
Please advise me on this. I need to show the demo to my client urgently.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

connex — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 16:40:04 GMT

Hi Eilene,

I watched your webcast (Developing SharePoint Workflows Using Visual Studio 2005) today, and am playing around with the ecm-samples. I want to assign a task to a group, where one of the group can complete the task, like it is with the feedback workflow. How can I achieve this? What do I need to give as "assignedto" when creating the task?

Great webcast btw.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Mark Collins — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 01:50:23 GMT

Eilene,

Hello I saw your presentation at devcon about creating workflows w/ visual studio 2005, great job. I have recently been trying to create a work flow for sharepoint beta 2 and am not having any luck following the examples on the devcon dvd or anything else I have found on msdn thus far. Are there any new examples you are aware of that work with the beta 2 release? Any info or links would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Stephan — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 20:49:47 GMT

I am evaluating MOSS, and used the Sharepoint designer to create a few workflows, but was unable to create a workflow to move a document from one doc lib to another / accross servers to another MOSS site.

Is it possible?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 04:24:25 GMT

Hi guys! Sorry I've been away! Here are some answers for you:

Jobs, you can create a workflow that automatically starts when an item is created. Have the workflow delete the item. It's pretty easy to do with SharePoint Designer. In any case, you'll want to check the "Automatically start when an item is created" checkbox in SPD or the association page.

Vrushali, make sure you have an SSP (Central Administration->Application Management->Create or Configure this farm’s shared services) for your site. Also, you can make sure that session state is enabled by going to Central Administration->Application Management->Configure Session State.

Connex, to assign to a SharePoint group, you just need the group name. So for example, if you want to assign a task to Home Members, you would say taskprops.AssignedTo = "Home Members". The claim task option should be available automatically.

Mark, the ECM Starter Kit linked to in the entry has a bunch of VS samples for Beta 2. Also, there is a walkthrough for Hello World at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/ms564355.aspx that you might find helpful:)

Anyway, hope this helps! Let me know if you have more questions.

Thanks,
Eilene

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Ashley Latham — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 09:51:49 GMT

Hi Eilene,

With the OOB Approval workflow it is possible to select ""Start this workflow to approve publishing a major version of an item."

However whenever I make my own custom workflow and/or implement on of the sample workflows in the starter kit this option is disabled.

Is there a chance you can give a hint of what needs to be implemented in the custom workflow to have SharePoint allow this option?

Thanks in advance,

Ashley

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Tasman Bleechmore — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 17:54:26 GMT

I would like my custom workflow to be started whenever a user tries to approve a document. However when I try to add my workflow the check box "Start this workflow to approve publishing a major version of an item." is always disabled.

Is there some special way i need to set up my workflow to enable this?

Thanks

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Tasman Bleechmore — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 00:46:55 GMT

Just because Im such a nice guy Ill answer my own question. You need to stick this line in your Workflow.xml.

I have abbreviated for the sake of clarity

<MetaData>
...
<AssociationData>...</AssociationData>
<StatusPageUrl>...</StatusPageUrl>
<InitiationType>Manual;#OnNewItem;#OnItemUpdate;#OnMajorCheckIn</InitiationType>
</MetaData>

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:26:13 GMT

Hi Ashley and Tasman,

It's actually not (just) the workflow that needs to be set up; you have to set up the library itself correctly to enable this:-D.

Go to List Settings->General Settings->Version Settings and make sure major and minor versions is turned on. This should enable the check box.

Yes, the InitiationType tag is important too (I think if you leave it off, the default is that all options are enabled, but it definitely comes in handy if you need a specific combination).

-Eilene

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Scott — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:48:32 GMT

I've been trying to get Collect Signatures workflow (the default one in Sharepoint2007) to work. If you choose that workflow there is no next page that asks you for the users to send the form to for signatures. If I put an Infopath2007 form in the folder and set the workflow and edit the form the workflow is not started.

How do you use this workflow? Thanks.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

frederic belloc — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 18:03:46 GMT

Hi,

I try to get work the OnItemChanged activity but there is no documentation ...

Is it possible to have some help ?

Thx

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 04:36:08 GMT

Collect signatures needs to be started from the client application (I believe Word or Excel) on a document that has Office 2007 signature lines in it. Open your server document, go to big button->Workflows, and select Collect Signatures. This should pull up a form that lets you specify email addresses for each signature line in your document.

OnItemChanged has been removed post Beta 2, so refrain from using it. Use the CallExternalMethod activity and the InitializeForEvent method in the list item service channel on existing items to register the workflow for events on that item, then use the HandleExternalEvent activity for the events. These may be buggy until RTM, so hang in there...:(

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Joshua V — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 19:30:23 GMT

As a Gold Microsoft partner I downloaded Sharepoint 2007 last week. I'm most interested in the workflow abilities in the upcoming release of Sharepoint. I'm having a problem with the workflow I created though. I created the workflow with Sharepoint Designer 2007 and each time I run it from the Sharepoint site it says that "An error has occured in [workflow name]". I have no idea what the error is unfortunately. All I'm trying to do is upload a file to a Sharepoint documents list and then create a ToDo for a specified used in my workflow.

Has anyone encountered this issue? I can use the built-in workflows within sharepoint to set-up an approval for a document without errors.

Understanding Workflow in Windows SharePoint Services V3 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system

Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies Team Blog — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:53:18 GMT

&nbsp;&nbsp; We’ve received numerous inquiries via this blog and elsewhere for information on “how...

Understanding Workflow in Windows SharePoint Services V3 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Team Blog — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 01:03:25 GMT

&nbsp;&nbsp; [Reposted from the SharePoint Team Blog]
&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp; We’ve received numerous inquiries...

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

cy w — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 06:30:11 GMT

Is there any documentation produced in regards to how to add custom actions to Sharepoint Designer?
We have limited development skills & I am trying to establish an enviroment here so that our IT guys only need to use SPD for workflow development. However, I need to be able to create custom actions (i.e. assign tasks to each member in AD group) so that I can overcome 'roadblocks'. Although messy, most of our business processes can be supported with SPD WF & lists.
Any information on how to do this would be greatly appreciated!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Stephan Human — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 08:13:09 GMT

Josh,

Concerning your error. I had the same error, and it seems like it had something to do with form services on the sharepoint installation.

When you created your site collection, did you create it under "sites/mynewsite" or under root. I found after creating another one under root, my workflow worked on that site, but not the other.

The main thing I tried was to access the forms services web service on the first site, and I was uanble to browse to it. Once I created a new site collection under the root I was able to browse the service there.

Hope this helps.

Workflow in Office System 2007

Arpan Shah's Blog — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:32:36 GMT

A lot of questions regarding workflow capabilities in Office System 2007. We recently published a whitepaper...

Business Process Management: MOSS and Biztalk

Steve Caravajal's Ramblings — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:05:33 GMT

As the MOSS story unfolds I continue to get a number of questions about our BPM story.&nbsp; Customers...

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Kiran — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 21:21:12 GMT

Hi Eilene,
Can we invoke the MOSS OOTB "Approval" workflow from a custom workflow. Visual studio 2005 provides an action called Invoke Workflow. Using that action, can we invoke the Approval workflow? The OOTB Approval workflow satisfies a part of my requirement.
MOSS has very good Approval workflow.
I want to leverage the Approval workflow by adding custom actions prior to the approval by creating my custom workflow and then leave the process of approval to the OOTB workflow. This seems possible conceptually with InvokeWorkFLow action. But I dont know how to proceed forward. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Sachin Dekate — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 13:32:43 GMT

Hi Eilene,

I have created a List. In its workflow settings > Add a Workflow Page , I am filling in all the required details. I selected "APPROVAL", default workflow template.
On next page I am getting "Unknown Error".

Page URL
CstWrkflIP.aspx?List={67825E44-A12E-4D08-8805-73529FA0F0E7}&_CookieSentinel=1.

Please advise me.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 22:41:56 GMT

Joshua, the error can mean a number of things. Stephan gives a great suggestion. If that doesn't work, to debug, you can also try deploying the workflow an action at a time to see which one is causing the error to happen...

cy, to import activities into SPD, try the following steps:
1) Promote properties in your activity in VS
2) Add an xml entry to an .actions file in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\1033\Workflow\wss.actions (see math activity as an example), or use your own .actions file in the same directory (recommended).
3) Add the activity dll to the web.config file in one of the web.config files in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\virtualdirectories (search for Microsoft.sharepoint.workflowactions in the files and put it adjacent to those)

Kiran, unfortunately, I don't have any experience with InvokeWorkflow. Perhaps you could call the workflow by extracting the dll from the gac and selecting the workflow as the target, but you'd probably have to tweak your workflow.xml to use the same forms as the original.

Sachin, are you using MOSS or core WSS? If you're using core WSS, you won't have that page, so you'll need to specify a different custom aspx page for your association url. If you are using MOSS, then there's probably something else going on, so let us know if that's the case.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Patrick — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:13:29 GMT

I encountered a problem where only administrator can start the workflow which I have designed using SharePoint Designer. When a different user start the workflow, it will hits error.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

kiran — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 21:42:28 GMT

Hi Eilene,
Thanks for your response.
I am trying to customize State Machine Approval Workflow given with the ECM starter Kit. This workflow works well if I give approver user ids in the association/initiation form.

Instead of regular user ids, I want active directory groups to be my approvers. The reason why I want to assign AD group as approver is because, I want to have the claim task functionality.

Any person within that approvers AD group, would log in and then see the task in the Assigned to my groups view. The user then clicks on the task and claims it. The process of claiming a task is firing the OnTaskChanged event. And the workflow proceeds to the next state.

I dont want to expand the group and then assign tasks individually to all members. (hence I did not use replicator task)I just want to assign the task to group and then first person in the group who sees the task would claim it.

How can I assign a task to a group and then make one person claim the task and approve the task?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Ismail Zein — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:16:55 GMT

Hi Eilene,

I need to assign a task to a SharePoint group, but only a member of the group is required to execute the task. I followed your instructions and set taskProps.AssignetTo = GroupName. the task is being assigned to the group; however it doesnt appear in the task list for each member. How this action can be done. Furthermore, when somebody executes the task, it should be removed from the task list of others. so how can we perform all these actions?

Thanks in advance
Ismail

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Kiran — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 17:02:55 GMT

Hi all, This is kind of addendum for my previous post.

ECM Starter kit has WSS Task activity. I used this activity in a simple sequential workflow which has only 2 activities:workflow invoked and wss task activity.
In the workflow invoked handler, I assigned the WSSTask to an active directory group as approvers.

When I invoke this workflow, I noticed that the process of claiming task by a person in the AD group is raising the OnTaskChanged event and since this event is not processed inside the workflow, it throws an exception.

I also opened up the OOTB Approval workflow in the Visual Studio (uninstalled the workflow dll from gac and added a reference to studio project and I am able to see the OOTB Approval workflow in Workflow designer )
and noticed that OOTB Workflow uses WSSTask activity. But this OOTB workflow can handle claim task event. Now my questions are:

1)How is the OOTB Approval workflow able to handle claim task? Is the WSSTask activity in the ECM starter kit different than what was used in the OOTB Approval workflow? Is the WSSTAsk in the ECM Starter kit older code? Will there be a refresh of ECM Starter kit?

2)Considering that WSSTAsk activity code is update, what is the most elegent way to handle Claim Task event?

Thanks a lot in advance

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Jared — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 01:34:40 GMT

OOTB I am getting "The list of workflow actions on the server references an assembly that does not exist. Some actions will not be available. The assembley strong name is Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublickeyToken=xxxxx. Any ideas?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 02:15:41 GMT

I addressed Kiran's questions in the ecm blog, so head over there if you're interested:) Patrick, this is probably a bug; which build were you running on? Ismail, all workflow tasks get assigned to the same task list. There is a "My Tasks" view for people that allows them to see only their tasks, but if they switch views to "All Items", they should see everything. There are a few approaches I would recommend for this: 1) Set the default view to AllTasks. This way all users will see all tasks, including the ones assigned to groups. 2) Expand the My Tasks view to allow users to see not only their tasks but also groups that they're a part of. 3) Tweak your workflow code to expand the group members and add tasks for each person, then delete all other tasks if any task is completed. The first two are probably easier, but the third would work two (just more complex).

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Misha — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:41:57 GMT

Hello Eilene, First of all thank you for the webcast. It was a great introduction to workflows, and really helped me make a start on writing my own. I would like to ask a question about debugging. How can I debug a workflow that has been deployed on a remote server? I can successfully attach to the w3wp.exe running on the remote server (this is using VS 2005), and I can see my workflow DLL being loaded in the Modules window. However, the problem I'm encountering is that symbols for the workflow aren't loaded -- it's unable to find the PDB files that correspond to the workflow assembly. I've tried to load the symbols manually from the PDB file in my build dir, but it returns an error saying `The symbol file myassembly.pdb does not match the module.' My question is this: how to tell it (whatever is looking for the PDB, in this case, VS, I guess) where to look for the PDBs? Or, alternatively, where to put the PDBs so that they are automatically found? Thank you in advance for your reply. BTW I'm using core WSS. Cheers, Misha

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Misha — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 09:27:16 GMT

This is an addition to my previous post... Another question I'd really like to ask is: is there any way of telling what went wrong when an error occurs within a workflow? All I get is the message `An error has occured in Simple Workflow.' in the workflow status window. Are there any logs that we can access to find out more about the error?

Thanks again, Misha

SharePoint Woes

Serious Sam's Serious Thoughts — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 04:05:51 GMT

Recently, I've been blessed with the task of writing a workflow for Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3. It sounded like a pretty good idea at the start -- workflows make our lives easier by leaving the mundane administration-like tasks to the computer

Workflow in Office System 2007

Arpan Shah's Blog — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 19:30:20 GMT

There are a lot of questions regarding workflow capabilities in Office System 2007. We recently published

Bug in SharePoint? ExtendedProperties Propagation

Serious Sam's Serious Thoughts — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:12:46 GMT

While working on my WSS workflow, I've noticed that the SPWorkflowTaskProperties.ExtendedProperties hashtable isn't propagated to the SPListItem.Properties hashtable of the corresponding task. This MSDN document says that it should: QUOTE:If a value'

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 11:54:51 GMT

Misha, yes, you can look at the ULS logs, which are located at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\LOGS (may be slightly different depending on partitions and stuff). I usually scroll to the bottom of the latest log and do a search up for workflow. Also, if you set a breakpoint in VS and attach to process, you should see an exception if it's something with your code.

Serious Sam, thanks for your feedback and entry! It's always good to see what the biggest pain points are so that we can provide better solutions for you guys. Hopefully I can help somewhat.

Regarding your assembly not loading, you have to be sure that the currently compiled version of your project dll has been installed to the GAC (i.e. no *'s on any of your files after you compile and install). Just one letter off, and VS will not recognize the loaded assembly as the one that matches your code. Do an iisreset to make sure that new assembly is loaded. After the reset, attach to all w3wp processes (open a doc lib to spin one up) and once you start your workflow, as long as it doesn't fail to start, it should load your symbols.

There are more verbose messages in the ULS log (see response to Misha above). We don't have them in the history items for status for a couple reasons: a) status is meant as a feature to help visibility into business process for general users, not developers/administrators, so a verbose message would confuse people, and b) sometimes exceptions may contain sensitive data, so we'd rather leave it up to developers to specify if they want to write out that information. The ULS log is the best way to go, but if you want to use history as debugging tool, you might try adding some try/catch statements around trouble spots and using a LogToHistoryList activity to write out caught exceptions (use the OtherData field, since Comments are restricted to 256 chars). In MOSS, we've got an error report for excel that might help filter this data. By default, we leave the hefty verbose stuff in the real error logs.

As for remote debugging, unfortunately, it isn't a supported scenario. There are a few reasons for this: a) you need SharePoint dll's that only live on the server box, b) you'll have to remotely deploy to the GAC, c) a lot of changes involve iisreset, which can be random and screwy for multiple remote developers who are working at the same time, and d) debugging against farm configurations is hard because you'll have to deploy to all front-ends. Thus we recommend developing on the box. But you're definitely welcome to play with it.

I'm sorry you've had a hard time debugging. There are actually a couple tricks you can use to speed up the process:

1) Upload a bunch of documents to your library. If you do this, you don't have to cancel running workflows, since you can just use another document. When you've used them all up, you can create a new association and run a new batch.

2) If you are only changing the workflow dll (and not forms or xml manifest files), don't do any stsadm commands. Just reinstall the dll to the GAC and iisreset. This cuts your deployment time by a lot, and you don't have to reactivate any workflow associations.

I'm not sure about your web service error; it looks like you're calling the web service correctly. Perhaps it's because you're using a web service (AlterTask) inside a web service. If you're creating a new web service on top of sharepoint, you can call the updatetask channel to update the task directly (ITaskService.UpdateTask) or direct item manipulation with OM code , i.e. item["TaskStatus"] = "Completed"). Generally, AlterTask is used from aspx pages or externally entities to sharepoint.

wrt the ExtendedProperties, I think the doc made a mistake; I believe you should be able to reference it like a normal field on the task, so instead of task.Properties["foo"], try task["foo"]. The task will appear in the task list when the workflow dehydrates, i.e. when the workflow goes to sleep to wait for an event or delay. Workflow activities are transactional, meaning they don't commit until they dehydrate in case something happens and it needs to roll back, which is why you are not seeing the task until the workflow "completes" (I assume you don't have any kind of OnTaskChanged after your CreateTask?).

Anyway, I hope this helps. If I missed something or you do have questions please let us know. The ECM blog is also a good place to post, since I check it a little more frequently.

Good luck!

Eilene

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Serious Sam — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 04:07:38 GMT

Hi Eilene,

Thank you for your response. Apologies if my original post was a little harsh -- the problems I was facing were causing me a little bit of pain. But I've managed to work around them for now.

Thanks for your tips on speeding up debugging. I'll take them onboard.

As for extended properties, I've tried various things to retrieve them, including your suggestion of retrieving it as a field. Unfortunately, that does not work -- I get a System.ArgumentException: Value does not fall within the specified range. My overall understanding of the SPListItem fields was that they are something that's built in, and the SPListItem.Properties hashtable was for everything else.

I don't know if it's an error is in the MSDN doc, or in the implementation -- but those extended properties seem not to end up anywhere accessible from the object model.

I've found a work-around -- it's described <a href="http://www.serious-sam.net/serendipity/index.php?/archives/21-Bug-in-SharePoint-ExtendedProperties-Propagation.html">here.</a>

Thanks again for your reply. Good luck with everything

Sam</a>

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Sridhar — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 12:06:33 GMT

Hi Eilene,

We are eveluating MOSS with Infopath and WinFx (Workflow) to replace our existing inhouse product(developed in ASP and COM). This is a generic framework which solves most of the workflow applications.

We are able to create a custom activities and workflows. We are facing few problems while hosting the workflow to asp.net application. Can you please provide few tips for hosting the workflows.

We are also planning to write few assembles which are coupled with the custom activities, so that we can make the activities generic for all the workflows with some kind of XML input.

Thanks in advance,

Sri

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eilene Hao — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 20:50:32 GMT

Hi Sri, do you need tips on building a host for Windows Workflow Foundation in general (i.e. not SharePoint specific)? If so, the WF folks may be a good resource for you at http://wf.netfx3.com/ . :) They have a lot of samples and forums that can help you get the info that you need.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Toby — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 21:37:24 GMT

Is it possible to route a "package" of multiple documents in a SharePoint workflow? Or is workflow intended to be document-centric (i.e., routing of a single Word document or a single Excel spreadsheet)?

Understanding Workflow in Windows SharePoint Services V3 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system

Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies Team Blog — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 19:12:27 GMT

We’ve received numerous inquiries via this blog and elsewhere for information on “how workflow actually

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Erin — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:22:03 GMT

I have limited knowledge about the program. However, I have been given the task of finding out if the software can help us in the document distribution process. I am trying to move file from one sharepoint site to another. So far, I can move word or excel file no problem. However, I am not able to move another type of file (such as PDF). I am receiving the following error message "An error occurred copying some of all of the selected files" and “The target can not handle this type of document". Does anyone know how to resolve this issue? Thank you!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Eli — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:58:21 GMT

I have users from an NT4 domain using the sharepoint server. sharepoint doesnt pickup their email address so they dont get a workflow email. How can I get the email field poulate for those users?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Mauro S — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 17:10:16 GMT

I can't seem to find any of mentioned workflows in the RTM bits. Where can I find them?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Marian VULPE — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:53:58 GMT

Hello,

Wondering if you can shade light on one of my biggest workflow related problem (or at least point me in a right direction).

Is there a way to create a role based workflow in MOSS2007? By that I want to say that I need to create a workflow in which the steps are assigned not to user/groups but to roles, specifically the manager of the user. More exactly, I need to route a document to the manager of the user who created/modified the document. The manager role is created in AD and available in MOSS 2007 but I didn’t found a way to use it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Phil S — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:34:16 GMT

Hi, I installed Sharepoint, Designer & Office Professional (all 2007). In my out-of-the-box approval workflow after I approve a document I'm getting the following in the workflow's history "12/14/2006 4:22 PM Error System Account An error has occured in phil_approval. "

So I throttle up logging and in the find these last 3 lines in the log:

Line 1:

--------------------------------------

12/14/2006 16:22:48.54 w3wp.exe (0x0FC4) 0x013C Windows SharePoint Services Workflow Infrastructure 88xr Unexpected WinWF Internal Error, terminating workflow Id# ec53ba03-d712-4842-907a-b69163ac53f0

Line 2:

--------------------------------------

12/14/2006 16:22:48.55 w3wp.exe (0x0FC4) 0x013C Windows SharePoint Services Workflow Infrastructure 98d4 Unexpected System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null. Parameter name: name at System.Resources.ResourceManager.GetString(String name, CultureInfo culture) at Microsoft.Office.Workflow.LocUtil.GetResourceString(SPWeb web, String resourceId) at Microsoft.Office.Workflow.ReviewRouting.SetItemMetadata(Object sender, EventArgs e) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Activity.RaiseEvent(DependencyProperty dependencyEvent, Object sender, EventArgs e) at Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions.LogToHistoryListActivity.Execute(ActivityExecutionContext context) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityExecutor`1.Execute(T activity, ActivityExecutionContext executionContext) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityExecutor`1.Execute(Activity activity, ActivityExecutionContext ...

Line 3:

-------------------------------------

12/14/2006 16:22:48.55* w3wp.exe (0x0FC4) 0x013C Windows SharePoint Services Workflow Infrastructure 98d4 Unexpected ...executionContext) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityExecutorOperation.Run(IWorkflowCoreRuntime workflowCoreRuntime) at System.Workflow.Runtime.Scheduler.Run()

----------------------

Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Phil

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

PhilS — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:29:52 GMT

I have discovered that the error I mention above only occurs if the "Update the approval status (use this workflow to control content approval)" checkbox in the last workflow configuration item ("Post-completion Worflow Activites" is checked.

I thought it might be a permissions issue but still get the error even if the site collection administrator does the approving.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

nurmimik — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:46:41 GMT

I'm having problem with moving items to another document library in sharepoint designer. I want to move document on a workflow to different document library after approval. Copy Item To on SD makes copy with different filename, if the file already exists on the target list.

How can I change that so it just makes another version of the existing document ?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Samuel — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:15:33 GMT

How to trigger a SharePoint workflow when an item in the list is deleted?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

blah — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 22:52:58 GMT

Create a event handler that starts the workflow.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

keith rebelo — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:41:23 GMT

how do we change the display icon of a document library item(e.g word doc)when a workflow is started on it..i have seen the pending approval image in the images folder but do not know how to incorporate it....i need to change the icon to signify that a workflow is running on it..something like the checkout icon which is displayed when an item is checked out

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Rue McKay — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:12:17 GMT

Hi, I am using Sharepoint Designer to create a workflow that sends an email. The email address needs to be obtained from a Sharepoint list value. Within the Sharepoint list, one of the fields(columns) is the person the email needs to be sent to. I would like to just reference this person's name in the Sharepoint Designer email entry, but when I do that it just reads the person's account name, not the email. I have also tried creating a new 'email' field in the Sharepoint list, defined as a person or group, displaying email, but again when Sharepoint Designer reads this new field, it only sees the account name. Can I get the email address into Sharepoint Designer without having to have a seperate email column in the list?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow! On Delete event and uniqueness

Alan Cossey — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 13:25:47 GMT

There are a couple of posts asking if it is possible to initiate a workflow when an item is delivered. Sharepoint has a couple of major deficiencies compared to "normal" databases, i.e. the lack of ability to enforce uniqueness in a field and to cascade deletions, both of which are dead basic stuff for a database to have. The cascade deletions is required for, say, if you have an Orders list and an Order Items list. If you delete an order from the Orders list, how do you ensure associated items in the Order Items list also get deleted (or how do you stop the order from being deleted until its associated order items have been deleted first)? On the uniqueness front, how do I stop identical data being put into my lists?

Integration with Sharepoint has been touted as a major advance for Access 2007, but as has been pointed out by some rather dumbfounded Access developers, the two items I mentioned have been missed out. I was hoping that Workflow would provide a way of developing a work around, but I can see no way of doing it with Sharepoint Developer 2007.

It seems that the developers on Sharepoint / Access have got carried away with developing new, whizzy items, but forgotten some of the very basics.

Here's hoping to be proved wrong!

Alan Cossey

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Yogesh Nagpal — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:50:39 GMT

Hi,I want to shift on to sharepoint platform along with .Net as i m working on .Net Platform.All in all this is a good artical.Plz guide me abt this.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Scott — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 18:22:17 GMT

I've used SPD to create a workflow which works well on one sharepoint form list. How can I move the workflow to a different list? Thanks.

-Unknown Error- on uploading a form to sharepoint

Iker — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:46:04 GMT

Hi,

Im having an error each time i try to upload

a form to sharepoint FormServerTemplates. I have tried everything but still doesn't upload. ¿can somewan help me please?

thanks in advanced!!

New year, new RSS link and a few other things

Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies Team Blog — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 04:45:06 GMT

A belated “Happy New Year” to our readers! And a belated “Happy 1 st Anniversary” for our team blog!

OOTB Approval Workflow Bits

Tony — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:24:50 GMT

I am working on a project that requires minor tweaks to the existing OOTB Approval workflow. Where can I get the code and forms etc to make a copy and implement my customizations? I looked at the ECM Starter Kit but none of them really matched.

Thanks in advance!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Neerav — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 20:57:36 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to migrate a SPD created workflow from one site to another and need some help. I know this isn't supported out of the box but any help would be greatly appreciated. I am able to re-create the association on the target site (after changing the BaseID, DocLibID etc) but the workflow gives an error when I try to start it on the target site. I have noticed in the WorkflowAssociations table (on source site) that the Name column contains a <Xoml.{guid}-1.0.dll like information. My guess is this has to do with the assembly compiled on the fly for the workflow generated by SPD. How can I accomplish this? And will that solve my problem. Thanks.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Amarnath Reddy — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:10:18 GMT

Hi All,

I have created a approval workflow and i have added approvers name as administrator and i have assighned the work flow to the test document.after that i have loged in to the sharepoint server as another user.when i want to open the test document without approving the document logedin user able to open the document but it should display some type of message like "it is not yet approved by the administrator".

please anybody can give the flow of the work flow and approval steps and workflow conifiguration.

regards,

Amar...

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Andrew — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:32:09 GMT

Hi All,

Does anybody know if there is a way to send an email with a real link to an item using SharePoint Designer. The http links that I am sending only appear in plain text.

Thanks,

Andrew

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

bhanu — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 10:09:53 GMT

Hi....

I'm preparing a WorkFlow in sharepoint using the Visual Studio-2005.In this I'm using the Sharepoint Sequential Flow library. After doing the deployment of XML files through "instal.bat" file all the needed files are hosted at specified position bt that custom workflow is not displayed in the sharepoint teamsite.

Your even very small help will help me a lot.

Thanks

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

THOMAS — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 05:12:18 GMT

hi,

I have created a workflow with multiple tasks using VS 2005, I designed and published some infopath forms for editing each task, I attached the workflow to the w3wp process, installed the feature in sharepoint 2007, and associated the workflow with certain list. When I created a new item in this list, the workflow was activated, and I can debug the workflow in vs2005. After executing the "createTask" activity, a task was created, but when I clicked the "workflow" menu item related to the list item, I saw the status of the workflow instance was "completed", but in the workflow tasks list, I saw that, the status of the created task is "Not Started", even after I edited the task in my custom infopath form, the status is still "Not Started", and the VS 2005 IDE didn't response to continue to execute the method i desired to invoke for the next activity of onTaskChanged, If I edit it for a second time, the system cann't save/submit it, but alert that the task is locked by the runing workflow. I think that there may be something wrong with the infopath form, but i check it again and again, i cann't find the error.

Can you give me some suggestions?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Nigel — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 22:14:41 GMT

I have the same problem as Andrew (Feb 2nd). I have created a (very simple) Workflow using Sharepoint Designer that will send an email. I use the "Add Lookup to Body" and select a few different columns to send. One of them is the "Title (linked to item)". However when i receive the email the Title is there but it does not link to the item. The title is just printed in plain text. This is very frustrating to me (a new wss user) as I seem to be doing everything I need to to make this work.

Note: I have noticed that if I use the Three-State workflow that comes with WSS I do get emails with links, but the workflow itself does not do exactly what I need.

Can someone please tell what I'm doing wrong, or what the problem is with WSS. TY.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

luckshika — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 10:53:18 GMT

Hi ,

I have created the SharePointsequentialworkflow which has two activites onworkflowActivated and code activity. I deployed that workflow into the sharepoint server. this workflow is not associated with list or document.

I designed a form with textbox and submit button. what I want to do is, when i submit the form, workflow instance shoud start and should come to completion. In the script, I have written coding to create workflow like ,

....

wr.StartRuntime();

...

WorkflowInstance wfInstance = wr.CreateWorkflow(typeof(SharePointFirstWorkflow.Workflow1), paramts);

wfInstance.Start();

I manually put that aspx form into sharepoint LAYOUTS library.

In this way , in WSS 3.0 , is it possible to create workflow instance? How we can find who is provider for WorkflowRuntime in sharepoint?

SharePoint supports workflow only on list or document or content type?

since i'm new to WSS 3.0 and workflow concept , any comments are really appriciated.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Pawan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:18:09 GMT

I need to create an approval workflow but the approver has to be the initiator's manager. For e.g If I as a user submit a request, the request needs to be approved by my manager (Information about the manager will have to be pulled from AD) and email notification needs to be sent to the manager. Once the manager approves/rejects the request, user should get an email with the status. I don't want the user's to set up alerts to get this notification. How should I go about creating this workflow?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Sharepointer — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 14:24:25 GMT

I have exactly the same error as Phil mentioned ("An error has occured in [workflow name]").

Is there no solution for this up to now? The first 3 workflow steps are completed correctly, the document is set to "approved" but the fourth step isn't completed (error) so the workflow is not set to complete.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

CluteredInColumns — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 22:13:44 GMT

Great information. I've used it and the ECM to build workflow applications. One thing I've noticed is that if I assign a (custom) workflow to a content type, and then delete and republish, my workflow (You know, the development thing). In my document library view I have one new column for each of the workflows that I associated (even if I deleted the workflow (association). Is there any way to clean this up?

re: ECM sample code(CollectionFeedBack) Access denied

uncledj — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 07:56:05 GMT

Hi,

After I install and do the workflow setting up, I get the error: Access Denied.

I check the web.config, it all set up as "allow users = "*". any other idea to change and make it works

Thanks in advance

Introduction to SharePoint Workflow! - InvokeWorkFlow doubt

sowmya_p — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 09:59:10 GMT

Hi Kiran/Eiline

Kiran were u able to use the InvokeWorkFlow Method. I have created another WorkFlow (WF2) which has only CreateTask activity. In my state Machine in eventdriven activity I have called put the InvokeWorkFlow and in my project i have included the WF2.dll. now when i deploy it it says Failed on Start (retrying) Error. WF2 is strong key. Also i am not using any forms. in CreateTask i am simply creating a task and assigning to a user (harcoded).

Thanks in advance

Sowmya P

re: need help!

Hi anyone — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:58:37 GMT

I have to do a complexworkflow design with infopath and publish to sharepoint.Users can submit,edit,delete and send email to others.All forms must be web application.I know these forms must be design with InfoPath 2007.But I don't know which part of sharepoint server do I have to publish these forms?Anyone,who knows these steps help me please.

Thanks in advance

win

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Chris Naylor — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 03:23:56 GMT

Sorry I have the approval probem also and I wondered what

Just because Im such a nice guy Ill answer my own question. You need to stick this line in your Workflow.xml.

I have abbreviated for the sake of clarity

...

<InitiationType>Manual;#OnNewItem;#OnItemUpdate;#OnMajorCheckIn</InitiationType>

</MetaData>

code ment and where do you copy it to in WSS on SBS2003

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Amitabh — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:20:00 GMT

I am new to SharePoint. Need some help. I have been testing the work flow and could not figure to set up workflow on the following scenario.

When en item it added to a list (say a business request) following steps must occur

1. Manager and Vice President of Sales need to approve it (in sequence)

2. Manager and Vice President of Information Tech need to approve it (in sequence)

3. Once first steps are done then only the President would approve it.

I have created one work flow for each step and have configured the step 1 and step 2 successfully. But I have not been able to put the condition for the third approval (ie the when step 1 and 2 are done then ONLY it should be routed to President).

Please help.

Regards,

Amitabh

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

george — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:30:33 GMT

Hi,

I need to develop a workflow that reads data from a library of xml files (the library is on a sharepoint portal is a Document library with xml files uploaded from hdd) and insert it on a SQL SERVER 2005 database. I have some ideea but the problem is how to link the workflow to the xml file in the library (the workflow will be executed for each file in the library).

Please give me some support.

OOTB Approval Workflow and Approval Status

Johnny — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:57:16 GMT

Using the OOTB Approval workflow, which is exactly what we need. When a document is completely approved (the OOTB workflow is complete), we want to move it to a different library.

I can't for the life of me get this to work. I've got a custom workflow (Sharepoint designer) looking at the libraray itesm on a change, and comparing the approval status field. The problem is that this workflow seems to always fire that the document is approved.

This doesn't make sense given that we're using the OOTB workflow to approve the item using the checkbox in the setup...

Any ideas?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

swatz — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:35:22 GMT

Hi,

It is a great material on "introduction to sharepoint workflow"

I am very happy to go through the material which is written in a very simple technical langauage.

Could you help in creating a workflow for a approval of site creation

swetha

Event Triggers

Dave Venance — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:54:28 GMT

Hi, I am hoping someone will be able to help me out. I have a customer that uses Sharepoint but needs to extend the security around documents even after they are removed from Sharepoint. I know of some other tools to do this, but what I would like is that when an end user places a document into a Sharepoint Library, this external product gets called which will take the document, add the security to it and put it back into the system. Is this something that I can use Workflow to accomplish?

Dave

Approval workflow

JE — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:37:38 GMT

I have a problem with the status update in "Approval" workflow. The error only occurs if the "Update the approval status (use this workflow to control content approval)". And i need the status be updates after approval or reject, any idea?

" I have discovered that the error I mention above only occurs if the "Update the approval status (use this workflow to control content approval)" checkbox in the last workflow configuration item ("Post-completion Worflow Activites" is checked.

I thought it might be a permissions issue but still get the error even if the site collection administrator does the approving. "

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

rgnanavel@gmail.com — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 00:36:18 GMT

I am using Infopath forms for the sharepoint workflow.

My requirements are

1. Can we have both the source document and approval form(task form) in the same Infopath form.

2. Can a infopath form access data from the workflow instance which is running. Based on the workflow data, form will render its UI (ie hide/Unhide some fields)

3. If we are developing custom workflows can all these forms necessary (Initiation, Association and Tasks form) or can I have all these forms in source document only?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Sharepoint templates missing — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 02:59:54 GMT

Hi , When I am trying to create a web site i dont see the sharepoint templates or controls. How do I get these?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Peter — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:53:40 GMT

We have a two level approve/reject workflow. Rejection in either stage will cause a new assignment to be generated and the process restarted. The workflow is not completed until final approval. We use aspx page (not infopath form) as task form to interact with the workflow.

Generally the workflow runs successfully and terminates normally. Sometimes however when a task form is being updated, the system seems to hang. Please note that we do not trap errors on this page. Instead, in the page behind code, we use AlterTask to submit changes and if an error occurs, we will redirect to a error page) At this point the task status will continue to be "In progress" instead of "Complete". If we try to re-submit this page, we get an error that The task cannot be edited, it was locked by workflow.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

cbecker — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 23:16:45 GMT

Is there a way to have SharePoint Designer call and start one or more of the system workflows (in this case approval) associated with a list containing InfoPath 2007 forms?

We have an Infopath form that can optionally go to 1 of 4 groups for signatures depending on whether or not a checkbox in the form is ticked; each group would be a re-named default "Approval" workflow (i.e. ApproversA, ApproversB, etc). Having it call the system workflow would be really handy as we're not strong developers and it handles the whole approval/tasking thing quite well w/o a lot of coding on our end.

Alternatively, as a non-developer (noob), how would one import a workflow from SharePoint Designer or the system's default into Visual Studio 2005 w/Workflow extensions?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Norm — Mon, 21 May 2007 17:15:00 GMT

Help! SharePoint 2007 out of the box workflow sends emails in Plain text format. Someone said there was a KB about this but I cannot find it. Any help would be appreciated!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Alex Lai — Tue, 22 May 2007 19:13:15 GMT

Thanks for the great article!

I'm new to the world of SharePoint.

Here is the question I have:

Can a workflow process across multiple SharePoint sites?

I have a main site and three sub-sites (siteA, siteB and siteC) under it. A person at siteA creates a document and that kicks off a workflow process which will route the document to a group in siteB for reviewing. The same document will be routed to siteC when the document has been approved at siteB. What is the best tool for designing this kind of workflow? And, how can it be done?

Thanks!

re: using a default work flow

kanna — Wed, 23 May 2007 08:58:42 GMT

Iam having a doubt abt my requirment .My requirmnt is . Im creating a word document in my document library and creating an approval workflow. assigning the task to my administrator. and sending the document to him . but he could not view the approval/reject option in his menu bars . Can any one help me.

Thanks & Regards

Kanna

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

mohit — Fri, 25 May 2007 09:47:16 GMT

I install the share point sever 2007. I am not able to see the workflow option to attach it with any item or list.

When I went in the Site Collection Workflows, it showed me only one workflow and that in inctive. How to activate this work flow.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Mr. Nitesh Dobariya — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:08:28 GMT

Hi to the expert,

I need more detail about workflow communication. I mean starting & stoping(creating on task and completing other task) other workflow(s).

Thanks in advance.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Mehul — Wed, 30 May 2007 15:21:20 GMT

I have a scenario in which i need to change the current user context. For Example i have one task list and i am assigning some work to say auther and i am an editor and as soon as i add some task for auther one list item should be created in the another task list of the auther but as i dont have permission to auther task list so is there any way to change the current user context to another user and create new task list.

by other way is there any way in share point designer in which we can set the user detail in which context the workflow will be excecuted.

home all will be able to understand it

Mehul

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

shah-mehul — Wed, 30 May 2007 15:26:10 GMT

how can we set the user context of the workflow by which workflow will be excuted

like configration setting or something else?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Suvarna — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:40:25 GMT

Hi there,

Is there a way to configure the disposition approval workflow to send a customized email to the approvers as well as the creater of the document.

Thanks

Suvarna.

Workflow Lookup for TO and CC excludes Content Type Columns

Jay Walker — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 20:00:12 GMT

In SharePoint Designer 2007, designing a workflow using "Sending and email" as an action, the TO and CC may only use SharePoint Library/List properties which belong to the list and does not allow Content Type columns to be used, unlike the subject and body which you can use Content Type columns along with list/library columns. We found this very frustrating, does With in Designer when using the workflow lookup, is there a way to tap into those content type columns for the TO and CC ?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Karen Chan — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 02:59:51 GMT

Hi!

I got my WF, Infopath forms, feature.xml, and workflow.xml ready to deploy to the Sharepoint site. I changed the Postbuild command to DEPLOY and added command to create a log file.

I got to the point where I do not have any error in my log file. However, when I try to add the workflow template, my workflow template name is not listed as a selection.

I found another blog recommending people to copy the feature folder the the 12 hives, so I did that...but still, all I can see are 4 workflow templates and I believe that are standard templates.

Am I missing some setup in the farm?

Any help would be appreicated.

Thanks,

Karen

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Fred Morrison — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:51:20 GMT

Try changing the Output on your builds from Minimal to Normal. You can do this via Tools/Options/Projects and Solutions/Build and Run/. On that dialog page, change the value of MSBuild project build output verbosity: from Minimal to Normal. Then to a Rebuild Solution, open the Output window and verify that there were no errors other than first-time ones (like the first time a DLL is GAC'ed).

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

valerie — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 11:37:22 GMT

Hi, i want to publish a document after approve by manager. I assigned the approval workflow to this document but i notice that the document can see by another person even the document still pending. How can i solve this problem?

Thanks

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Vipin Tripathi — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:01:01 GMT

I am developing the workflow through SPD.Everything is fine up to my custom doucment library.But if i am trying to attach the workflow with the Pages Library its not work properly.Like when i am going to create new page for that site it is giving error.Page is internally created and saved into draft.

Can anybody tell me that can we attach the SPD workflow with Pages as the same way as with document library.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Nidhi Goyal — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:38:33 GMT

How to create Share Point work flow with VS 2005.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

wekoweko — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 05:40:05 GMT

hi there would appreciate if anyone knows if workflow can also be customized in sharepoint services that came with server 2003? maybe you could email me at wekoweko@gmail.com if you know its possible, thanks

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

JonathanDavey — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:23:53 GMT

Workflow in Sharepoint will transform the way we work... Thats assuming we have access to developers, therefore is there a "visual" tool that would enable non programmers like me to move obejcts around a page and then attribute simple rules to them and between them?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Razie — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 08:25:47 GMT

Hi Eilene,

I have problem in digging out the workflow details history (event type & date occured) when want to extract the list of data(which on the first page) since all the workflow details history is on the second or third page? Is this process possible? I'd like to be able to create a report that shows when the workflow was initiated and when it was “approved” for each of the items in the sharepoint. FYI, i'm using sharepoint 2007.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Prasad — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:54:58 GMT

What is the possibility of using Sharepoint for a paperless office solution

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Deirdre — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 16:07:03 GMT

Hi Eilene

I have created a workflow, it's a one step workflow that creates an announcement on the announcements page when a document is added to a document library. When logged onto sharepoint as System Admin this all works fine, the announcement appears but when anyone else who has access to the doc library adds a doc it shows that the workflow is stopped and when I go into the cancellation/error report is says "Access denied" on the outcome and has the user listed as "System Admin, can you advise on this please, thanks

Best Regards

Deirdre

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Arpit — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:07:46 GMT

Its gud material....

But I want to trigger my workflow just before one week of any upcoming event, just like reminders....So how can I implement that....please help....

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Vlad — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 11:49:22 GMT

Hi All.

Does anyone know how the Collect Signature workflow can be started from the .NET application? Thanks in advice.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Edward M. Meshuris — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:23:48 GMT

I am having serious issues debugging workflows.

I have been doing this for a week now, i make changes to the workflow, install into gac, start a workflow and then attach to it.

The changes are not persisted!

If anyone has any suggestions, please email me at emeshuris gmail com

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Frederick Morrison — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 04:38:52 GMT

You need to use my handy-dandy SpEnema.bat to cure the issue of not having your latest workflow code changes reflected in SharePoint. I'll email it to you. Use it just before you compile your workflow. And for added safety, use DEPLOY not DEPLOY QUICK in your PostBuild event bat file. Yes, it seems like overkill to use DEPLOY instead of DEPLOY QUICK when all you've done is made a minor code change, but I find it's worth the few extra seconds it takes.

re: ASPX Workflow Forms

Vikash Sharma — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:53:44 GMT

HI Eilene/Every One,

Please Please, Tell me how to create ASPX workflow form, i ahve tried many time, but not able to get it.i have ECM kit, but that to ASPX pages desin are not visible to me(May be my VS problem).

but i want to have full details how to create ASPX Forms for WorkFLow.

Please Come forward if anyone can help me.

Lots of thanks and Love In advance

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

anne — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:56:16 GMT

i've tried create workflow but i cannot send the emel notification to the approver..how can i do that?

big thnx!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

anne — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:56:17 GMT

i've tried create workflow but i cannot send the emel notification to the approver..how can i do that?

big thnx!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Vikash — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:57:51 GMT

Cheak UR Server Setting, and in place or workflowproperties.OriginateUSer give the email id in string format and cheak wheather server is configured or not.

but can u solve my problem , would u let me know how to create workflow aspx forms

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Susan Lennon — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:48:37 GMT

I have a workflow built with SPD on a list that works on item added just fine - as long as the user is an authenticated user. However, the list is open to anonymous and the anonymous user has been granted add, edit, delete and view items on this list - but I still get an error when I add a new item to the list (which should trigger the workflow). Is there some way to enable anonymous user to trigger a list item's workflow on item added? TIA!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

agoodwin — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 17:55:29 GMT

Why, oh why, oh why, oh WHY does SharePoint Designer NOT allow for creation of workflows to MOVE a document from one library to another!!??

Now I have to deal with a COPY/DELETE operation that doesn't work...

Workflow goes like this:

(Multipage Meeting workspace site in MOSS)

1. Doc published to Lib 1

2. Set document status to Approved

3. Email sent to owner, Doc gets copied from Lib 1 to Lib 2, Doc gets deleted from Lib 1.

4. Woahh - no doc in Lib 2...

Oh, it's in the recycle bin...

Errr - help??

Approval WorkFlow OOB limits

Daniel V — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:33:14 GMT

Hi,

I have a scenario where

1) i need to get the contents of an email approved, before sending the email out to a bunch of recipients containing a link to a document just uploaded to a document library.

2) the outbound email has to be formatted in a specific manner that is different from the standard email that one uses to send alerts to the approver with.

3) the recepient list of the approved email comes from a database lookup

4) i need to store a copy of the outbound emails in a history doc lib

would the OOB approval workflow help me here, or should i build my own WF program.?

Assign to Manager

Michael Crowe — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:19:58 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to find out if you can assign a task to the Manager of the person starting the workflow then on to some one else. Is this easy or am I being dumb?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Mohit Tayal — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:13:10 GMT

Hi,

If there anyway to acess sharepoint session variables.

re: Assign to Manager

Sadalit Van Buren — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:59:22 GMT

To all those who asked about creating a workflow that is routed to a manager or other role (where this property is pulled from Active Directory), it appears that you need to:

1. Create a custom activity in Visual Studio and deploy it to SharePoint Designer

2. Create a custom workflow in SharePoint Designer which uses that activity.

How one developer accomplished this:

http://randomdust.com/blogs/ryan/archive/2007/06/20/custom-workflow-activity-for-sharepoint-designer-to-retrieve-manager.aspx

More about creating custom activities:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb629922.aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepointdesigner/archive/2007/03/15/adding-activities-to-spd.aspx

http://www.johnholliday.net/archive/2007/03/27/Add-Your-Own-Custom-Workflow-Activities-to-SharePoint-Designer-2007.aspx

Problem with the built in Designer Copy Item function using infopath forms

Gilbert — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:47:13 GMT

I have a problem where I have two forms libraries and I want to trigger a workflow that copies the form from library A to B. It works time and again if I have brand new libraries and simple brand new forms. Having proven the concept I created my detailed form and created the very same two form libraries for these forms, published the form to the libraries and it just won't allow the copy function to work. I've republished the form anew, and same issue. If I create another super simple form and publish it over the existing form it works. In creating forms/troubleshooting forms it's normal to re-publish several times, but something happens making it so that you can't ever run the copy item workflow. It's as though something needs to be fixed on the form itself before the copy workflow will ever work again. The only option I'm left with is creating from scratch the form again completly, then publishing it on a new library, recreating all my workflows and then it will work. Imagine now that a few weeks go by and I need to add a simple field to the form! I need to create the entire enviroment from scratch, now way! Is there something I can do so that these edit's/republishings do not foul my copy item workflow?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Jsd — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:46:03 GMT

The code is Easy compared to get it up and running. A very simple workflow. Result: Failed on start. Gac version is correct. Is there a solution on this one. Very frustrated.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Gilbert — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:50:11 GMT

Regarding "Problem with the built in Designer Copy Item Function using infopath forms". Is there something I can do that will fix the form allowing me to use the "copy item" function to copy the form from one form library to another when this issue comes up?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Zinon — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:59:35 GMT

Hi,

Regarding the implementation of WWF in Sharepoint Services and Sharepoint Server.

This is a somewhat less technical question as we haven't yet begun developing any solutions with WWF and Sharepoint mainly because we are still unsure about how workflows are implemented in either of the products.

From your literature, it would appear that WWF implementation is identical in both products apart from some out-of-the-box templates in Sharepoint Server (Approval, collect signatures, etc.). Our local Microsoft partner has told us that workflows in Sharepoint Services are not fully automated, that is, the user has to explicitly initiate the next step in the workflow, communication between participating parties in the workflow is only via e-mail and that features such as tracking are not available in Sharepoint Services.

Other differences aside (content management, etc.), are there any features in Sharepoint Server with regard to WWF that are not included or supported in Shareopint Services?

Thanks

re: Custom workflow error

Athulya — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:51:43 GMT

Hi,

I have a custom workflow deployed on my site. It reports an error as soon as the create task activity assigns an approval task to a user. As far as I can see, the error doesnt stem from the code, because I dont get any exceptions. Trying to complete the task doesnt work because the task status remains 'Not completed' even if the user provides the required input to the form.

Could you help, please?

Thanks,

Athulya

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Lois — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:55:59 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to create a Sharepoint Sequential Workflow Library project in

visual studio 2005. I can create the project however when I open the

Workflow1.cs file I only get the 'Code View' and in the View Menu there is no

'Designer View' available. I must have missed something but I'm not sure

where to look.

I have downloaded and installed Extension for .NET framework 3.0 (Windows

Workflow Foundation) and Shareport Server 2007 SDK: Software Development Kit.

Which has allowed me when in Visual Studio I choose File - New Project -

have the ability to choose Visual C#, then SharePoint, then SharePoint

Sequential Workflow Library. It creates all the file for the project (except

I don't see an install.bat file which I was expecting). Also, as I mentioned

above I don't have a Designer View.

However, as a side note, should I choose to create just a Workflow project I

do have a 'Design View' to choose when I open the Workflow1.cs file.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

Sharepoint 3.0 SDK

Jack — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:41:07 GMT

Has anyone else run into the problem where the VB state machine workflow project template won't open?

Everything else I pretty much get and need to get to work. But I need that state machine project template to get started, or at least a resource to build my own from scratch.

Please email me at Jburnish@hotmail.com

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Tim Leininger — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:59:20 GMT

Does anyone no if there is a way to turn off e-mails on out of the box Sharepoint 2007 workflow? I have a workflow set-up on a document library. I would like to just use the task lists and not approve/reject items via e-mail.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Sunny — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:47:52 GMT

Hi all,

I have installed Sharepoint Designer 2007, but the problem is the feature that I want to evaluate (workflow) is not available. Does anyone know how to solve this problem or maybe know of an article describing installation procedure/instructions to be able to get this feature?

Thanks for the great article.

Regards,

Sunny

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Rupen Patel — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 01:00:13 GMT

I am not able to add the Sharepoint Activities to a VS2005 toolbox tab. I have MOSS installed on the server. I can see that Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions.dll is in the GAC, but the components do not show in the list when I try to add them to a new toolbox tab. I'm trying VS2005 after a failed attempt to try Orcas. The workflow would not deploy to a new install of MOSS. All I really needed from VS2005 was install.bat. I had to completely remove VS2005 and Orcas because the Sharepoint project work not working at all in VS2005. It there a way to get the components to show in VS2005 before I try Orcas again?

Thanks

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Tina — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 02:06:05 GMT

I do not get any activity duration reports. I need to get some data in the activity duration reports. How do I do that?

Thanks alot

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Ben — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:18:01 GMT

We implemented a worklow template for sales and leads. Loaded all the data, tried to convert a lead and got error message: "Data source failed to execute the insert command". Can you help?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

emma — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:04:50 GMT

The scenario: the user check list of softwares. If the software is not in the list, the user can fill the form. User submit the form and the manager has to approve the application form via email. Then... i will get the approval from manager and proceed the request.

The question: Can this scenario do in sharepoint workflow? Where can i create the form - infopath or sharepoint designer?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Paul Paintin — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:33:21 GMT

Further to Frederick Morrison's comments about spenema.bat, I'm having the problem whereby any changes I make to a previously stable and operational workflow (using SharePoint Designer mind, not VS) don't seem to be made within the site (change to manual start, no start button under List Settings->Workflows, body changes to email output from workflow not showing in new emails generated etc).

Is spenema.bat my friend in this scenario, or does anyone else have any suggestions?

Cheers,

Paul.

Workflow to copy documents from one library to another

TJN — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:28:08 GMT

I would like to create a workflow which will copy the document from one library (say current) to another (say archive) after a specific date has arrived. Can anyone provide an example on this?

Thanks

Workflow to copy documents between libraries

TJN — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:32:36 GMT

I am looking for an example of how to create a workflow which will copy a document from one library to another (ex. current to archive) based on a date, and then remove a document from library after step one is compeleted.

Thanks

Tim

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Adam Rose — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:38:08 GMT

I've been trying to use SharePoint Designer to create some simple custom workflows on a document library. These work fine until I put a condition into the workflow.

Whenever I try to finish a workflow that contains a condition - even when I check the workflow and find no errors - I get the following message:

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

Unexpected error on server associating the workflow"

Once that's happened, it keeps happening on that workflow every time I click Finish, even if I remove the condition.

I cannot find anyone online who knows what is going on here, but clearly there is some sort of bug. Is your team aware of this, Eilene? Do you have a patch or suggested solution?

Thanks,

Adam.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Vic — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:35:03 GMT

Can workflows be setup on sharepoint in SBS or do you have to have Sharepoint Server running to use workflows

How to start a survey list from a custom list using workflow.

chandra — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:31:46 GMT

Hi,Eilene

Let me give mygratitude for the valuable information.

I am developing a demend forcasting application using wss 3.0.I chose survey template to ask a set of questions.I have a registration form,i developed custom list.When the user submits the registration form the control should goes to the survey list to fill the questionnaires.Can i achive this task using work flow.

thanks

chandra

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Quinten Questel — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:59:09 GMT

I have a workflow that has two people approving a document in Parallel and I have the following issue:

1. When both approve I perform an action (OK).

2. When both reject I perform an action (OK).

3. When one approves and one rejects I need to perform an action (Need help on this).

I am using the default approval workflow in sharepoint to do the approval and developed a workflow using designer to track the approval response and perform an action.

How can I do this if one approver approves and one rejects.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Sirshendu — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:05:19 GMT

Hi Eilene,

Its really a nice article on sharepoint workflow.

While I was going through your replies to different queries, I found that you have suggested Ismail to "Expand the My Tasks view to allow users to see not only their tasks but also groups that they're a part of."

I tried this one, but couldn't successful. Can you please give some more details on how to make that type of views which will filter based not only their tasks but also groups that they're a part of.

Waiting for a response from your side.

Sharepoint workflow

madhu — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:54:09 GMT

Hi,

I have been playing around with sharepoint in built WF for the past 1 month everything is fine but when the WF is complete there is an error message in the WF history "Error in the Workflow"

I checked the logs in the SPS but failed to get the root cause for the error

Can anybody help?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Sunil Kumar — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:54:02 GMT

Hi,

I have created a workflow for discussion board using sharepoint designer.

Its working fine when i add new discussion.

I have enabled discussion board for email.

now for email the workflow is not starting.

What can be the problem?

But the workflow created by from site (default workflow) are working for incomming mail also.

Thanks

Sunil

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Jason — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:21:42 GMT

In case anyone else actually codes in VB and is wondering why the Visual Basic project template for Sharepoint State Machine Workflow doesn't work, here is the fix:

Copy the files Workflow1.layout and Workflow1.resx from the CSharp template file C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplates\CSharp\SharePoint\smcs_wss.zip to the VB template file C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplates\CSharp\SharePoint\smcs_wss.zip. You may also need to copy those files to the same zip file in the ProjectCache directory C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplatesCache\VisualBasic\SharePoint\smvb_wss.zip. Now you should be able to use the Sharepoint State Machine Workflow proejct.

State Machine Workflow and SharePoint

KHLIF — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:28:31 GMT

Hi Eilene,

I have created a State Machine Workflow project in VS2005, and after that i have deployed it into my sharepoint server.

next i have attached my workflow to a custom list.

but after creating new item and saving it, the workflow could not run : "Échec de démarrage du flux de travail Processus de Validation" (It mean that error when starting workflow process).

could you please help me, or tell me if we can deploy State Machine project in the sharepoint server.

thanks.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Fred Morrison — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:01:13 GMT

Who can I communicate with about my improved WssTaskActivity that I would like to have adopted by the people in charge of the ECM Starter Kit? I took the ECMActivities project that comes with ECM Starter Kit 1.3 and modified the WssTaskActivity class to include an OnTaskCreated workflow action. It includes the ability to call a method so that things like finding the ID value can be performed (crucial for folks who need to send out emails with hyperlinks pointing back to the SPWorkflowTask). The lack of OnTaskCreated in the Microsoft-supplied WssTaskActivity has been the source of much grief in the SharePoint workflow developer community. Hopefully, my improved WssTaskActivity will alleviate some of that pain and suffering.

Workflow errors

Petronella — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:21:14 GMT

Hi ALL

I am having problems running an approval workflow . When I add a users one at a time in Add Recipients as approvers it works fine .

If I add a user group in the Add Recipients Dialog box the workflow fails and an error occurred message is in the workflow status

Has anyone come across such an error

Unknown Error When Trying to Create Approval Workflow

Towandra — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:23:32 GMT

I am working in a test environment for MOSS 2007 to test the workflows. I am particularly interested in the out-of-the-box Approval workflow template. But after I enter in all the setup info to create a new approval workflow and click enter, on the next screen I get an "unknown error" message. Has anyone encountered this error while trying to create the approval workflow and if so, how did you fix it?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Castropsel — Mon, 26 May 2008 09:46:51 GMT

Hi, I hope you can help me with my problem.

I have two workflows attached to the same list. These workflows have a step that has the same condition. Ex: workflow1 and workflow2 will be excuted if status = active.

During the tests I did, I noticed that sometimes workflow1 is executed first and sometimes workflow2 is executed first. The thing is, an error occurs if workflow2 is executed first. Can I do something to make sure that workflow1 will be executed first?

Teched 2008 todo listo

Haaron Gonzalez — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:16:10 GMT

Bien, después de haber llegado más que temprano al Teched 2008 pude ver que aun se estaban levantando

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

P Budde — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:12:23 GMT

I am relatively new to SharePoint workflow, and maybe I missed the answer in this blog, but can you trigger a second workflow, from within a primary workflow?

Thanks in advance.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Fred Morrison — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:01:47 GMT

See SPWorkflowManager.StartWorkflow on the MSDN web site.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Redd — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:06:38 GMT

I have a workflow developed and in production.The problem is when i upgrade the workflow by adding new tasks and deploy the new worklfow on the deployment site the already In Progress items dont move forward where as a new item from starting can walk through the changes that i made in the worklfow.

What could be the reason?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

julia — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:55:15 GMT

I am having the same problem as Erin; when I try to upload .pdf I get "An error occurred copying some of all of the selected files" Any help would be appreciated!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

jpw — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:31:15 GMT

I'm working with an internet facing site (only). I want the workflow to be the same on all sites (to start). There doesn't seem to be a way to inherit workflow and it is a very tedious task to visit each sites' (600+) page's library settings and manipulate Version Settings and Worflow. Help!

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Allan — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:18:38 GMT

first off i need to say that I am a user rather than a developer or programmer. We currently have SharePoint 2007 (Not the enterprise version) but we are still on Office 2003.

I looked at the basic workflow within Sharepoint and set up one based on approval within a document library. I set it for serial and then wanted to start it off manually but with the logic that if it was rejected or anything changed to the basic document the workflow would stop. Fine so far

I then attached the workflow to a document and everything was going great. Is'nt this easy I thought to myself

Trouble is every workflow i set up works ok but when it finishes I get a system generated error and i have to terminate the workflow.

This happens even if the document was not changed or rejected.

All the detail says (in the error log) is error so I have no idea what the problem is

any ideas

Workflow on List changed

Vairamuthu — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:47:44 GMT

What I need is when I update the List I need to call the work flow activity. In work flow we are having OnTaskChanged event it will trigger when we change the Task, like wise If I change the list some action needs to happen in workflow .How can I do that one?

On List Changed in Workflow

Vairamuthu — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:08:42 GMT

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Allan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:20:47 GMT

Hi,

I have one of the problems mentioned above

I am trying to create a Sharepoint Sequential Workflow Library project in Visual Studio 2005. I can create the project however when I open the Workflow1.cs file I only get the 'Code View' and in the View Menu there is no 'Designer View' available.

Any insight?

how to delete workflows using api

dilip — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:08:04 GMT

hello...

i have one question if any body know the answer please reply me...this is asking one of my interview..please reply my quesations.

1.how to delete work flows using API.

2.how to rename custom templates in custom Tab.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Ginni — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:36:50 GMT

Hello,

I have a doubt

I have created a infopath form and have attached it to a Approval workflow. When this workflow starts, a mail is send to the concerned person who is authorised to approve or reject that form. But when that person tries to open that form by clicking on the link which in there in outlook, it is showing an error "The form has been closed".

I am really not getting how is this happening. Please give your suggestions.I am really in a mess.

I know that i need to check workflow.xml file. I have created a OOB Workflow, not in designer and VS. Now where to find this workflow.xml of a OOB Workflow.

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Daniel O'Brien — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:18:55 GMT

Hi guys,

Triggering a workflow on item deletion really is a critical feature for the company I work for and I'm honestly really surprised that it's been overlooked in MOSS '07. We're allowed to put all these fancy workflows in place to approve content before it's published on our web, move it around or whatever, but if someone comes through and deletes it, there's nothing we can do? That just seemes really odd to me.

What if we want to move all deleted items to an archive instead of getting rid of them forever? Or perhaps there are supporting/related files that need to be removed along with a list item? Maybe we want to allow any site member to delete content, but a member of the Approvers group needs to authorize it. This seems to me like a serious flaw in the way workflows manage content on a SharePoint server.

I know we can restrict deletion through permissions, but can you guys look at adding a trigger for deletion? It might mean that items are *marked* for deletion instead of actually being deleted so that a workflow can fire off on it. If there's no workflow, then, hey! go ahead and delete the thing...but at least we have the option.

Many thanks!

-Dan

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Huk — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:24:55 GMT

I have created a workflow using sharepoint designer. It starts off with a couple of Wait for action to wait for an approval status to change to either Approved/Rejected.

Wait for Approval Status to not equal Draft

then Wait for Approval Status to not equal Pending

then Log the Approval Status .....

When I tested the workflow it works fine but when I deploy it for use, it stops prematurely for now reseaon or the Approval Status just changed to Approved (but nobody approved anything!!!) This is a secondary workflow depending on action on the out-of-box approval workflow.

Thanks,

Huk

I would appreciate if you could send me an email if you can help as I just came across this site by chance.

huk.mok@teagasc.ie

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Srikanth — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:02:18 GMT

Hi,

I have created custom forms for adding/Updating List items for a particular List. I have a simple workflow which sends a mail to the user, once an item is added/modified in the List. The workflow is getting trigerred if I add an Item manually through Edit DataSheet view, but not getting triggered if a item is inserted/updated through Custom forms I created. Any idea what needs to be done to fix this?

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

Miles — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:16:15 GMT

If anyone is looking for a way to track errors in custom workflows built in Visual Studio 2008, I found an easy way. You create an error list in Sharepoint, and write out your errors from the workflow to that list. Then, you can add alerts as well. This is a lot easier than digging through the Sharepoing logs. I have the code sample here: http://bluesurftech.com/TechBlog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=38

-Miles

Get Manager from Active Directory

grank — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:54:25 GMT

I downloaded today and installed OfficeServerSDK.exe.

After the install on my MOSS server I connected via Share Point Designer.

I selected New, Workflow and tried creating an action that would Get Manager from Active Directory.

I was expecting this action to be included in the SDK and it doesn't appear that any new actions were installed to my MOSS installation.

Can you explain what I need to do next?

Thanks

Greg

re: Introduction to SharePoint Workflow!

saranga — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:24:36 GMT

Great post !!!

Developing custom workflow action is very easy, try this,

http://sarangasl.blogspot.com/2009/11/sharepoint-workflow-actions-for.html