When using system actions within your workflow it is strongly recommended that you add a corrective (debug) action linked directly to that system action. Should an error occur during the execution of a system action, it is required that you trap the error in question or risk having the request close prematurely (with a status of "Closed-Cancelled").

Solution

The solution is to implement error handling functionality for all actions executed by the system. This will help ensure that execution errors are not only captured by WorkflowGen, but also allows for the action to be re-launched once the cause of the error has been rectified.

To add a corrective “debug” action, perform the following:

1. Add a manual action (or a .NET form for a more interactive user experience)
2. Position the action so that it transitions from the system action
3. Place an “Execution Error” exception on the transition line
4. Add a transition line from the manual action back to the system action

Should an error occur during the execution of a system action it will trigger the execution exception and transition to the “debug” action. This will essentially “pause” the request until the Participant or user assigned manually starts and stops the action. As long as the system action is in error, it will continue to trigger the manual action. Once the error has been corrected and the manual action is launched , the workflow will continue on its intended path.

How to create custom menus in the WorkflowGen administration module

Solution

To create custom menus in the administration module, you must create and modify an XML
called “admin.xml” file in the CustomMenu folder located in the directory
“\wfgen\App_Data\customMenus\” of the WorkflowGen web server. If this folder does not exist, simply create it.

The following is an example only of what your "admin.xml" file may contain: 

 

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<menu>

<menuItem title="My links..." profile="user">

<menuItem title="Advantys" url="http://www.advantys.com/"

target="_new" description="Advantys Web Site" profile="user"

showInHomepage="true" />

<menuItem title="WorkflowGen" url="http://www.workflowgen.com/"

target="" description="WorkflowGen Web Site" profile="admin"

icon="myicon.gif" showInHomepage="false" />

</menuItem>

</menu> 

Reference

WorkflowGen 5.1 Administration module documentation - Chapter 21 Appendix C.

http://community.workflowgen.com/downloads/documentation

I am unable to activate my installation of WorkflowGen.

Solution

To activate the product you must:

1. Copy the license file (*.lic) to the /wfgen/bin folder.
2. When trying to launch WorkflowGen, the application should prompt you for a valid license key. Enter the serial key which matches the *.lic file sent to you.

Note

If you have a mismatch with the .lic and the key, the activation will not work.

If you have multiple .lic files in the /wfgen/bin folder, the activation will not work either due to the conflict. Please remove inactive .lic files.

We have seen repeated problems when using the file upload feature with Acrobat Reader 9. If there is a valid file path within the upload field, the 'Submit' button does not respond. On the other hand, adding a space (if a required field) or leaving the field blank will allow the 'Submit' button to fire.

Solution

Adobe has confirmed that the reported issue has been resolved and a fix will be issued within an upcoming 9.x release.

Note

WorkflowGen does guarantee support of Adobe Reader 8.1 or higher.

The “Now” function will return the current local time of the Windows machine which is used to compare to a GMT DateTime from the macro <WF_ACTIVITY_INST_LIMIT_DATETIME>. 

The time difference could be several hours off depending on the local machine's time zone setting which may result into an incorrect or false condition evaluation. This is only true in WorkflowGen versions 5+, since the introduction of the time zone management feature. This is a DateTime calculation issue and not a software bug.

Solution

The solution is to use the macro <WF_SYSTEM_DATETIME> instead of the VBScript function “Now”.

Example

 

DateDiff("d",<WF_ACTIVITY_INST_LIMIT_DATETIME>,<WF_SYSTEM_DATETIME>) > 2

 

Note

This KB is applicable to transition and additional notification conditions.

Background

WorkflowGen's validation group WFGENPage handles the validation of fields specified in the parameter 'FORM_FIELDS_REQUIRED'.

We can add additional .NET validation controls and associate the validation result to 'WFGENPage' so that we can consolidate all error messages when the submit button is clicked and the form is submitted to the WorkflowGen engine.

Solution

You must have the 'FORM_FIELDS_REQUIRED' parameter in your action with a valid field ID or the 'FieldDataType' extended attribute applied to a .Net control within your web form. The WorkflowGen engine will generate the javascript to show the required field validation error only if it is needed. If 'FORM_FIELDS_REQUIRED' does not contain a valid field specified in the parameter or 'FieldDataType' is not used within your web form(s), WFGENPage will not create the javascript for the error message dialog box. Hence, your .NET validation will still validate but it will not trigger the error message window. If your form does not have a standard .NET control that needs to be required or no .Net control using the 'FieldDataType' attribute, you can add any invisible or inactive .Net control to use for this purpose. This will ensure that 'WFGENPage' triggers the error message box.

After changing the user name of a user in Active Directory 1, the user is unable to log in to WorkflowGen and receives the following security error... “You are not authorized to view this page”.

Details

In fact, whether the username (SAMAccountName) is changed via your Active Directory or a Domain Controller is irrelevant. In either case, the user in question will not be able to log into WorkflowGen.

This is likely to occur given the following conditions... 

1. You are using Integrated Authentication (The user is able to login to their Windows account but not WorkflowGen) and...
2. Local users are running Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003. The Local Security Authority or LSA is a process in Microsoft Windows operating systems that is responsible for enforcing security policy on the system. It verifies users logging on to a Windows computer or server creating access tokens which contain security information for login sessions identifying the user, user’s groups and the user’s privileges. This information is cached by the LSA which was intended to improve performance; however inconsistencies may occur between the local cache and the domain controllers, resulting in the error in question.

Solution

The solution is to disable the LSA from caching the user’s information on the domain member’s or user’s computer. Microsoft proposes to perform the following steps...  

1. Open Registry Editor.To do this in Windows XP or in Windows Server 2003, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
   To do this in Windows Vista, Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
2. Locate and then right-click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
3. Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type LsaLookupCacheMaxSize, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click LsaLookupCacheMaxSize, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
7. Exit Registry Editor.

For a complete article on this topic, please visit the following URL: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946358

1 You may want to perform a manual synchronization within WorkflowGen so that changes to users are reflected immediately within the application rather than waiting for a scheduled synchronization to occur.

 //----- on default.aspx.cs page ------

// Prepare a method for the user control submit button event
// that basically triggers SubmitToWorkflow()

void UserCtrl_btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler(string strValue)
{ SubmitToWorkflow(); }



// Create a new event handler that captures the button click event from user control
// The user control has an ID called UCTRL on default.aspx page
// In UserCtrl.aspx.cs there is a submit button event handler called
// btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler for an event called OnSubmitButtonClick
//
// Once this event is triggered,
// it will pass the method UserCtrl_btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
UCTRL.btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler += new UCTRL.OnSubmitButtonClick(UserCtrl_btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler);
}

 

//----- on UserCtrl.acsx.cs page ------
//
// add event declaration for the main default.aspx page
// this event is triggered when a button control called Button2 is clicked
//

// Delegate declaration
public delegate void OnSubmitButtonClick(string strValue);

// Event declaration
public event OnSubmitButtonClick btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler;

//
// in case of the button control “Button2” in user control is clicked,
// it triggers the OnSubmitButtonClick event that references to
// UserCtrl_btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler method on the main page

protected void Button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler != null)
{ btnUserCtrlSubmitHandler(string.Empty); }
} 

When receiving emails from WorkflowGen, I notice that special characters such as the French character 'é' or the Russian character 'й' do not display properly within the email. They are being replaced by symbols such as a square box '
'.

Solution

This issue is likely only occurring with your custom templates. The solution is to...

1. In the <HEAD> section of your HTML document, add the following html code to the html template header (html email templates only). This will override browsers with other character sets as their default settings. To do this, include the following Meta tag: 

...
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
....

2. Save the template file usingUTF-8 encoding. For example, in notepad, perform a'Save As' and select 'UTF-8' from the Encoding drop-down.

3. Re-upload the email template to your WorkflowGen process 'data'.

When installing the WorkflowFileUpload component, I get the following error...

“Failure to install Toolbox controls via ContentInstaller or Tools.InstallCommunityControls”

Background

If you are experiencing this issue, it is likely because you have either SQL Server Management Studio Express CTP or SQL Server 2005 installed. These applications have at one point overwritten some of the registry key values used by Visual Studio resulting in the complications you are now experiencing.

Solution

To install the WorkflowFileUpload control (as a workaround), please follow the following steps...

1. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0\Packages\{36839529-3AF3-47fa-8194-F4A3FA9F0ED7}, change the CodeBase value to use the Visual Studio 8.0 location, for e.g. file:///D:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\Microsoft.VisualStudio.ToolBoxControlInstaller.dll

2. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0\Packages\{36839529-3AF3-47fa-8194- F4A3FA9F0ED7}\SatelliteDll, change the Path value to point to the Common7\IDE folder for e.g. D:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\

3. Open the Visual Studio Command Prompt and run devenv /setup (Do not forget this step)

4. Re-install the WorkflowFileUpload control

Note:

If you continue to have problems installing this control or any other, you may be required to re-install Visual Studio.

How can I add a file to a process data without using any FileUpload control within an eFormASPX form?

Background

WorkflowGen.My will look for a file uploaded by the FileUpload control at submission. In a situation where we want  to dynamically add a file to a WorkflowGen process data without prompting the user to upload a file, we need to make sure  that WorkflowGen.My is still prepared to receive a file as an OUT parameter even if there is no FileUpload control on the form.

Solution

A standard file upload in WorkflowGen requires 2 pieces of information:

- 1. A physical file to be uploaded to the action's temporary storage path.
- 2. A parameter name registered as a valid data field in the form data file.

To achieve this without the help of a FileUpload control, we need to do the following:

- 1. Prepare the source file by copying it to the WorkflowGen action temporary storage path

- 2. Create an invisible .NET Label control on the form as a file placeholder for WorkflowGen's form data

- 3. Set the label's text be the file path of the uploaded file

Example:

//----- a label control with ID = “UPLOAD1” is added on aspx page

String SourceFolder = "C:\\Inetpub\\wwwroot\\wfgen\\WfApps\\MyProject";
String TargetFolder = “upload\\” + UPLOAD1.ID;
String FileName = "test.txt";

// --- prepare folder for temporary storage of the upload file
// --- StoragePath is a predefined string variable inherited from WorkflowGen
// --- containing the storage path for files of the current form action

DirectoryInfo di = new DirectoryInfo(StoragePath + “\\” + TargetFolder);
if (!di.Exists)
{ di.Create(); }

FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(SourceFolder + “\\” + FileName);
fi.CopyTo(StoragePath + “\\” + TargetFolder + “\\” + FileName);

UPLOAD1.Text = TargetFolder + “\\” + FileName;

I am using the WorkflowFileUpload control on my web form . When I upload a file and submit the form, I can see in the Follow Up form's 'Associated Data' that the file was successfully uploaded to a process data. However when the next action is launched the file does not display on the form.

Background

On every submit, WorkflowGen automatically generates an XML file that is stored in a process data via the EFORMASPX required parameter 'FORM_DATA'. This XML file contains the data of the web form. WorkflowGen can use this XML file to populate your form fields with data from one action to another. However, the XML file cannot store files within itself as it can with textual data, so your WorkflowFileUpload control will be empty when the form loads.

Solution

The solution is to create an 'IN' parameter for every action you want to display the uploaded file. Remember, the 'IN' parameter's name must equal the value of the WorkflowFileUpload control's 'ID' property. Make sure to specify the process data that contain the uploaded file as the 'IN' value. On subsequent actions of uploading a file, a link to the file will display on the web in lieu of the 'Browse' button. There may also be links to 'Modify' and 'Delete' the file depending on the whether the 'ReadOnly' property is set to 'true' or 'false'.

When creating a new web form with Visual Studio 2008 you are getting a parser error that states "Could not load type..." with the type name of your code-behind page.

Reason

This can be caused by the fact that Visual Studio 2008 does not, by default, copy references into the web form applications "References" folder (hereas in Visual Studio 2005 it does) when building your project.  Therefore, the compiler can not load the type WorkflowGen.My.Web.UI.WebForms.WorkflowPage since it is not part of the local project on the WorkflowGen server.

N.B.:  This only applies to Web Applications and not Web Sites created in Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008

Solution

To fix this, you must set the property "Copy Local" to true in Visual Studio 2008

1. In your Web Application, right-click on the "References" folder of a project and choose "Properties"
2. In the Properties pane that opens, find the "Copy Local" property and set it to "True".

When using the System.Date macro to pass the system’s date to a .Net control on your web form, you may notice that you do not consistently receive the correct date.

Background

System.Date is an action macro that dates back to version 4 of WorkflowGen. Since version 4 did not support time zone management, it was never an issue. However, with the introduction of time zone management to versions 5+, WorkflowGen requires the time of day to accurately display dates since it is now taking into consideration the user's time zone.

Solution

It is best practice to use the "System.DateTime" when passing the system date as an IN parameter to a .Net control such as a textbox or label. On your web form, you can then specify the WorkflowGen.My extended attribute “FieldDataType” to “DateTime” (to correspond with the System.DateTime context you are passing in). It is with the “FieldFormat” attribute that you specify the desired format of the date for display purposes.

Example:

< asp : TextBox FieldDataType ="DateTime" FieldFormat ="{0:d}" ID ="TEXT_BOX_DATE_TIME" runat ="server"></ asp : TextBox >

Reference

WorkflowGen 5 Web Form Developer Guide - Chapter 4.5.3 Fields data type.

http://community.workflowgen.com/downloads/documentation

When using Internet Explorer 6 or 7, I get a Javascript security error (Access is denied) when trying to view statistics displayed as a chart.

Solution:

You can resolve this issue from within the configuration panel of WorkflowGen’s Administration module. More specifically, within the ‘General’ tab make sure the proper DNS or server name has been entered into the ‘Web application URL’ setting.

Note:

Depending on your browser’s Internet Security settings you may either be prompted with the above mentioned security error or simply not have the charts display and appear as if your page is ‘hanging’.