Steven Van de Craen's Blog

This is excellent to know. Thanks!

You really should use the "using" statement to dispose the SPSite and SPWeb objects. This can save you a lot of memory. So it should be something like using (SPSite site = ...) using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb()) { Guid wfBaseId = new Guid("{6BE0ED92-BB12-4F8F-9687-E12DC927E4AD}"); SPList list = web.Lists["listname"]; SPListItem item = list.Items[0]; SPWorkflowAssociation associationTemplate= list.WorkflowAssociations.GetAssociationByBaseID(wfBaseId); site.WorkflowManager.StartWorkflow(item, associationTemplate, ""); }

Michaël, glad to see you're up to speed with some of the best practices. I omitted it in code because it wasn't relevant to the sample. Besides, the SPSite object could be a reference to the SPContext.Current.Site instance which you should never dispose manually. Who knows what lies beneath those three dots ;)

I seem to have a problem with the GetAssociationByBaseID. It is always returning null. If I loop through the SPWorkflowAssociations collection and match the Guid with the BaseId in a foreach loop then I can match it and everything works fine, but using the method always results in a null object.

Hello steven, I tried to make use of your code to solve a similar problem I was having with starting a workflow. However, my workflow is custom made and launches an Infopath form on activation. When using your code, the "Eventdata" ( ""); in your example) is used and the initial form is not launched. Can your code be adapted to correct this?

Dirk, starting it programmatically will not bring up the initiation form. You will have to supply the correct XML for this form as a string (like "" in the above sample.

This bit of powershelling also works: [System.Reflection.Assembly]::Load("Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c") $Site= new-object Microsoft.SharePoint.SPSite("http://blah.blah") $cultinf = System.Globalization.CultureInfo]::CurrentCulture $web = $site.AllWebs["dokumenten-center"] $seiten = $web.Lists["pages"] $listitem = $seiten.Items[0] $assoctpl = $seiten.WorkflowAssociations.GetAssociationByName("My Friendly WfName", $cultinf) #$assoctpl $site.WorkflowManager.StartWorkflow($listitem, $assoctpl, "")

Ed, thanks for sharing that sample. I'm starting to jump aboard the Powershell train and it's a coincidence that you post this comment right now.

Thanks for this great code. Do you any have idea how to stop the same sharpoint designer workflow from VS? Thanks in advance. Deepak Jindal

Don't know by hard but should be pretty obvious. What are you trying to achieve ? Cancelling (set status to cancelled + delete tasks) or something different ? Check out the SPWorkflow type or instance...

I am using your code to initiate a simple Designer created workflow. However, I keep getting the following error: Request for the permission of type 'System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' failed. Your thoughts would be appreciated, thank you.

Your code doesn't have enough permissions to do that. Either sign and deploy to GAC, specify CAS permissions or set the web.config trust-level to 'Full'. The latter is only advised for development machines !

Thats brilliant Steven. I thought I had already added to the GAC - shows you what thought did. Thanks again.

Steven I used your code what exact you have used in the above line but i got the exception is Exception from HRESULT: 0x8102009B my code is here, do you have any solution for this?, the workflow which i used i have created that throgh sharepoint designer public void StartWorkFlow(int listItemID) { string approvalWorkFlowGUID = GetConfigSetting("ApprovalWorkFlowGUID"); try { SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate() { using (SPSite mySiteCollection = new SPSite(siteUrl)) { using (SPWeb mySite = mySiteCollection.OpenWeb()) { try { mySite.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true; SPList oSPList = mySite.Lists[strProcessListName]; SPListItem oSpListItem = oSPList.GetItemById(listItemID); Guid wfBaseId = new Guid(approvalWorkFlowGUID); SPWorkflowAssociation associationTemplate = oSPList.WorkflowAssociations.GetAssociationByBaseID(wfBaseId); mySiteCollection.WorkflowManager.StartWorkflow(oSpListItem, associationTemplate, associationTemplate.AssociationData); oSpListItem.Update(); } catch (Exception ex) { EventLog.LogError("iProcessUpdation - StartWorkFlow", ex.Message); } } } }); } catch (Exception ex) { EventLog.LogError("iProcessUpdation - StartWorkFlow", ex.Message); } }

Latha, debug the contents of the associationTemplate.AssociationData and verify that it is valid association data xml.

thanks Steven for your reply, yes i verified that also in your code you hard coded like "", in mycode when i debug that, it comes like "", i dont know wheather that is correct or not, i dont have much idea about start workflow programmatically. i refered some of the link like your link then i started to working because my recurirement is like this one more thing i have created the Approval workflow with sharepoint designer.. is it giving any problem for that? do you have any reference material to learn how to start workflow programatically i mean should i give any permission for workflow? where i have to give permission? because might be i have missed something thats why i am asking.

thanks Steven for your reply, yes i verified that also in your code you hard coded like , in mycode when i debug that, it comes like , i dont know wheather that is correct or not, i dont have much idea about start workflow programmatically. i refered some of the link like your link then i started to working because my recurirement is like this one more thing i have created the Approval workflow with sharepoint designer.. is it giving any problem for that? do you have any reference material to learn how to start workflow programatically i mean should i give any permission for workflow? where i have to give permission? because might be i have missed something thats why i am asking.

thanks Steven for your reply, yes i verified that also in your code you hard coded like root, in mycode when i debug that, it comes like Data , i dont know wheather that is correct or not, i dont have much idea about start workflow programmatically. i refered some of the link like your link then i started to working because my recurirement is like this one more thing i have created the Approval workflow with sharepoint designer.. is it giving any problem for that? do you have any reference material to learn how to start workflow programatically i mean should i give any permission for workflow? where i have to give permission? because might be i have missed something thats why i am asking. sorry sending again and again the data and root are not displaying in the previous comment

Latha, never pass null or "" to the initiation data. It should be an XML string. If your workflow doesn't require initiation data than provide an empty XML node as string (see my sample). Check this as follows; when you start the workflow on an item does it ask you to enter data into the initation form ? Also I see now that you use AssociationData for InitiationData. If both are empty it might not be an issue but it's not a very good idea to do this.

Totally unnecesary to go through the GUID thing. .GetAssociationByName will do the same thing by Workflow Name. Otherwise, good bit of info.

Hi Steven, I am facing an error while at this line in my code: objWorkflowManager.StartWorkflow(photoItem, objWorkflowAssociation, objWorkflowAssociation.AssociationData); Error is: Attempted to perform an unauthorized operation I have enclosed the entire code in SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges() and also all the SPWeb and other objects are declared within. Additionally I do not face any problem when trying to start the workflow when logged in as system account or contributors to the website. The problem comes when I try starting logged in as a limited access account which is a visitor to the site. That is why am using RunWithElevatedPrivileges. My requirement is such that I cannot assign more permissions to this readonly account, but they should be able to start the workflow which is part of a request they make of the site. Am I missing anything. And other permissions or security I need to configure, any ideas please???

Priyanka, Are you getting a new SPSite via the constructor or from the SPContext ? You shouldn't need additional configuration.

Hi, I want to start the workflow from list view page (AllItems.aspx). For this, I have created a custom field which renders a "Start Workflow" button, through "DisplayPattern" of that field. I have put some javascript code in hidden content editor webpart in AllItems.aspx page. So clicking on that "Start Workflow" Button navigates the user to the initiation page of the workflow, where user have to click on "Start" button to actually start the workflow. Now I want to start the workflow from AllItems.aspx itself. Does anybody know how to do this ? Thanks, Manas

Manas, that's different for each workflow. Your best shot is probably to have a custom ASPX or ASHX start the desired workflow. You could call it via javascript (plain redirect or ajax call).

Yes, I got the solution. I am calling the StartWorkflow method in workflow webservice through XmlHttpRequest. And it works :)

Hi, Manas! I have same task - start workflow from AllItems.aspx But I faced some problems. Can you show me the way you do it? or send me you code: [email protected]

Hi, I used the same code to start the workflow, but I am getting this exception error msg: "System.ArgumentException: Value does not fall within the expected range". its telling me this line is causing the error: "Site.WorkflowManager.StartWorkflow(item, associationTemplate, "")" I have checked the reference to the item and associationTemplate is correct. Any help would be great appreciated. thanks!

Hi Steven , I am using same code as u r sample one SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate() { using (SPSite site = new SPSite(SPContext.Current.Site.ID)) { site.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true; using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb("LeaveManagement")) { web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true; web.Update(); Guid wfBaseId = new Guid(""); SPWorkflowAssociation associationTemplate = list.WorkflowAssociations.GetAssociationByBaseID(wfBaseId); site.WorkflowManager.StartWorkflow(LeaveItem, associationTemplate, "");web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;web.Update();}site.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;}}); but i got error : Updates are currently disallowed on GET requests. To allow updates on a GET, set the 'AllowUnsafeUpdates' property on SPWeb. please help

Amol, given that you're using SPContext I take it you're running from within a Web Part. I've reproduced your code changing some values to the oob Approval Workflow and such but no issues at all. I even commented out every AllowUnsafeUpdates of yours and it kept on working. Could you explain in more detail what you're doing ?

Thanks Steve. This was an import lesson. I was missing the " part and my workflow did work after supplying that parameter.

I use your code except different workflow guid. However, I got System.ArgumentNullException: Vlaue cannot be null at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWorkflowManager.StartWorkflow(SPListItem item, SPWorkflowAssociation association, String eventData, Boolean isAutoStart)..... I also got a same error when trying an empty "" instead of "". I spent many days and tried to debug but got no solution yet. Any help would be highly appreciated.

I have debug and somehow my associationTemplate is null. I actually have this custom workflow working when I start it manually.

I finally found a solution. I applied document library name in the bracket web.Lists["mydocumentlibraryname"] instead of "listname".

Thanks for the post Steven, i've gotten it to work on test environment, but when i tried to make it works on production environment it gave me an error. Here is my code SPList oList = oSPWeb.Lists["Workflow Tasks"]; SPListItemCollection items = oList.GetItems(oQuery); Guid wfBaseId = new Guid("{02A20696-8AD2-432D-BECA-E6D8DE6D0126}"); SPWorkflowAssociation associationTemplate= oList.WorkflowAssociations.GetAssociationByBaseID(wfBaseId); foreach (SPListItem oItem in items) { //oSPSite.WorkflowManager.StartWorkflow(oItem, associationTemplate, ""); } Here is the error i got from log file 0x1DA8 Windows SharePoint Services Workflow Infrastructure 72fs Unexpected RunWorkflow: System.Collections.Generic.KeyNotFoundException: The given key was not present in the dictionary. at System.ThrowHelper.ThrowKeyNotFoundException() at System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2.get_Item(TKey key) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPNoCodeXomlCompiler.<>c__DisplayClassd.b__b() at Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.SecurityContext.RunAsProcess(CodeToRunElevated secureCode) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPNoCodeXomlCompiler.DoCompileNewAppDomain(WorkflowCompilerParameters parameters, String xomlSource, String assemblyName, SPWeb web, CompilationPacket& packet, DirectoryInfo& tempDir) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPNoCodeXomlCompiler.CompileBytes(Byte[] xomlBytes, Byte[] rulesBytes, Boolean doTestCompilation, String as... 08/08/2010 23:59:36.98* OWSTIMER.EXE (0x15DC) 0x1DA8 Windows SharePoint Services Workflow Infrastructure 72fs Unexpected ...semblyName, SPWeb web) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPNoCodeXomlCompiler.LoadXomlAssembly(String assmNameIn, SPWeb web) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWinOeHostServices.CreateInstance(Guid trackingId, SPWorkflow workflow) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWinOeEngine.RunWorkflow(Guid trackingId, SPWorkflowHostService host, SPWorkflow workflow, Collection`1 events, TimeSpan timeOut) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWorkflowManager.RunWorkflowElev(SPWorkflow originalWorkflow, SPWorkflow workflow, Collection`1 events, SPRunWorkflowOptions runOptions) 08/08/2010 23:59:36.98 OWSTIMER.EXE (0x15DC) 0x1DA8 Windows SharePoint Services Workflow Infrastructure 98d7 Unexpected System.Collections.Generic.KeyNotFoundException: The given key was not present in the dictionary. at System.ThrowHelper.ThrowKeyNotFoundException() at System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2.get_Item(TKey key) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPNoCodeXomlCompiler.<>c__DisplayClassd.b__b() at Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.SecurityContext.RunAsProcess(CodeToRunElevated secureCode) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPNoCodeXomlCompiler.DoCompileNewAppDomain(WorkflowCompilerParameters parameters, String xomlSource, String assemblyName, SPWeb web, CompilationPacket& packet, DirectoryInfo& tempDir) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPNoCodeXomlCompiler.CompileBytes(Byte[] xomlBytes, Byte[] rulesBytes, Boolean doTestCompilation, String assemblyName, S... 08/08/2010 23:59:36.98* OWSTIMER.EXE (0x15DC) 0x1DA8 Windows SharePoint Services Workflow Infrastructure 98d7 Unexpected ...PWeb web) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPNoCodeXomlCompiler.LoadXomlAssembly(String assmNameIn, SPWeb web) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWinOeHostServices.CreateInstance(Guid trackingId, SPWorkflow workflow) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWinOeEngine.RunWorkflow(Guid trackingId, SPWorkflowHostService host, SPWorkflow workflow, Collection`1 events, TimeSpan timeOut) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWorkflowManager.RunWorkflowElev(SPWorkflow originalWorkflow, SPWorkflow workflow, Collection`1 events, SPRunWorkflowOptions runOptions)

John, hard to say when it's working on one of two environments. Try setting the diagnostic log level for "Windows SharePoint Services Workflow Infrastructure" to verbose and see if you can narrow it down. Try starting it elevated to see if that works.

"If you don't have initiation data don't pass null or an empty string to the StartWorkflow method or the workflow will fail ! Instead use a single empty XML node (see sample code above)." This was, for me, the most important line in the entire post. Well done Steven, and thank you for your post!

Thanks!