what is your workflow doing?  the fact that you have an error would indicate that it is trying to start so the condition is being met?

It has a state machine that has flexi tasks in it.  When i start the workflow manually it works.

Thanks,

Jennifer

the buttons on the form that update the draft to yes and no - they are submitting the data back to the list right?

Yes, they are save and submit buttons.

Thanks,

Jennifer

what type of column is draft in your list?  I am just going to try and recreate.

OK here is what I have.

Custom list with title field and additional field "draft" which is Single Line of Text (no default).

Nintex form with two buttons:

1. Save as Draft - connected to draft with value returned yes
2. Unsave as Draft (I know that is not English but I am tired ) - connected to draft with value returned no

Workflow built.

Manual Start checked

start when items created = no

start when items are modified = conditional (as you have configured yours)

Add new item with a title, save and close

choose item and edit.  select save as draft.  confirm draft updated to yes.

choose item and edit.  select unsave as draft. confirm draft updated to no.

workflow completes.

my workflow is very basic and just notifies the initiator of the value in draft.

can I ask that you try the same.  set up your list and your starting logic the same, but with a basic workflow.  I think it might be what is in your workflow that is causing the issue, not the conditional start.

if that works, add your workflow back in bit by bit to see what causes the issue.

hope that helps.

Thanks for the info.  I have mine set conditional when items are created because we may want to submit an item right away and not save as draft.

This is the article i am using Tips on how to emulate draft functionality in a list , but it doesn't seem to want to work in specific instances.  It works fine if you save as draft first, and then edit and submit, but if you just want to save it doesn't work.  I tried changing the submit settings to this:

Which seems to make logical sense, but that doesn't want to work either.

Other suggestions?

Thanks,

Jennifer

It looks like i need to split the rules; one for save as draft [conditional on edit] and one for submit [conditional on start].  I am still getting an error 'workflow failed to start' on my 'real' workflow with the conditions, but they seem to work fine on the test workflow you had me create.

Suggestions?

Jennifer

Hi Jennifer

I think your starting options need to be configured as follows (as I don't see why you are accessing previous value on creation - there won't be one).

I have again tested mine and found the following:

create item with draft as no - workflow starts

create item with draft as yes - workflow doesn't start

edit item where draft was yes and change it to no - workflow starts

edit item where draft was no and change it to yes - workflow doesn't start.

Can I ask you again to update your simple workflow as above and confirm that works.  If it does, can I suggest that you start recreating your complex workflow in this simple workflow and test bit by bit.  I think the failure is to do with the content of your workflow, not your starting conditions.

It's working after i made that last change with the conditional start/modify.  Basically the same thing you outlined. It must have been someone else working on the server the same time I was and that was what was killing the workflow, not the start conditions.

Thanks for all the help!

Jennifer