News and Guidelines

Hello fellow Nintexers.  This is my Happy New Year post and why not bring it in with some humor?  If you're like me, and enjoy working with others, then Nintex is one of the best tools to use for organization using SharePoint.  After a fantastic year with several clients, I decided to go back through my projects and help tickets to see what were the top 5 things I saw being done wrong with Nintex.  Its definitely not comprehensive, but it can help shed light on things you should probably avoid if at all possible. So without any further waiting, click on the attachment below.  Each mistake includes a tip to help to prevent it or avoid it if at all possible. Oh and because this is not comprehensive, share things you've seen and maybe we can build an even bigger list for people to avoid in 2015 (yes this is repeated in the presentation for emphasis).

This month we will see a few new actions making their debut with the introduction of 6 new actions into Nintex Workflow for O365. Office 365 Lists and Libraries Office 365 Delete Drafts Office 365 Lists and Libraries Office 365 Delete Previous Version Office 365 Lists and Libraries Office 365 Set Document Set Approval Status Office 365 Lists and Libraries Office 365 Set Approval Status Offic

Sometimes it is necessary to have access to the Nintex Workflow/Forms assemblies (Developing custom actions for example). The files reside in the GAC (Global Assembly Cache). By default, files in this location are not very easy to get to. A quick way to get to the assemblies is to use the subst command. Example: subst g: c:windowsassembly would attach the GAC folder to a driver letter of g: Once you have mounted the GAC, you will find the Nintex Assemblies in the GAC_MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) folder as illustrated above.

Products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010 Today a request came in to assist in removing 9,000~ duplicate Content Type Workflow Associations from a list (previous versions). Since it did not matter whether or not any workflow associations for that content type remained on the list (it is easy enough to re-add the workflow after) this script was developed to remove all workflow associations for that content type. Note: All other content type workflows (other content types) and regular list based workflows will remain unmodified. Run the below (attached as well as a *.txt file for your convenience) PowerShell script (PowerShell ISE works well) from a SharePoint Server:  PowerShell Script Add-PSSnapin microsoft.sharepoint.powershell

Products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010, Nintex Workflow 2007SummaryThe error "Unexpected System.InvalidCastException: Specified cast is not valid.    at Nintex.Workflow.Administration.ContentDatabase.GetSiteIdsAndWebApplicationIdsInDatabase(String connectionString)     at Hhg=.1xg=.InitAttach(Vxg= context)     at Nintex.Workflow.Administration.DatabaseAttacher.Attach()     at Nintex.Workflow.AdministrationPages.DatabaseSettings.btnOk_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)     at System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument)     at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint).” is thrown in the SharePoint ULS logs. Filtering Criteria:  Process

Products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010SummaryThe error "Failed to create a control from assembly 'Nintex.Workflow.ServerControls, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=913f6bae0ca5ae12', class 'Nintex.Workflow.ServerControls.UserMenu': The control with assembly name 'Nintex.Workflow.ServerControls, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=913f6bae0ca5ae12' class name 'Nintex.Workflow.ServerControls.UserMenu' is not allowed for web at URL 'http://contoso.com. The type Nintex.Workflow.ServerControls.UserMenu, Nintex.Workflow.ServerControls, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=913f6bae0ca5ae12 could not be found or it is not registered as safe.” indicates the need to activate the Web Application.SymptomMenus do not render on SharePoint sites.CauseOne or more web appl

Thanks to Sean Fiene‌ for assistance. Question: I would like to input a number into a “Single Line Textbox” and have the results show only two decimal places on the View mode of the form. Step 1:Create a Nintex Form and add a ‘Single Line Textbox’ configured with a Data type of ‘Decimal’ and name of “RoundNumber”Step 2:Add a rule of type “Formatting” with a condition of “Is display Mode” and “Hide”Formula builder for condition:Step 3:Under Nintex Forms Ribbon bar choose “Form Variables”Click ‘Add’ and create a new varia

Products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010 SummaryWorkflow no longer shows in Workflow Gallery. SymptomAfter a site has been migrated, workflow('s) no longer show in the Workflow Gallery. CauseThe SharePoint List ID is no longer valid. Resolution Obtain the Id (Guid) of the list the workflow should be attached to. (See Obtaining a list id in SharePoint 2010 or 2013) Navigate to your site URL and append /NintexWorkflows. Example: http://contoso.com/sites/mysite/NintexWorkflows Click the name of your workflow from the list of workflows. Edit the properties of each item inside of the workflow folder. Change the

SymptomThe Display Format of the External Data Control is set to drop down list, at runtime, the control renders blank values. ResolutionWhile creating all operations on the DB table during content type creation (or) double click on the Read List operation if you have already created all operations1.       Click on “Next”2.       Click on “Add Filter Parameter”3.       Click on Filter (Click to add)4.       Select Filter Type as “Wildcard”5.       Select a Filter Field and click OK6.       Click on “Finish” (Note you may need to change the “Data Source Element” to match the selected Filter Field)7.       Save content type.

Products: Nintex Forms 2013 SummaryNintex Forms Prerequisities Feature fails to activate. SymptomThe following error occurs."The profile for the user is a temporary profile." CauseNintex Forms Installer was run with an account without sufficient permissions on the local machine. Resolution Re-install using the SharePoint Farm Install account and ensure it is a local administrator.

Products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010, Nintex Workflow 2007 SummaryThe error "Nintex.Workflow.NWException: Failed to load common data item assembly 'AssemblyName, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=0000000000000000'. ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'AssemblyName, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=0000000000000000' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.  File name: 'AssemblyName, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=0000000000000000'" SymptomThe following error occurs."System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly” CauseOne of the servers in the farm does not have the referenced assembly installed in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC). ResolutionEnsure that each server in the farm that is running the Foundation Workflow Timer Service i

Products: Nintex Workflow for O365 SummaryThe error "Error publishing workflow. Workflow XAML failed validation due to the following errors: Activity 'DynamicActivity' has ## arguments, which exceeds the maximum number of arguments per activity (50). HTTP headers received from the server - ActivityId: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000. NodeId: . Scope: . Client ActivityId : 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000. The remote server returned an error: (400) Bad Request.” SymptomWorkflow fails to publish.  Cause SharePoint Workflow Manager has a limitation of 50 arguments for a 'DynamicActivity'. A workflow is considered a dynamic activity as it can be nested inside of other workflows. Each variable configured in a workflow is considered an argument. Each Nintex Workflow Action that utilizes Nintex Live has two arguments

Related products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010, Nintex Forms 2013, Nintex Forms 2010, Nintex Live Please see Quick Reference for Nintex Features, Content Types, and Field IDs.

Products: Nintex Workflow 2016, Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010 A common cause of workflow failure is large lists, document libraries, task lists and workflow history lists. This article provides instructions on how to locating these large lists. Run the below (attached as well as a *.txt file for your convenience) PowerShell script (PowerShell ISE works well) from a SharePoint Server: The lists returned can be filtered by setting the $threshold variable (default is 200). Additionally, the properties returned can be changed by appending properties to the end of the script (default is ParentWeb, Title, ItemCount). # This will target all Nintex Workflow History lists, you can change the threshold to filter down.# This is used to find where the li

Products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010Summary Workflows do not publish in a SharePoint / Project Web Application. SymptomThe following error occurs when publishing a workflow: "Server was unable to process request. ---> Failed to publish workflow: <Error><CompilerError Line="166" Column="12" Text="The type 'Microsoft.Office.Project.Server.Library.ProjectWorkflowContext' is defined in an assembly that is not referenced. You must add a reference to assembly 'Microsoft.Office.Project.Server.Library, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c'."/></Error>"  Cause Services required to run Nintex Workflow for Project Server are not present on the Web Application Server running the Nintex Workflow Designer. R

Authors:  Zach Puckett, Brad Orluk, Naomi Shodhan Have you ever managed a large project with multiple stakeholders who need to be notified of important project updates such as a changed delivery date?  Managing projects inevitably involves changing elements and influencing the timing of when the final deliverable is complete.  As a Project Manager, you can notify the stakeholders you need to, by using the send notification feature on Nintex Workflow for Project Server. Follow the steps below, and your workflow will be configured to inform whomever you'd like (e.g. stakeholders, team members, the PMO, etc.) when a delivery date changes. Create a project Property Field called Delivery DateBefore you

Products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010Summary Workflows are starting multiple times for each list item created or modified depending on the configuration of the workflow. Cause More than one version of the workflow is configured to 'Allow' on the affected list:  Resolution Navigate to the list and click 'Workflow Settings'. Click Remove, Block, or Restore a Workflow. Mark each workflow to 'No New Instances' other than the current version (or click Remove, if they are no longer needed). 

This blog post has been heavily leveraged but unfortunately is outdated. Please refer to the following Knowledge Base article for further guidance: Generating ULS logs to troubleshoot Nintex related issues for Forms and Workflowhttps://community.nintex.com/t5/How-To-s/Generating-ULS-logs-to-troubleshoot-Nintex-related-issues-for/ta-p/114378

Products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010 SummaryThe error "Could not load file or assembly ‘Nintex.Workflow.ServerControls’” indicates the need to activate web applications. SymptomThe following error occurs."Could not load file or assembly ‘Nintex.Workflow.ServerControls’” CauseOne or more web applications that use Nintex Workflow are not activated for Nintex Workflow. ResolutionUsing the Farm Installation account or another account with sufficient permissions, activate all web applications that use Nintex Workflow.To activate web applications for Nintex WorkflowOn the Central Administration Home page, click Nintex Workflow Management. Click Web Application activation. The default web application name is automatically selected. To activate all web applications for Nintex Workflow, selec

Products: Nintex Forms for Office 365, Nintex Forms 2013, Nintex Forms 2010 Symbols and meanings for rules in Nintex Forms are provided below.Symbol Meaning == is equal to === is exactly equal to (value and type) != is not equal !== is not equal (neither value or type) > is greater than

In addition to this blog, you can search the Nintex for SharePoint 2016 help for "Nintex Workflow Exchange Connector Service."Action that uses ExchangeThe following Nintex Workflow action uses the Nintex Workflow Exchange Connector Service to communicate with Exchange (2007, 2010, and 2013): Provision User in Exchange (2016 | 2013 |

Products: Nintex Forms 2013, Nintex Forms 2010 Summary After running a Nintex Forms cmdlet, a "Feature definition id not found" error appears. Symptom The following error message appears after running the Upgrade-NFService PowerShell cmdlet during or after installation or upgrade: “Upgrade-NFService : Feature definition id ‘[ID]’ could not be found." Cause The server on which the Nintex Forms PowerShell cmdlet was run is not running the Web Application Service. For example, the cmdlet may have been run on the Central Administration server. Resolution Run Nintex Forms PowerShell cmdlets on a server that is running the Web Application Service; that is, run the cmdlets on a web application server.

Products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010, Nintex Workflow 2007 Summary After running a NWAdmin Operation, a "Failed to publish workflow" error appears. Symptom  The following error message appears after running the NWAdmin operation FixSiteAfterImport:  “Failed to publish workflow: It appears that Nintex Workflow [version] is not activated for this Web Application.”  Cause The server on which the NWAdmin operation was run is not running the Web Application Service. For example, the operation may have been run on the Central Administration server. Resolution Run the NWAdmin operation on a server that is running the Web Application Service; that is, run the operation on a web application server.

Products: Nintex Workflow 2013, Nintex Workflow 2010 Summary The error message “12031: Unknown” appears when a reusable template is saved or published. Symptom When saving or publishing a reusable workflow template, the system does not respond for five minutes, and then the error message “12031: Unknown” appears. Cause The Nintex Workflow publish or save process is timing out, likely due to delayed propagation caused by a lengthy content type evaluation. Resolution To reduce the time required for content type evaluation, create a content type based on Item and then select the created content type when defining the reusable workflow template. For instructions, refer to the SharePoint documentation. More Information

Hazaa !! I hear the crowds say.. Here it is Nintex Mobile Version 3 .. But why the fanfare? Well, Nintex Mobile now also supports Nintex Forms for Office 365. So let me take you on a little journey to show you what this means and how to get started. Let’s take a look at a health and safety check list “Slips, Trips and Falls” .. Firstly, we need to build out the list.Now there is nothing special about this list.. But it is in the context of its usage. A majority of “Slips, Trips and Falls” aren't happening in the office around your computer. They are happening out on construction sites, factory floors, and generally away from the office. Getting timely information, which also tends to be more accurate if recorded at the time of the accident is imperati