The workflow could not update the item, possibly because one or more columns for the item require a different type of information

  • 6 April 2016
  • 4 replies
  • 10 views

Badge +1

Hello

I have a workflow that updates several fields in item using 'Update Item' action.

The fields are with different types (choice, number, single line text).

some times the workflow works fine and sometimes it gives an error "The workflow could not update the item, possibly because one or more columns for the item require a different type of information" even that this is not the issue:

if I re-run the same workflow on the same item immediately, it will work just fine with the same data.

I tried several approaches and they all gave the same result (sometimes it works and sometimes i get this error):

- update several fields at once (same action)

- update each field separately

- use 'Set Field Value' instead of 'Update item'

I didn't find anything helpful in SP logs.

One thing is sure: this is not "because one or more columns for the item require a different type of information" since it is work on the second time.

Do you know what can be the issue / how to resolve it / how to work it around

Thanks

P.S. I'm using Nintex 2013


4 replies

Badge +11

Hi Alex,

some things you can try:

I don't think the issue is actually caused by a column requiring a different type of information either. The points mentioned above are typical error sources, maybe you'll find something there. Also make sure that you environment is healthy in general. This could also be caused by communication problems between server and database. This is not very likely though, because then you would probably have way more problems than just this workflow error.

Regards

Philipp

Badge +11

Someone else had this problem in the community:

https://community.nintex.com/thread/1146

This was one thing recommended:

https://community.nintex.com/docs/DOC-1035

Badge +8

Hi Theresa Chen‌ - The best way to update the list item inside a State Machine is to use "Call Web Service" as shown below and also recommended to use "Pause For" to wait for a minute so that enough time to given to the save the updates.

Call Web Service configuration

Pause For configuration

Overall the workflow looks like:

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Hi,

Would anyone know:  if the owner of the workflow is removed from the system -can the workflow still work or would that create an access error?

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