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Assign a task to multiple users: I can't access the data?

  • 17 February 2021
  • 5 replies
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Userlevel 2
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This new Assign a task to multiple users function is confusing me. I have a form that must go first to multiple users (with the first response completing the task). This task has a form with it too, which contains a lot of the data from the start event form. So the first of these multiple users (reviewers) completes the task by completing the second form and submitting it. 

If the reviewer approves the form, it must then go to another, single user for final approval. This, too, is with a form. But here's the thing: for this third form, I want to pull data from the second form. 

But I can't! It's all grayed out and I can't access it.

Using the Assign a task function, you can pull data from one task into a subsequent task - but it seems that with the Assign a task to multiple users function, you can't. Is it supposed to be this way? And if so, why?

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Best answer by leighburke 18 February 2021, 03:15

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Userlevel 5
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@DavidAD The multiple assignee creates a collection of tasks, so if you want to pull out one task you will need to use either a get item from collection or for each loop to get out the task data.

Userlevel 2
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@leighburke Thank you. I'm using a Loop for each action to retrieve the data, with a Set a variable value function to pull out each item I want. It works, but this seems awfully clunky to me (though I recognize that my inexperience with NWC may be causing me to build a more unwieldy solution than is possible).


I have a vague idea of why this multiple-assignee function works differently than the Assign a task function, but it sure would be nice if this one could be more like the latter. After all, the basic purpose of the two is the same, and since you can easily pull data from the Assign a task function, it should be understood that you may want the same (in the same way) from the multiple-assignee function.


Anyway, thanks for your help.


 

Userlevel 5
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@DavidAD I will pass on feedback but since multiple assignee is designed to grab responses from multiple users it needs to be a collection to store those multiple responses. Even if you have it set to take the first response there is a chance you will receive more than one response.

Userlevel 2
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@leighburke Thank you. Yeah, that is kinda the rationale/limitation I was thinking was the case. I can see how that's different from the Assign a task function.


Thank you again for your help.

So I've built a few workflows that use "Assign a Task". Now that I just learned about the new "Assign a Task to Multiple Users" (which I was waiting for) - how do I convert all my hard work I did in building out the forms so I can send them to multiple users?

These two Tasks are so similar I'd think it would be nice/easy if we could just switch between the two types with a checkbox or something. (And why not just consolidate them in the first place as one main Task type?)

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