Solved

Approver Comments

  • 20 September 2016
  • 18 replies
  • 434 views
G
Userlevel 6
Badge +13

Hi All,

 

This should be a simple thing to do, but I'm having issues.

 

Venturing into the world of Nintex for O365 and having issues with the Approvers Comments.

 

I have a task that completes successfully, I store the ID from the task in variable (turns out this is a GUID not the list ID) and then using this to do a lookup and and return "Approver Comments". Not getting anything returned in the query. I've edited the form using a Nintex form and checked the controls and it seems the "Comments" field is connected to a column called "Comments" (not "Approver Comments"). "Approver Comments" is not available to connect to from the form designer. And in my List query, there is no column called "Comments" to select.


Confused.

icon

Best answer by kiran_bellala 5 October 2016, 19:02

View original

18 replies

W
Badge +9

Works fine for me,

- Store TaskItemID from the approval Task into variable

- Once tasks is complete you can get approval comments from the "Comments" field in the Workflow Tasks list when GUID = TaskItemID

X
Userlevel 5
Badge +12

Hi there,

I am seeing Comments in the query list output column selection.   Are you sure you are referencing a "Task List" in your query list and not another list by mistake?

Thanks,

Mike

G
Userlevel 6
Badge +13

So this is is my task where I'm setting a variable for the taskID

This stores a GUID (which is different to on-prem, which confused me. Why a GUID?).

Then this is Nintex Form I'm creating for my task. It only allows me to connect my comments box to Body or Comments, no Approver Comments option.

Then this is the screenshot of me Setting a variable using the Workflow Tasks list, which is the list the tasks are stored in. As you can see the only option available to me is the "Approver Comments", no "Comments" and using this returns nothing.

Here's my Workflow task list settings, no Approver Comments. So to me this means the action in my screenshot above, is not functioning/configured correctly.

 

G
Userlevel 6
Badge +13

Tried using a Query List action instead, same issue.

No sign of "Comments" or "Approver Comments" in this case.

X
Userlevel 5
Badge +12

That  is strange.   Maybe try running a workflow with a  task that has the  comments box connected to the comments (which it is by default  -  just different name for the column here in the O365 realm),  and once you have a task completed in the list, see if the Comments appears on the Query List action.   I already have  tasks in mine, so it would be interesting to see if it needs  "triggered"  to come to life.

-Mike

K
Badge +5

Ryan Greenaway‌ I am seeing similar behavior in my tenant. I see Approver Comments in the columns to select. But that column is  not populated with comments from task form. I have customized my task form and the comments box is connected to "Comments" field.

I wonder why we see "Approver Comments" when no such column exists in Task list. Did this ever work for you?

‌ ‌

G
Userlevel 6
Badge +13

Never found the time to pick this up again. If I find time to pick this up I will do

K
Badge +5

‌ 

Documentation in Nintex Office 365 about how to retrieve comments is not correct. 

1. There is no such column as Approver Comments in Task List

2. Task activity gives GUID of the task. Therefore query should be based on GUID, not list item id.

This worked for me.

L

Instead of Value> Source = Workflow Task , switch to  task list of the corresponding list were the item is created. And you should see the comments options to select.

Hope that answers the question.

P
Badge +8

Hello ‌, did you ever get a chance to return to this issue? I'm having your exact problem with Nintex WF for O365 trying to access approval/rejection comments. 

P
Badge +8

Lishoy Bhooshan‌ Kiran Bellala when I use the Query List action and attempt to retrieve approver comments from my task, neither "Comments" or "Approver Comments" is available in the drop-down. I have checked both the Tasks and Workflow Tasks list.

Could this be because Comments is a multi-line text field?

G
Userlevel 6
Badge +13

Further to this, I've been using the "Start a Task Process"  action in my current workflow rather than "Assign a Task". I'm not sure of the purpose of these different actions but have found that there's no option to store a task ID in the "Start a Task Process" action. Could some clever bod explain to me the difference between the two tasks and the reason 2 separate actions like this exist, and why doesn't this action let me store the task ID!

P
Badge +8

Ryan Greenaway‌ – the big difference between the two is "Start a Task Process" is targeted towards group-based approvals as opposed to individuals. You can use the "Start a Task Process" to assign a task to a SharePoint security group and configure the approval to:

  • Wait for all responses
  • Wait for first response
  • Wait for specific response
  • etc. 

This gives you some added flexibility, but behind the scenes individual tasks will be created for each member of the group specified. Because of this, you don't have a single task ID, you have many task IDs.

I'd love if we could get these task IDs in a collection in this case, because I've had to build some unnecessarily complex work-arounds to determine which member of a SP group approved a "Start a Task Process" action and fetch their comments for instance.

mikeatnationwid
Badge +4

Very new to Nintex, so excuse my ignorance . . . but I'm seeing that this is possible for OnPrem (I know this is a 365 discussion thread).  Could someone confirm or maybe point me in the right direction?  I would just like to return all the approver comments back to my SharePoint list.

Many thanks!

G
Userlevel 6
Badge +13

On Prem, "Approver Comments" and "All Approver Comments" are available to insert as a reference under the "Common" reference list.

Is this enough or do you need a pointer towards this?

Chris_Ben
Userlevel 6
Badge +12

I managed to get this to go but have no idea how.  I experienced exactly the same behaviour as what Ryan described.  i.e. I set a variable (instead of using Query List).

In those variable settings, I say get the information from another list and choose Workflow Tasks.  I did not have the "Comments" column available to me in the drop down.

I then decided to have a poke around in the Workflow Tasks list and the only thing I did was modify the default view and saw there was indeed a comments column.  I decided to display that in the default view.

Then going back to the workflow, now I suddenly have a comments field to choose.  I have no idea how/why it decided to display itself.  I'm also certain that there were way more fields to choose from in the drop down than before.

The other thing that I get that differs from what is written here is the Assign a Task Task ID is the list ID of the task, not the GUID... 

G
Userlevel 6
Badge +13

I'll try this approach ‌ and see if the behavior is consistent.

Chris_Ben
Userlevel 6
Badge +12

Hi Ryan,

It was bugging me so I performed more investigations.  I don't have the answer exactly but I think I've got a workaround that will guarantee the comments field is available.  I think it has something to do with the Task or Nintex task content type being modified.  Here were my steps to come to this conclusion:

1. New tenant.  Nintex is installed.  Basic workflow was published which included an "Assign a Task" action.  Checked out the Workflow Tasks list and confirm the comments field doesn't exist:

2. Went and changed my "Assign a Task" action and turned on Lazy Approval.  I used the new email with actionable message option.  Not sure if this matters or not.  Suddenly the task list has changed.  So a content type has been modified or changed I suspect.  New fields include the comments field and the Nintex Task Outcome field

Short answer for the workaround: publish a workflow with an "assign a task" action where lazy approval is turned on.

Cheers,

Chris

Reply


View our Community Site Map

Nintex Community Sitemap
Terms & ConditionsCookie settings