Going back to a previous a Step based on the outcome of a flexi task


Badge +8

Hi,

Is it possible to go to a particular step based on the outcome of a flexi task? for eg: I have below workflow, where I have an "Assign Flexi-Task"  which has two outcomes. "Complete" or "Rejected". What i would like to do is, if the outcome is "Rejected", I would like to go back to the beginning of the Workflow. Is this possible? if so, how to do this using Nintex?

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34 replies

Badge +8

Hi Jesse,

Per your suggestion, I quickly rebuild my workflow without changing the Out of the box Outcomes that are shipped with Flexi Task Action.

Still the behavior is same. when I select the Outcome as "Rejected", according to the workflow logic, it should update a field in the list item that triggered workflow and then change the state to "Post Rejection". However, it simply ignores that branch completely. Below is the workflow history for following sequence of User Actions.

1) Initiator creates an Item.

2) Assignee Rejects it.

Note: The workflow information box does say that "It can't find the list item" So I am not sure which list item it can't find. The Original list item that triggered the workflow is still there and in the "Update List Item" action that follows "Reject" outcome, I made sure I selected the "Item Properties" to refer to the field that I want to update.

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Please advise.

Thank you.

Userlevel 6
Badge +12

I am sorry to hear that it is still an issue.

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I recreated your workflow and have tried to reject and approve the approval task and each have gone through the expected actions.

I did test the Update Item action and was able to error out the workflow. Rather than updating the status of the [Current Item], I pointed to the status of the Task Item that was created by the Flexi Task.

Not sure if you are attempting to alter the status of the task or a custom status field within the list item, but that may be an issue. If so, perhaps utilize a status within the list item itself rather then the status of the task.

Hope this helps.

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

With this setting of All must agree on specific outcome, it is actually doing what you configured it to do. Basically you're saying the only viable outcome is Complete, and all others are thrown out. Thus all other branches will be skipped unless it is Complete.

See the documentation:

  • All must agree on a specific outcome: All assignees must select the outcome specified in the 'Outcome' drop down list. If any assignee chooses an alternative outcome, all pending tasks will be set to 'not required', the 'outcome achieved' variable will be set to 'no' and the overall task outcome will be blank.

So the outcome will be blank, not Rejected and thus the branches are skipped and the state machine is told to continue, but there was no change state action before the end of the state branch so it started over in the same state.

You will have to change your task behavior in order to get a different result, OR use the outcome variable. After the task, set a condition, if it is empty, then do the "Rejected" actions.

Badge +8

Hi Andrew,

Your explanation makes total sense. I will modify the task behaviour and not fix the task outcome to a particular value and give it  a try. I will let you know how it goes.

Thank you so much.

Regards,

-Chaithanya.

Badge +8

Hi Jesse,

i am trying to update the status field in the list item and not the task status. As Andrew mentioned above, I will modify the task behaviour and let you know if that demonstrates the expected behaviour.

Thank you for taking the effort to recreate the workflow !

-Chaithanya

Userlevel 6
Badge +12

Yes that makes sense, and I have mine set to 'First response applies'.

I try to stick with that option so that a task doesn't get bogged down by an approval step where we have to hunt down users to take action. This way everyone that could approve/deny has the chance to do so and everyone's say has the same weight to it.

Hope you get this resolved!

Badge +8

Hi Andrew,

Bingo!!! The workflow now  works as I wanted it to be. Thank you for all your timely help!!

Regards,

-Chaithanya.

Badge +8

Hi Jesse,

The Workflow now works as expected. Thank you for all your help!

Regards,

-Chaithanya.

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

No problem, that was a fun one. It can be difficult at times to troubleshoot from this side of screen, but I love the investigation process! Thank you for being a part of the community, happy Nintexing!

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