Site workflow to alert when a set time has elapsed

  • 21 November 2018
  • 10 replies
  • 12 views
D
Badge +10

Hi wonderful Nintexers

I have an Applications list which has a End of Life column. What I need to happen is that a RAG Status column is updated as Amber if it's 12 months after the date in the End of Life column and Red if it's 18 months after.

I've done a similar thing a long time ago so I'm a bit rusty. In the site workflow I've got a Query List action and a Calculate Date which looks up the Applications lists gets the End of date field adds 12 months and stores it in a date variable called date_12month. Am I heading in the right direction? Also how would I check that the date to update the RAG Status column?

Any help appreciated!

10 replies

rhia
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Hi there, Darren Floyd‌!

First things first ... are you using Nintex Workflow Cloud? It sounds like you might be using Nintex for O365, or Nintex On-Prem 2010 / 2013 / 2016. 

You're on the right track, though. In your Query List, filter the dates based on the requirements, and store the filtered returned IDs from the list in a collection. 

Next, add a "For Each" loop. Your collection will be the ID collection, and your individual variable will be something like idListItem. Now, within the For Each, you can say what needs to be done - ie, update Amber column or update Red column. I would definitely do 2 queries and 2 For Eaches (you could use parallel actions for this split in the same workflow), so you can get the specifically amber items and specifically red items. 


Let me know if that helps.

Cheers,

Rhia

D
Badge +10

Thanks @Rhia I ran the workflow and it threw an error. it's not giving me much to work on but I think it's one of the early actions.

The Calculate action is set to add one hour to a date_12month variable (for testing)

Then this is how I've configured the Query List before the Workflow goes into a For Each loop:


What am I doing wrong? is it the filter?

A
Badge +5

Hi Darren Floyd‌,

What error did you receive?

- Can you confirm if the Query List workflow action is indeed returning filtered items?

- is your workflow variable (date_12month) populated with a value? or is it null?

D
Badge +10

Hello Adam Tobias‌ and Rhia Wieclawek‌ the workflow is running but checking on the Progress after I'm seeing that the last action it's carrying out is the For Each and it's not getting as far as the Update Item. I think I've configured the Update Item action wrong. For the record what I want it to do is to update the Status field in The Servers list. I've set the earlier Calculate Date to add 1 hour to the date_12month variable for testing.

Screen shots for the For Each and Update Item actions below. All help appreciated

D
Badge +10

It's also worth mentioning that I have a Log in history list variable for date_12month but I'm not seeing anything recorded in Workflow Progress.

A
Badge +5

Hi Darren Floyd‌,

Great that you using Log in History workflow action to troubleshoot and validate values that populate your workflow variables.

Probably not seeing anything recorded in workflow instances that are in progress because of the Where clause in your Update Item workflow action. It should be comparing your date_12month variable to a date column? If date values matches, then update the Status value to Amber.

D
Badge +10

Thanks @Tobias That makes sense. I've changed some stuff around but I think I'm missing something. I've set up the Query List as below, it's storing the data into a collection variable called col_OS_endoflife.

In the Calculate Date Action I have the date at 22/11/2018 with the Days value set at one and storing it in date_12month a Date variable

The Update Item is set up as below. The workflow is running but not updating the Status field. I've set a number of dates in the in the End of Life on the Operating System list. Now it's throwing an error, but it's not giving me any error details.

Any idea?

A
Badge +5

Hmm.. maybe some questions to think about...

- Is the Calculate Date Action configured before or after the Query List Action? It should be before, as you are using the output (date_12month variable) as a filter in your Query List Action, correct? 

- Were you able to confirm if your collection variable is indeed populated with items based on the filter (End of Life is greater than or equal to date_12month)?

- Did you set a number of dates in the "OS End of Date" in the Servers list? For testing purpose, set a date in the OS End of Date that you know will equal to date_12month variable. If the Calculate Date Action has a date of 22/11/2018 then date_12month should be 22/11/2019.

- You previously mentioned that you have an Applications list (is this the Operating Systems list)?

- what data is being stored in your collection variable, col_OS_endoflife? Is it a unique identifier? like a List ID?

- A query is being done on the Operating System list but the updating is done on the Server list? Is there a relationship to these two lists? 

D
Badge +10

Hi Adam

1) Yes the Calculate Date action is before the Query action

2) No, I've put to log to history actions in - {WorkflowVariable:date_12month} - the workflow is throwing an error and when I go into Workflow Status it's not showing me anything, but it is creating a blank Workflow task?

3) Yes, I've got a number of dates (13/11/2018 - 01/12/2018 and today's date) in the Servers list OS End of Date field. I also just ticked the 'Use date when action is executed on the Calculate date

4) No, the Applications list is separate list from the OS list

5) No, and thinking about it this might be the crux of the problem. What I thought I was saving in the collection variable, col_OS_endoflife were the dates of the OS End of Life items. It's querying the list Operating System and the field End of Life

6) Yes, there's a look up field in Servers called Operation System so what I need to Workflow to do is to look up the end of End of Life Date in the Operating System list and then update the Status field in the Servers list, 'Amber' 'Red' etc.

D
Badge +10

I decided to bug fix in stages so I took the workflow right back to just the Calculate date action and a Send Notification to see what it retuned in the variable, but with these two I got an error on the Site Workflow. So I'm going to delete it and build the workflow again.

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