I have a question. If I add a Run parallel actions action to my workflow, and I end the workflow on one branch of the parallel actions, so that the workflow ends when some action is completed on that branch, whether or not the actions on the other branch, (such as a pause), have completed, is the workflow engine smart enough to end that pending action, or will it put the workflow engine into some kind of endless lock in the background by keeping the action pending in the timer service forever? For example of what I mean, see the attached images of my workflow, and workflow history, where I tested this. The workflow works the way I want it to, I am just concerned about creating timer service or workflow service issues.
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Good Evening!
Can I ask why you have designed your workflow in such a way? is there a reason why the pause and email notification have been separated? Without testing that I would assume that the pause and email will complete before the flexi task is responded to and then after the task is responded to the workflow will terminate.
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This may be a silly question, but why do you want to pause before sending the notification?
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It really depends on how long it takes. It depends on how long it takes the approvers to approve their tasks. There may be an occasion when an approver is out of the office. So they may not get to it for a few days. A good example of this is a holiday or a vacation. What is the reason for the Pause? Is there any reason you couldn't send the email out before the Flexi-task and not do the Parallel Action at all?
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The request is for a workflow on a calendar, which will notify the assignee of the event when it is scheduled, and create a task for him to create presentation documents for the meeting. They want reminders to go out at different non-standard intervals, ie. for one type of event at 30 days prior to the event start date, and 14 days prior to the event start date, for other types of events, only 14 days prior to the event start date. Since you can only create cyclical, recurring reminders with the built in task reminders, and no additional tasks will trigger on the flexi-task until it is completed, I figured the parallel actions option would be the best way to manage the requirement. And adding the end workflow action, after the flexi-task completes, will prevent the reminders from going out if the task has already been completed.
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Why not create a site workflow for the some of the reminders? You can also create logic to determine the amount of days and use (if else) and send a notification accordingly in a list workflow.
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Hmmm...I will consider the list workflow option for the reminders.
To answer your initial question, the help file states this for Parallel actions.
...it is important to note that the workflow will not continue until all workflow paths have been completed. To run more than two actions at a time, left-click on the action title and select 'Add Branch'. If a branch is left empty the workflow will continue to run.
So the workflow won't complete until all the paths have completed.
Hi Ellen Farley - I don't see any concern with your design in terms of timer service issues. Nintex Workflow and SharePoint know how to cleanup workflows when it is terminated with the "End Workflow" action. I'm not aware of any problems that would result from your design. That being said, you might find value in refactoring as suggested by as well.
Brendan Murphy - I just did a quick test of this just like Ellen Farley has in her screenshot and the workflow completed, even though the branch on the right was still in a paused state, rather than Completed. So while the info from the help file is generally accurate, it doesn't take into account this specific scenario, using the "End Workflow" action.
-Tom Castiglia
Good catch...I didn't notice the "End Workflow" action.
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I did not do anything more with this. I am not sure how I would use a list workflow to manage the reminders.
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