Troubleshooting Advanced Workflows

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Advanced Workflow Job Troubleshooting properties

When troubleshooting Advanced Workflow errors, understanding the following properties in the Job Properties panel is helpful.

Tab

Property

Description

General

Iteration

Indicates how many times the record has gone through the workflow

General

Process Version

Indicates how the Advanced Workflow process in Manage Applications has changed since the job was created

General

Job State

Indicates the job status

Error History

N/A

Provides details on why the process resulted in an error
The following table describes additional options in the Ellipsis menu that can help you troubleshoot errors.

Option

Description

Refresh

Refreshes the page

Restart

Restarts the job from the beginning

Find

Searches the job based on input

Print/Save Image...

Prints the job

Delay Nodes

Lists all wait for content update nodes

Update Job

Updates a single job

Show Hidden Components

Shows what a job looked like prior to running Bulk Update Jobs

Show Active Path Only

Shows only the nodes processed, and omits nodes with a status of skipped or planned

Troubleshoot Workflow Process Designer access errors

The following table shows errors you may encounter when attempting to access the Advanced Workflow tab in an application or questionnaire.

Error message

Resolution

None - Workflow Process Designer splash screen hangs.

Check to see if the Advanced Workflow Service is running. If it is not running, start the service.

 

 

 

 

Advanced workflow HTTP request error: 404 not found.

The Workflow builder encountered an unexpected error. Please contact your system administrator for more details.

An error occurred communicating with the server.

The Advanced Workflow service is unavailable.

Troubleshoot workflow validation errors

When you build an advanced workflow and click Save Workflow, the system validates all of your nodes and transitions and informs you if there are any configuration issues.

The following table describes some of the messages that you can encounter.

Error type

Error message

Description

Resolution

General

 

Advanced Workflow has unsaved changes. Please save or revert.

The advanced workflow must be saved separately from the application or questionnaire that it belongs to. If you save or close the application without saving the workflow, your changes will be lost.

Before you click Save or Apply in the application or navigate away from the page, make sure that you do 1 of the following:

  • Click Save Workflow to save any changes in your process.
  • Click Ellipsis and select Revert to return to your most recent saved version of your process.

 

The workflow does not start with a "Start" node.

A Start node is required.

Add a Start node.

 

Node Node Name requires at least 1 outgoing transition.

All nodes except for a Stop node require at least 1 outgoing transition.

Add an outgoing transition from the node.

 

Node NN: CUST Name is required.

All nodes require a name. This error only displays if you deleted the Name text from a node.

Select the node, and in the Name field, enter text.

Evaluate Content node

 

Node Evaluate Content requires 1 default transition.

The Evaluate Content node requires that you mark 1 outgoing transition as the default. If all the rules governing outgoing transitions evaluate to false, the workflow follows the default transition.

Select the Evaluate Content node, and in the Default Transition field, select a transition.

 

Node Evaluate Content: Except for error and default transitions, each outgoing transition must be configured with 1 rule.

Other than the default transition or transitions marked as an error path, all outgoing transitions from an Evaluate Content node require a rule that defines under which conditions the workflow should follow that path.

Select the Evaluate Content node and add a new rule for each outgoing transition. For steps, see "Add an Evaluate Content Node" in the Archer Platform Help.

Send Notification node

 

Notifications: A notification is required.

The Send Notification node requires that you select an on-demand notification template to use for the notification.

Note: If you do not already have an on-demand notification template associated with the application or questionnaire, you must first create 1.

Select the Send Notification node, and in the Notification field, select a notification template.

Update Content node

 

The option requires other text. Can't be selected.

Note: This error displays in the Add Value dialog box.

Some Values List fields are configured to require that the user enter text in an Other text field if a particular value is selected. Advanced workflow cannot update these values.

Update a different value or configure the value list value not to require Other text.

User Action node

 

Node User Action layout is required.

You must select an existing layout or create a new layout for the User Action node.

Select the User Action node, and in the Layout section, select the layout that you want to use or create a new layout.

 

Tasks: Group or Permissions field for assignees is required.

If you want to create a task from an User Action node, you must select either a User/Groups or a Record Permissions field to assign the task to.

Do the following:

  1. Select the User Action node, and in the Assigned to field, click +.
  2. Select the group or permissions field you want to use, and click Add.

 

Tasks: Please select a priority for this task.

If you want to create tasks from a User Action node, Priority is a required field.

Select the User Action node, and in the Priority field, select a value.

 

Tasks: Please enter the text for the task subject/task description/task resolution.

In the Subject/Description/Resolution fields, if you select Enter Text, you must enter the text you want to use.

Select the User Action node, and in the Subject/ Description/Resolution text field, enter your text.

 

Tasks: Please select a field to use for the task subject/task description/task resolution.

In the Subject/Description/Resolution fields, if you select Choose Field, you must select a field to use.

Select the User Action node, and in the Subject/ Description/Resolution drop-down field, select the field that you want to use.

Wait for Content Update node

 

Node Wait for Content Update: Layout is required.

You must select an existing layout or create a new layout for the Wait for Content Update node to use.

Select the Wait for Content Update node, and in the Layout section, select the layout that you want to use or create a new layout.

Loops

 

A process loop was detected but none of the transitions within the loop were declared as being upstream. Please make 1 of the transitions within the loop an upstream transition.

You have created a loop in your workflow process, but none of the transitions in your loop is marked as looping.

Do the following:

  1. Select the transition that completes the loop.
  2. In the Transition Settings section, from the Looping Transition list, select Yes.
  3. Click Save Workflow.

    4. When you save, the transition changes to a dashed line.

 

An upstream transition was found outside of a process loop. Please verify that all upstream transitions are in process loops.

An upstream, or looping, transition is marked by a dashed line and is only necessary when part of a loop in your process. You may see this error if you created a loop and later deleted 1 of the nodes, leaving a looping transition that is no longer part of a loop.

Ensure that all dashed transitions are part of a loop in your process.

Troubleshoot errors in the enrolled content record

The following table describes errors you may encounter when working in a record that is enrolled in an advanced workflow.

Error message

Description

Resolution

Workflow job failed to start.

Content save fails if the record cannot be enrolled into an advanced workflow for any reason.

Contact your Archer administrator.

Cannot enroll content in advanced workflow. The content has already been enrolled and re-enrollment is not allowed for records in this application.

This content record has already been enrolled in advanced workflow and has a job associated with it. The advanced workflow creator has not allowed for records in this application to be re-enrolled in the workflow.

Contact your Archer administrator.

There was an error processing this record. Please contact your administrator and tell them this record could not go past the 'Node Name' stage.

The workflow job ran into an error at the Node Name node.

Use the Job Troubleshooting tool to investigate the error.

Cannot enroll content into advanced workflow. The rule conditions associated with workflow enrollment were not met.

The rule associated with the User Initiated enrollment option has not been met, so the record cannot be enrolled in advanced workflow.

Contact your Archer administrator.

Cannot transition to the next advanced workflow node. The rule conditions associated with the selected transition were not met.

The rule associated with the transition has not been met, so the record cannot transition to the next node.

Contact your Archer administrator.

Cannot enroll content into advanced workflow. You are not authorized to perform this action based on the permissions configured for enrolling content.

Only users who have been granted permissions to the User Initiated enrollment option can enroll the record in advanced workflow.

Contact your Archer administrator.

Cannot transition to the next advanced workflow node. You are not authorized to perform this action based on the permissions configured for this transition.

Only users who have been granted permissions to the transition can click the associated User Action button in the record and transition the record.

Contact your Archer administrator.

Troubleshoot errors in running workflows

If records are running into errors while moving through your workflow, you can open the Job Troubleshooting tool and look at the individual job details.

  1. From the menu, click Admin menu > Advanced Workflow > Job Troubleshooting.
  2. Locate your process (for example, by name), and double-click anywhere in that row to open the associated jobs.

    Note: If there are no associated jobs, verify that your workflow is active, that you selected a content enrollment option, and that records have been created in the application or questionnaire.

  3. Locate your job (the Reference number is the tracking ID of your content record), and double-click anywhere in the row to open the detail view. If the job is in an error state, a red error message displays in the upper-right corner of the grid.
  4. Determine where the job got stuck. Locate the last selected (green) node.

    Node states

    The following table describes the node states.

    State

    Description

    Appearance

    Planned

    Downstream from 1 or more other nodes that have yet to be completed or skipped. All nodes start as planned. It is unknown whether this node will be executed in a particular job.

    Dark Gray

    Selected

    Either has no dependencies or all of its dependencies have been resolved and at least 1 of the transitions leading to this node was selected. The node must now be executed.

    Green

    Complete

    Previously selected to be run and the work that is represents has been completed.

    Blue

    Skipped

    The node was downstream from 1 or more nodes and none of the transitions leading to this node were selected. The node does not need to be run.

    Light Gray

    Transition states

    The following table describes the transition states.

    State

    Description

    Appearance

    Planned

    The transition has not been evaluated. All transitions start as planned.

    Dark Gray

    Selected

    The source node of the transition is completed and either:

    • It is the only outgoing transition from that node.
    • The criteria for this transition have been met (either a user clicked an Action button for a transition from a User Action node, or a rule evaluated to true for a transition from an Evaluate Content node).

    Green

    Skipped

    Either the source node of the transition was skipped or the source node was complete but the transition did not meet its criteria (an action button was not clicked or the rule evaluated to false).

    Light Gray

  5. Review any errors:
    1. Click anywhere in the grid to display the Job Properties panel.
    2. Scroll down to the Errors section.
    3. Hover over an error until an Job error icon appears, and click the icon.
    4. Note the timestamp of the error message.
  6. Depending on which node caused the error, verify the following:
    • Evaluate Content node
      • Are the associated rules correct?
        • Did you make any changes to the fields that are being evaluated?
    • Send Notification node
      • Is the on-demand notification configured correctly?
      • Are notifications enabled for your instance?
      • Are notifications enabled for the application or questionnaire?
    • Update Content node
      • Is the node configured to update at least 1 field?
      • Did you change the validation on any of the fields being updated? For example, did you make a field required that was previously not required?
    • User Action node
      • If you chose to create tasks, is Task Management enabled for the application or questionnaire?
      • Are all the fields required for Task Management also required in the record?
      • Do the fields that you selected to use for the task subject, description, due date, and resolution have values entered in them in the record?
  7. Check the advanced workflow server log file (located in \\RSAarcher\Logging) for more information about the error. An example file name is InstanceName.AdvancedWorkflow.YYYYMMDD.xml.

    Note: The timestamps of all entries in the advanced workflow server log are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The timestamps of errors in the Job Troubleshooting tool depend on the time zone of your instance.

    Note: It is recommended that you use the Job ID to find the actual error in the log message. For example, from a job in error, the comment might read "Node instance Update Content in job 4726:CUST did not select an outbound path." you would search for "4726:CUST" in the log.

  8. Depending on the type of error encountered and your workflow process, determine how you want to handle the job.
    The following table describes the options.

    Option

    Description

    Steps

    Restart the job

    Restarts the job from the beginning. Any work previously completed is reset and must be completed again.

    1. From the Ellipsis menu, select Restart.
    2. Click Restart Job.

    Cancel the job

    Cancels the job. Use this option if you no longer need the job or plan to recreate the record and trigger a new job.

    1. From the Ellipsis menu, select Cancel.
    2. Enter an optional comment, and click Cancel Job.

    Reset a node

    Resets the node as Selected and resets all downstream nodes as Planned. Use if you want to retry the node.

    1. In the grid, select the node.
    2. In the Actions section, click Reset.

    Manually move to the next node

    Use this option if you want the job to continue regardless of whether the node completed successfully. For example, you might want to use this option if a notification failed to send.

    1. From the Ellipsis menu, select Activate.
    2. In the grid, select the node.
    3. In the Actions section, click Change State, and select Complete Work.
    4. From the Completion Code list, select the transition that you want to follow.
    5. Click Complete Work.

Create error paths

An error transition out of a node allows you to create a path for a workflow in the case that the node runs into an error. You might want to create error paths in your workflow if your jobs are running into the occasional error on a particular node and you want to force the job to continue on through the workflow instead of stopping. For example, if you have intermittent errors with your mail server, but do not want the job to stop just because a notification could not be sent, you might create an error path to allow the workflow to continue to the next node.

  1. Add a User Action node to the grid.
  2. In Node Properties panel, in the Name field, type Error.
  3. In the Layout section, create and assign a layout that indicates an error.
  4. Draw an outgoing transition from the node that is failing to the Error node.
  5. In Transition Settings, from the Type list, select Error.
  6. Draw an outgoing transition from the error node to the next node in your process.
  7. To validate the new transitions and save your changes, click Save Workflow.

  8. Click Save or Apply.

    • Click Save to save and exit.
    • Click Apply to apply the changes and continue working.