I'm having a very frustrating problem....I have a workflow,
with a LOT of transitions, maybe 60+. Every 2nd or 3rd time I try
to save it I get
"failed to save workflow "x" to the database.
Cause: Could not access the item in the database.
Other workflows don't seem to be giving me this issue. Can anyone help?
"failed to save workflow "x" to the database.
Cause: Could not access the item in the database.
Other workflows don't seem to be giving me this issue. Can anyone help?
You might want to consider breaking this workflow up into a couple of smaller ones. I started out with a big workflow and found it awkward to work with. I moved to a "Main" workflow which was the first place files landed and then they transitioned out (automatically and manually) to the proper sub-workflow.
Plus, with a workflow that big, you must be going crazy managing those arrows! ;.)
Good luck!
Time to rethink that I guess.
The error in the sql database indicates that the maximum number of table names is being exceeded (256).
That's a problem.
Wouldn't it make sense to have the ability to use a variable in the notification settings instead of hard coding users or groups? Corey, I know you are getting around this by doing alot of looping in your workflows, but this seems obvious to me.
As it applies to EC, you could define key users on an EC file card using drop down boxes at EC creation; these selections set variables that are then called from the workflow notifications at the appropriate transitions.
I'm not a programmer, but it seems this would be a pretty easy thing for Solidworks to add. Right?
It is SUCH a PITA right now to allow parallel approvers with endless combinations of approvers.
I think it would greatly enhance Workflow if variables (set to userIDs) could be used in configuring notifications. For Engineering Change purposes, this would enable the ability to set key individuals on an EC filecard (in turn setting variables), and then using these variables as the SENDTO person for notifications at the appropriate workflow transition.
Does this about sum it up?
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1- First and foremost this does not facilitate a parallel approve process. I have a lot of hard coded variable checking in Enterprise, but I would offer a friendly challenge to anyone with 2009 (I'm running 2007) to show me a more flexible, parallel approval system from an end-users perspective. Def more work for the admin.
Dynamic notifications are a nice step, but they don't cross the goal line.
2- Many times in the lifecycle of an ECN the person that passes the file(s) through that transition will not know all of the required approvers. As an example, in our company the Engineer has "ownership" of the ECN and assigns the needed approvers at the beginning of the process. The ECN is then sent to a prepatory state, CAD, ERP work etc must be completed. The ECN waits until those prep tasks are complete, whoever happens to be "last one done" pushes the ECN to the actual Approval step. SO they might not know the needed approvers, or will need to enter the information a second time (the engineer did it once before).
3- I'm not sure "backup" approvals would be possible. Each user has a transition which will set the ECN as "Approved" by them. In some cases if the person is unavailable for a week or so, their boss will need to approve. This is done by giving the supervisor Permit access to the transition.
The user selects who they want to notify, and if they are an approver, or are only to be notified.
Once submitted the check box and the "na" in the date field will get wiped, (if they are notify-only the checkbox will remain checked) and when the users select change state=approve by chinman it will set the check box to and enter the date. Once all the check boxs = 1 the ECN will flow to the next step.
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I've written a forum to handle our ECR's and ECN's. (Well, I didn't write the whole forum but I used an open source solution and modified it to work with EPDM.) One of our scenarios includes delegating the ECN to a specific user, and the users are read from an EPDM group.
I used our old workflow for when we handled ECN's in EPDM. To perform various actions, I have variables set in the workflow that is read from the forum software. I was contemplating writing my own workflow API, but I figured since it is already there, why not use it? I did remove some transitions and states as the variables take care of redundant actions.
It's worked out quite well. Attached are some screenshots of what I have done. With some imagination and patience I am pretty sure handling multiple approvals is possible.
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The one negative with this workaround that I see is that when someone approves, it adds the current counter as a revision. When you right mouse on the file and "Get Version" you will see the counter as a revision.
I just remembered, the attached file is Enterprise 2009 Not sure if you can import it in 2007 Enterprise.
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I think I was able to circumvent yesterday. I had a transition that would automatically take the file back to "waiting" if every users approval var did not =1. Well that got to be too many Or conditions. So instead I send the file to a sub-workflow with 4 transitions (one for each facility) that checks the Or conditions in smaller chunks. If they are not all complete it goes back to the "waiting" state. once all are complete it moves forward.That seems to be working, though I'm not quite finished yet.
That being said I'll see if I can import your workflow, have a great weekend.