Workflow Design Sync Deep Dive

This article provides a deeper dive into workflow Design Sync.

Supported Features

BrightWork template design sync supports two types of workflow:

• SharePoint 2010 list workflow
• Nintex list workflow

Rather than list all the features that are supported this article focuses on the exceptions, what is not supported or not recommended. However, some features included are worth briefly mentioning. The following scenarios are supported.

Both List Workflow types support default forms:

• Default (.aspx) Initiation Forms
• InfoPath Initiation Forms

Additional Nintex List Workflow features supported are:

• Conditional start events (see Nintex List Workflow exceptions below)
• Nintex Initiation Forms

Exceptions

This section outlines the features and actions that are either not supported or are not recommended.

• Both List Workflow Types
• SharePoint 2010 List Workflow
• Nintex List Workflow

Both List Workflow Types

1. Workflows in the template that are unpublished are not synced.
   If a workflow's published date is not the same as its last saved date then the workflow is not synced. This can mean that a published workflow will not be copied over to the project site. For example, create a workflow in the template and publish it. Now edit the workflow and save it but do not publish it. When you design sync from the project this workflow will not be synced.

2. List templates with workflows included are not supported.
   Configured lists can be saved as templates in a SharePoint site collection. The list saved as a template may have workflows associated with it prior to it being saved. In this instance the workflows will not be supported in the design sync.

SharePoint 2010 List Workflow

1. Renaming SharePoint 2010 Workflows in the template is not supported.
   SharePoint 2010 list workflows that have been renamed at any stage after they are initially saved are not supported in the design sync.

Nintex List Workflow

1. Conditional Start in Document Libraries.
   Conditional Start events in document libraries are not supported in the design sync.

2. Keep workflow names short.
   SharePoint has a limit of 260 characters on a file or folder name. Since Nintex workflows are stored in folders it is advisable therefore to keep the names of workflows short. Although the workflow might run fine in the template, if the workflows are synced to a project site the resulting URL there could be long. This might then cause your workflow folder name to exceed 260 characters and then it will fail.

3. Custom workflow actions are not supported.
   Nintex workflow has an option to 'Enable workflow to start from the item menu'. This is not supported in the design sync, or when creating a project site.

4. Workflow start conditions potential issue.
   If you have a workflow in the template and project with 'Start when items are modified' selected. If you then update this to 'Start when items are created' in the and you perform a design sync with no workflow update options selected then the workflow will no longer start in the project.
   To fix this perform a design sync with 'Update common List Workflows to a new version' selected.

5. Nintex Workflows and their GUIDs.
   When creating a project site any Nintex Workflows are copied exactly as they exist in the template. This means their unique identifier (i.e. GUID) is copied also. This can mean that when viewing a workflow instances history that more instances appear in the list than have run in that list.

6. Nintex 'Remove' setting is unsupported.
   In Nintext it is possible to set a 'Remove' checkbox in a workflow. This setting is not supported in a design sync. To remove a workflow it should be deleted, and the deletion synced.