20.4. Working with Workflow Actions

The list of actions available in Workflow Designer's Workflow Action dialog box by default is a set of predefined activities that are installed with SharePoint on a Web server. Workflow Designer simply provides an interface that helps designers write XAML files. The workflow actions have been designed by keeping in mind the most common operations that designers want to perform on SharePoint list or library items.

Using these workflow actions, you can perform a range of operations, such as creating, copying, and deleting list items; check-in/check-out; discard check-out of list items, perform calculations, send e-mail, perform data-related calculations; delay, pause, or stop workflows; etc. Table 20.1 lists the workflow actions available in Workflow Designer.

Table 20.1. Workflow Designer's Workflow Actions
Workflow ActionDescription of the ActionFunctionality Offered to Workflow
Add Time to DateAdd 0 minutes to date (Output to Variable: date)Allows you to add a specific amount of time in minutes, hours, days, etc., to a date and then store it in a workflow variable
Assign a Form to a GroupAssign a custom form to these usersAllows you to create a special task with custom fields for user input and then assign it to a specific user. The user can fill out the fields in the task and submit it.
Assign a To-do ItemAssign a to-do item to these usersAssigns a task to the specified user
Build Dynamic StringStore dynamic string in Variable: variableProvides a string builder user interface that you can use to build a string and then store it in a workflow variable
Check In ItemCheck in item in this list with comment: commentAllows you to check-in an item to a list and supply a comment regarding the check-in
Check Out ItemCheck out item in this listAllows you to check-out an item from a list
Collect Data from a UserCollect data from this user (Output to Variable: collect1)Allows you to assign a task item to a specific user for collecting input. The data collected can be output to workflow variables.
Copy List ItemCopy item in this list to this listAllows you to copy an item from one list to another
Create List ItemCreate item in this list (Output to Variable: create)Allows you to create an item in a specified list. Returns the ID of the newly created item in the workflow variable
Delete ItemDelete item in this listAllows you to delete a list item
Discard Check Out ItemDiscard check out of item in this listAllows you to undo check-out of the specified item in the list
Do CalculationCalculate value plus value (Output to Variable: calc)Allows you to perform calculations on two values and then store the result in a workflow variable
Log to History ListLog this message to the workflow history listAllows you to log messages in the workflow history list
Pause For DurationPause for 0 days, 0 hours, 5 minutesPauses the workflow for a specified amount of time
Pause Until DatePause until this timePauses the workflow until the specified date is reached
Send an EmailE-mail this messageAllows you to send an e-mail message to e-mail addresses
Set Content Approval StatusSet content approval status to this status with commentsAllows you to change the content approval status on lists that have content approval enabled
Set Field in Current ItemSet field to valueSets the value of a field in the current item to a specific value
Set Time Portion of Date/Time FieldSet time as 00:00 for date (Output to Variable: date1)Allows you to set the time value for a specified date
Set Workflow VariableSet workflow variable to valueSets the value of a workflow variable to the value specified by the action
Stop WorkflowStop the workflow and log this messageStops the workflow and then logs the specified message in the workflow history list
Update List ItemUpdate item in this listAllows you to set a field in a list item to a specific value
Wait for Field Change in Current ItemWait for field to equal valueAllows you to pause a workflow until a field value in the current time changes to match a specific value

You can choose whether the actions in a particular branch of the workflow should run in a sequence one after the other or run simultaneously in parallel. To make this setting, click the arrow in the top-right corner of the condition box in Workflow Designer. A dropdown menu appears, as shown in Figure 20.22, that allows you to specify whether the actions should run in sequence or in parallel.

NOTE

For more real-world workflow scenarios, see Chapter 22.

Figure 20.22. Specify whether an action should run in sequence or in parallel

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