SharePoint Designer 2010 – Start Approval Process Workflow Action Not Working In Other Languages

Problem

When designing a SharePoint Designer workflow for a Dutch site, an error occurred when I used a language specific **Start Approval Process **action. The error only tells you that the workflow will not work: “Errors in the workflow prevent it from functioning correctly”. It only highlights the Approval Process in red.

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“Het process Goedkeuring voor Current Item met Elst starten” is Dutch for: “Start Approval process on Current Item with Elst”.

Digging deeper in the Approval process action, revealed that the problem lies in a Log to History List action.

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In the Log to History List action three field values got an incorrect field reference. These incorrect field references are displayed with the following value: [%.ReturnValue%].

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The following solution were tested for the Dutch (1043) and French (1036) language packs.

Solution 1: Manual Steps in SharePoint Designer

This step requires some manual steps that will need to be done each time you use a language specific Start Approval Process action.

1. Open SharePoint Designer 2010;
2. Open your workflow in editor mode;
3. Click on the Approval process action, this will open the task process; {{< caption-new “/uploads/2011/08/082511_1324_SharePointD5.png” “Approval Process” “data
   /jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAABCAIAAABol6gpAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAKklEQVR4nAEfAOD/AOjp6urd3eS5uua5uezd3ujr6+Xk5Orp6ufm5uzs7ZL/GlYds/1MAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC” “319” “26” >}}
4. In the task process window, under the **Customization section, click ** Change the behavior of a single task; {{< caption-new “/uploads/2011/08/082511_1324_SharePointD6.png” “Change the behavior of a single task” “data
   /jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAECAIAAAA4WjmaAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAc0lEQVR4nB3C3Q6CIBgAUN7/xbpobmZyx/gZEPHzCYI2NwhdnR0ktSGUMS6dX6wHGyLE/JsKpIKWVLRbLWT1jiak/Tj6edb2bf8IXvF5o2SU+C7oJMWsFJYQdlhr3irKLtKB6JmLBzOYi5GpiXlX8qf13i+iyG2CgW4s9QAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==” “269” “112” >}}
5. Search the Log to History List action that causes the error. This can be done by clicking on the Check for Errors button; {{< caption-new “/uploads/2011/08/082511_1324_SharePointD7.png” “Check for errors” “data
   /jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAICAIAAABPmPnhAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA/0lEQVR4nBXJS0rDQAAA0LmNHkCP4ErcuHDjQYobr1ARXIlSulAMegBdFBEbqMXiJ5I0bZrEZmYyv0wymWSaikR82wdkd7M42y5PNrLeLlerlLAE0yViQhYLJIG63CqsfX21o+8O1r9tJnNGseBYV7qsKoCZYpnAqaCZ8N8mbaNrce9+3NThacMfgOekVn80fFxEvnN7fv3iJuu0Px8c5s97BluA8cIevkchkYINxtOxm7T0Qn52Cvf4v0tdzYOASwkhjsOYEYic7tfT0dTu8KAHaKby0uRlbZqfqm7MylA4IXAEY/s7egWzCAUxWiJKmfD8wJtFuTKElwlRfpj+AXVKydfb283pAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC” “125” “95” >}}
6. Click on the Log message;
7. Manually add new field references for the Assigned To, External Participant, and DueDateTime fields. First remove the [%.ReturnValue%], click on the Add or Change Lookup button. In the Data source select Current Task: Approval (Language Specific), in the Field from source select the correct field reference; {{< caption-new “/uploads/2011/08/082511_1324_SharePointD8.png” “Assigned To” “data
   /jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAFCAIAAADzBuo/AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAjklEQVR4nBXEyxKCIBQAUP7/i1q0aFGtHPOBD0TgBsi9KGqj077pLA7rOlFVFecNESEi/ifvp0jx7TzTShdFOQzSWWu0VqMkDJFwTbM2wLQBIYTz0+XJrznc+yUzR2aO3H4fWc0sgBQ9hkkZizHF/YS4+XmneSt5x7iEVytNSGE9w/KpXbqJUEBsBpW34w+SV4K8sfuzbAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==” “283” “131” >}} {{< caption-new “/uploads/2011/08/082511_1324_SharePointD9.png” “External Participant” “data
   /jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAFCAIAAADzBuo/AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAiklEQVR4nCXC3QqCMBQA4L3/C3URXQWBRSAO3Y/uuLntbEeZsKz7iD4+JoXinPd9nzOl/EcxYkTc950ZA23bKqX94py1FkxOuFH+XVcGMAshfMBzI0+34fKEu6kPqI2pnQTmvZ/GCRFhiS5kn4tNxaXicIuJmNa645xofR/H51VnKtcxiEBKDGDMF7CCg1mjCzyjAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC” “283” “130” >}} {{< caption-new “/uploads/2011/08/082511_1324_SharePointD10.png” “DueDateTime (Workflow Variables and Parameters)” “data
   /jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAFCAIAAADzBuo/AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAlElEQVR4nAXB3Q6CIBgAUN7/cbqoddUsf0ZrpUMZKAJqygcSq3TLy85BjHFCSFlWANYYAABr3WRgHKcQApKtzPOCc95rpZVUrZCiGTrlrZmdQ6KVlNJ+GA8J2af0iNm5NCnzV7k8qgYBmE7r2fvnZH34hOXnvttr3fx7NWBRnOFTlBSE1kLyWmDCdlkR3atLnGb49gd/5IE2sLUnuwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==” “283” “131” >}}
8. When you have added the new field references you should have something like this: {{< caption-new “/uploads/2011/08/082511_1324_SharePointD11.png” “Correct Field References” “data
   /jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAABCAIAAABol6gpAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAKklEQVR4nAEfAOD/ANjY2eHh4t/f4NnZ29nZ2uHh4evq6+bm5+vr6/Hz9JUKGpR+wl8DAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC” “494” “64” >}}
9. Re-check for errors and you should receive the following message: {{< caption-new “/uploads/2011/08/082511_1324_SharePointD12.png” “The workflow contains no errors” “data
   /jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAECAIAAAA4WjmaAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAfElEQVR4nAXBuw7CIBQAUP7/S5wdnKsmOlZLDEohPCzcS60S2gLRyXMI62HXiPf08h5GxBExIALgnNLgPGmp3WxpCNALybi8cam01srEGJ/Ok1rW3zfXvE5pOTCzv9vPvNSSS8kekBjr7OCuD3O8qFOnz1Q3req4BQTGxR+03GnVHVSU+gAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==” “170” “69” >}}
10. Publish your workflow.

Solution 2: Change Field ID’s in the Workflow XML

This solution requires that you change the moss.actions xml file for a specific language in the SharePoint root folder. If you do not want to modify any of the SharePoint root files, I recommend you to follow the first solution.

When I investigated the moss.actions file for the English, Dutch and French language packs, I noticed that the field ID’s in the Dutch and French version, were different than those in the English version.

1
<!-- ENGLISH VERSION -->
2
<ns0:DynamicStringActivity x:Name="ID11464" __Context="{ActivityBind ROOT,Path=__context}" Value="Task created for [%ID11465.ReturnValue%] on behalf of [%ID11467.ReturnValue%]. Due by: [%ID11469.ReturnValue%]"/>
3

4
<!-- DUTCH VERSION -->
5
<ns0:DynamicStringActivity x:Name="ID11464" __Context="{ActivityBind ROOT,Path=__context}" Value="Taak gemaakt voor [%ID11158.ReturnValue%] namens [%ID11160.ReturnValue%]. Einddatum: [%ID11162.ReturnValue%]"/>
6

7
<!-- FRENCH VERSION -->
8
<ns0:DynamicStringActivity x:Name="ID11464" __Context="{ActivityBind ROOT,Path=__context}" Value="Tâche créée pour [%ID11158.ReturnValue%] de la part de [%ID11160.ReturnValue%]. Échéance : le [%ID11162.ReturnValue%]"/>

In the English version the following ID’s are used:

• Assigned To: ID11465

• External Participant: ID11467

• DueDateTime: ID11469 In the Dutch and French version the ID’s are different:

• Assigned To: ID11158

• External Participant: ID11160

• DueDateTime: ID11162 Follow the next steps to change these ID values.

1. Navigate to the following location on your SharePoint server: SharePoint Root\TEMPLATE**<LANGUAGE CODE>**\Workflow;
2. Make a copy of the moss.actions file.
3. Open the moss.actions file in a text editor;
4. Do a search with the following string: x
   =“ID11464”;
5. In this XML Node change the **ID11158 **-> ID11465, ID11160 -> ID11467, and ID11162 -> ID11469;
6. Save the moss.actions file;
7. Do an IISRESET;
8. Open your site in SharePoint Designer 2010;
9. Open or create a new workflow and add the language specific Start Approval Process action;
10. Click on the Approval process; {{< caption-new “/uploads/2011/08/082511_1324_SharePointD5.png” “Approval Process” “data
    /jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAABCAIAAABol6gpAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAKklEQVR4nAEfAOD/AOjp6urd3eS5uua5uezd3ujr6+Xk5Orp6ufm5uzs7ZL/GlYds/1MAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC” “319” “26” >}}
11. Check the Log to History List action that caused the error. This should contain the correct field references. {{< caption-new “/uploads/2011/08/082511_1324_SharePointD11.png” “Correct Field References” “data
    /jpeg;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAABCAIAAABol6gpAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAKklEQVR4nAEfAOD/ANjY2eHh4t/f4NnZ29nZ2uHh4evq6+bm5+vr6/Hz9JUKGpR+wl8DAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC” “494” “64” >}}