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;

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4. In the task process window, under the **Customization section, click ** Change the behavior of a single task;

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5. Search the Log to History List action that causes the error. This can be done by clicking on the Check for Errors button;

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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;

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8. When you have added the new field references you should have something like this:

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9. Re-check for errors and you should receive the following message:

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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.

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<!-- ENGLISH VERSION -->
<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%]"/>

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

<!-- FRENCH VERSION -->
<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:Name=“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;

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11. Check the Log to History List action that caused the error. This should contain the correct field references.

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