Start workflow when due date specified in list item has passed

Start workflow when due date specified in list item has passed

• robinva

  Has anyone got this working. I am trying to create the same functionality - Have an email sent to user before expiration date of an item approaches. I am not sure if going the workflow way is the best though .
  
  

• Anthony Abate

  Hi,

  I have created a batch job that runs every night. What the job does is , it checks for all the items(in a sitecollection) whose expiration date is equal to today and then send a notification mail to the approvers group .

  I have used the CAML query to get all the items whose expiration date is met.

  Thanks

  Suvarna

  
  

• zr119_62

  I have a similar requirement. I need to configure the workflow so that when a document expires, owners or the approvers should get a email notification.

  Any help would be appreciated.

  Thanks

  Suvarna.

  
  

• Rob218

  Your statement about multiple instances of a workflow is not completely accurate. There can only be one instance of a workflow for a given workflow association running on a list item.

  
  
  

• winprock

  Hi,

  THis is what i did:

  1. When a user add a new list item, hook a WF to the item.

  2. When a user change the date/time, remove the WF from the list and create a new WF.

  Basically I am using a custom list event handler to do the calculation. In the WF i am using a delay activity to do the scheduling.

  cheers.

  
  

• TimoWo

  Hi,

  Just an input where you could start - I haven't tested it and you may not implement it this way, if you have lots of documents because of the many workflows caused running.

  The solution could look like:
  Creat in SP Designer a workflow for the library that starts for all new and updated items. In this workflow you us a action to wait until the expiration date of the document is reached and then you send out the email.

  Rgds,

  Benno

  
  

• Ed Jarrett

  WY wrote:

  Creat in SP Designer a workflow for the library that starts for all new and updated items. In this workflow you us a action to wait until the expiration date of the document is reached and then you send out the email.

  Hi gang,

  This idea falls down if the user modifies an item more than once. A new workflow gets kicked off each time the item is changed, and sends an email when the expiration date is reached. So if you modify the item three times and don't change the expiry date, you'll get three emails on that date. Even worse - if you modify the expiry date, you'll still get the email on the original expiry date.

  Unless there's some way to automatically terminate existing "in progress" workflows when an item is modified, I don't think the "pause until" action is an option. A timer job firing a workflow on every item in the list may be the only solution, but I don't know how to set those up (the workflow or the timer job) just yet.

  Matt

  
  

• CarlitosO

  Hmm - I may have to call shenanigans on myself there. I just tried my test again and I don't see multiple "in progress" workflows against an item after editing it.

  Instead, the original workflow that was created when the item was first created is still there.

  This is not what I want, of course - I want the original workflow to terminate and a new one to get kicked off, because I've changed the "due date" on the item.

  
  

• Bharat Gadhia

  I've seen multiple active workflows against a list item in my tests, though.

  I set up a workflow in SharePoint Designer which would be started when an item is changed or created (which waits for a date specified in the item and then emails me). I then created an item, and later edited it. When I click on the item's dropdown menu and view the workflows associated with it, I see two "In Progress" workflows.

  
  If I don't manually terminate the original workflow, I get two emails.

  
  
• Start workflow when due date specified in list item has passed