Resource Page for Workflow in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009

Top Downloads

• System Requirements for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
•  Hot Fixes Released for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
•  Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Installation Guide
•  Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Client Help Update
•  Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 SP1 Client Help Update
  • Note: The System and Application Setup Guide can be found in AxSASetup.chm that is included in the updated client help files.
•  Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Known Issues
•  Steps to setup AOS, client, workflow, and .NET BC for debugging Workflow

Critical Hotfixes

Most of the Critical Workflow hotfixes are included in Rollup 4 (RU4) or higher; To find the latest Rollup see Hot Fixes Released for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009

The following KB articles can be applied separately, but it is recommended to move to the latest Rollup Hotfixes.

• KB973439 - The workflow keeps retrying when a time-out exception error occurs in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 with Service Pack 1 installed
• KB973492 - Only one workflow works when you run several workflows on a single form in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
• KB971260 - A workflow record is stuck in a pending status in a batch queue in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
• KB2398999 - Workflow fails intermittently when two AOS instances are marked to process workflow batch groups and change in AOS configuration requires restart .
  
  Details:
  The symptom of KB 2398999 can also be identified as performance issues when messages are left in the workflowmessagetable. In order to determine if this is the case, you should run the following SELECT statement:
  
  Select * from WORKFLOWMESSAGETABLE where MESSAGELIFECYCLESTATE =1 and MESSAGETYPE =15
  
  If a larger number (1000+) of records are returned then the above hotfix is required. To fully resolve the issue you need to remove the current records and apply KB 2398999, which will prevent any new orphaned records from getting stuck in queue. Use the following SQL statement to remove the orphaned records.
  
  Delete from WORKFLOWMESSAGETABLE where MESSAGETYPE =15
  Note: If you need to debug workflow code running in batch, Critical Kernel hotfixes for Batch processing and fixes for debugging workflow in batch are included in kernel Rollup Hotfix (RU6 Binary only download) or higher.

Featured Videos

• “How Do I” Videos – Microsoft Dynamics AX on MSDN

Related Resources

• Workflow for Microsoft Dynamics AX on TechNet
• Troubleshooting Workflow on MSDN
• Workflow information on NA Dynamics AX Support Blog
• Workflow information on EMEA Dynamics AX Support Blog
• Workflow for Microsoft Dynamics AX on Community Forums

Common Problems & Solutions

This section lists the most common issues encountered in Workflow for Microsoft Dynamics® AX and the solution recommended by the Microsoft Dynamics® AX Support team. Please note that there may be some different setting required for installing workflow with IIS 6.0, IIS 7.0, or IIS 7.5. You may need to work with IIS resources for IIS related errors or problems.

Troubleshooting Tips

If you are testing workflow and do not wish to wait for the batch job to process, you may run the workflow tutorial instead. To do this in Microsoft Dynamics AX go to AOT | Forms | Tutorial_WorkflowProcessor. DO NOT use the Tutorial_WorkflowProcessor in production as you can inadvertently remove records from queue if you click the Clear button.

Settings to change after restoring the database.

Deployment Recommendations:

• Create a dedicated batch group for workflow and use the workflow configuration to set the batch jobs to the new batch group
• If you have high volume or time sensitive workflows you may want to dedicate an AOS server to process the workflow batch tasks
• If you are developing a custom workflow process be sure to add code to not allow a delete on the transactional record, while there are active workflows in process. Doing so can orphan the workflow records and cause performance issues

Long processing times for workflow batch jobs

There may be times when the workflow batch jobs are taking longer than normal to process workflow documents where user assignments are made.  This can happen when old workflows are left in the system and not completed or are canceled.  The following SQL statements can be used to help identify this issue and aid you in locating the documents that may need to be cancelled.

• The following SQL statement will check for a wide recid variance that may cause performance issues:
  
  Select MAX(recid)-MIN(recid) from WORKFLOWMESSAGETABLE where MESSAGELIFECYCLESTATE = 1
  
  Notes:
  • If you get NULL as a result this indicates there is nothing in the queue to be processed/
  • If you get a very high number then it may take several passes of the workflow batches to process all the records in the queue.
  • If you have very old records in the queue you may want to check the status of the document and cancel it if needed to get rid of the wide variance.
• The following SQL statement will return the workflowcontextrecid, workflowcontexttableid of the records currently in queue
  
  select workflowcontextrecid, workflowcontexttableid, WORKFLOWCORRELATIONID, * from WORKFLOWMESSAGETABLE where MESSAGELIFECYCLESTATE = 1
• The following SQL statement will return the table ID and the table name of the document source for workflow documents in queue
  
  select tableid, name from SQLDICTIONARY where fieldid = 0 and tableid in (select workflowcontexttableid from WORKFLOWMESSAGETABLE where MESSAGELIFECYCLESTATE = 1)
  
  Note Use the results of the above SQL table name to look at the recid in the source document table.
• The following sample SQL statement returns the underlying source document to check if the workflow should be canceled or deleted
  
  select * from PURCHREQTABLE where RECID = '5637144826'
• Use the following SQL statement to return the record in the workflow history form, find the  WORKFLOWCORRELATIONID from the InstanceNumber from the WORKFLOWMESSAGETABLE, and then and use that GUID in the CORRELATIONID of the WORKFLOWTRACKINGSTATUSTABLE WORKFLOWCORRELATIONID
  
  select INSTANCENUMBER,* from WORKFLOWTRACKINGSTATUSTABLE where CORRELATIONID = 'C1919766-6C63-42DC-92E8-6B3FD1D8BDC0'
  
  Note Once you know the instance Number filter in the Workflow tracking table, you can then cancel the workflow process and make sure all records process out of the queue before testing newly submitted ones.

Still having trouble...

If you are experiencing issues downloading the install file or documentation on CustomerSource/PartnerSource, please contact   ITMBSSUP@microsoft.com

1. Ask the community of users like yourself through the Microsoft Dynamics AX Community here.
2.  For Technical support questions, contact your partner, or if enrolled in a support plan directly with Microsoft, you can enter a new support request to Microsoft Dynamics Technical Support from CustomerSource or PartnerSource under Support >> New Support Request
3.  You can also contact Microsoft Dynamics Technical Support by phone using these links for country specific phone numbers:
   Partners – Global Support Contacts (requires PartnerSource login)
   Customers – Global Support Contacts (requires CustomerSource login)