Hello,

I am upgrading captaris 5.0 to 6.0 and thus need to upgrade the web application that uses the API to .NET 2.0.  In doing so I am running into some problems w/ the UpdateTask function.

I have attached a little code below to help w/ explain the situation.  All the variables have data in them and the Teamplate.BLL.BProcess is declared but I still get the error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Is the taskid = -1 making it crash ?

 

Thanks for your help,

Christopher Rathermel

Code:

Dim Process As New Teamplate.BLL.BProcess

Process.UpdateTask(PID, TID, dueDate.NewDate(days), tplateID, "Normal")

Variable values:

Process status = InComplete
PID = 32639
TID = -1
dueDate.NewDate(days): 10/8/2007 2:38:45 PM
days = 3
tplateID = 603

 

Error Message:	Could not update task Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Source:	TeamplateBLL
Stack Trace:	at Teamplate.BLL.BProcess.UpdateTask(Int32 processID, Int32 taskID, DateTime dueDate, Int32 responsibleID, String priority, String cost, String estimation) at Teamplate.BLL.BProcess.UpdateTask(Int32 processID, Int32 taskID, DateTime dueDate, Int32 responsibleID, String priority) at CA.ReassignTask.reassign(BProcess pro, Int32 tplateID, String newName, String oldName, String reason, Int32 PID, Int32 TID, Int32 days)
URL:	/workflow.net.deve/CA/wfrmCADataEntry.aspx?PID=32640&TID=125&token=chvVXMSF1BzwcdoDe899FfSxnhSrmxrr219T6Uvjv7MjryZE5QSx69RqVW7LmyFVumb%252FKBAgKejfYJ4c%252FzIV%252F%252F7whqQWr5okO8wjqyYfK%252Foj7rYdm%252BT0B0ANOOb5mS84KDxBUcOKLwvz8sPO80gCdm3PhHuSB0eCKP2H3vE6wdIIu40wpu6JbJuaLRMjZnQmcXNXrV22Eq94%252BcYtm4PBCOnTegZRdzXQHUFpVc0F2xudw9p6y7TqYd6VLwFY0IdJR85MIcGy0hYIk7gix05C1al1RK%252BFaXTfPysIW7PadpyxZusDZMgHV7a6LnHE2agCWssd%252BdKu5mXfLKDyDlgue%252FPRaZ9Ni%252Fnw6QAK7Gn7j4Q%252FIeioPm18%252BfGbI8MCLgLPl6spSeXXq%252Fk%3d
Date/Time:	10/3/2007 2:46:20 PM   Function documentation that I found:   BProcess::UpdateTask(Int32, Int32, DateTime, Int32, String) : Boolean Updates task information Syntax: bool UpdateTask(int iProcessID, int iTaskID, DateTime dtDueDate, int iResponsibleID, string strPriority); Parameters: Int32 iProcessId Id of process Int32 iTaskID Id of task DateTime dtDueDate Due date for task Int32 iResponsibleID Responsible User String strPriority Priority Return: Boolean Returns true if successful, otherwise false

Hello Christopher,

You have to set Session Token and load Process before you invoke Process.UpdateTask:

Teamplate.BLL.BProcess oPr = new Teamplate.BLL.BProcess();

oPr.SetSessionToken(_Token);

oPr.Load(4760);

oPr.UpdateTask(4760, 2, DateTime.Now, 0, "Normal");

oPr.Dispose();

Best Regards,

Galina

Galina,

 

I actually do set the Session before the UpdateTask call but didn't include it in my origional post for simplicity. 

 

Here are some more code to explain my situation:  (Look for: 'Error is here!!!!! )

 

Dim pro As Teamplate.BLL.BProcess

Dim px As New CA.LoadBProcess

Dim nextTID As Integer

Dim respID As Integer

Dim tplateID As Integer

Dim taskRe As CA.ReassignTask = New CA.ReassignTask

tplateID = CInt(Request.Cookies("TPLATE")("TPLATEID"))

pro = px.getBProcess()    'The Session is set here.  Check below for details

pro.SetTextValue("JOBEXTRA", "TBLJOBEXTRADETAILS/APPRTID", txtStaffApprovalid.Text)

pro.SetTextValue("JOBEXTRA", "TBLJOBEXTRADETAILS/APPRNAME", txtStaffApprovalname.Text)

respID = pro.GetOwner()

pro.WorkflowAdvance(CInt(Request.QueryString("TID")), "")

nextTID = pro.GetNextTaskID(respID, Teamplate.BLL.BProcess.TaskStatus.Waiting)

taskRe.reassign(pro, CInt(txtStaffApprovalid.Text), txtStaffApprovalname.Text, Request.Cookies("TPLATE")("NAME"), "Send data for approval.", CInt(Request.QueryString("PID")), nextTID, 3)   'Error is here!!!!!  Check below for more details

 

Class Functions referenced above:

Public Class LoadBProcess

Public Function getBProcess() As Teamplate.BLL.BProcess

Dim Token As String

Dim Session As Teamplate.BLL.BSession

Session = New Teamplate.BLL.BSession

Session.Connect(Current.Request.Cookies("TPLATE")("UID").ToString, "")

Token = Session.GetToken()

Dim Process As Teamplate.BLL.BProcess

Process = New Teamplate.BLL.BProcess

Process.SetSessionToken(Token)

Process.Load(CInt(Current.Request.QueryString("PID")))

Return Process

End Function

End Class

 

 

Public Sub reassign(ByVal pro As BProcess, ByVal tplateID As Integer, ByVal newName As String, ByVal oldName As String, ByVal reason As String, ByVal PID As Integer, ByVal TID As Integer, ByVal days As Integer)

Dim Process As New Teamplate.BLL.BProcess

Dim procDetails As New StringBuilder

Dim proName As New StringBuilder

Dim dt As New DataTable

dt = getName(tplateID)

proName.Append(PID)

proName.Append(" - CA Process - ")

proName.Append(LCase(CStr(DataBinder.Eval(dt, "defaultView.[0].NAME"))))

Try

Process = pro

procDetails.Append("<hr><font color=Red>Task Reassigned to ")

procDetails.Append(newName)

procDetails.Append("<br>Reason: ")

procDetails.Append(reason)

procDetails.Append("<br>")

procDetails.Append("by: ")

procDetails.Append(oldName)

procDetails.Append("<br>")

procDetails.Append(Date.Now)

procDetails.Append("</font><br>")

procDetails.Append(Replace(Replace(Process.GetTextValue("OTHER", "OTHER/PROCESSDETAILS"), "<font color=Red>", ""), "</font>", ""))

Process.SetTextValue("OTHER", "OTHER/PROCESSDETAILS", procDetails.ToString)

Dim dueDate As New CA.BusinessDays

Process.UpdateTask(PID, TID, dueDate.NewDate(days), tplateID, "Normal") 'Error is here!!!!!

Process.SetName(proName.ToString)

Process.SaveFile()

Catch o As Exception

Dim catchMe As New CA.CaughtError

catchMe.showMeTheError(o)

Finally

If Not (Process Is Nothing) Then

Process.Dispose()

End If

Process = Nothing

procDetails = Nothing

End Try

End Sub

Hi Christopher,

nextTID = pro.GetNextTaskID(respID, Teamplate.BLL.BProcess.TaskStatus.Waiting)

The nextTID integer has the value of -1, and that couses the error.

Best Regards,

Galina

 

Hey Galina,

Do have any idea why the GetNextTaskId function would return "-1" ?

Also do you know what are the acceptable values that the UpdateTask function supports for the taskid parameter?

 

PS:  This code did work for the 5.0 version of the API .dll in the .NET 1.1 framework.

Thanks a lot for your help,

Christopher

Hi Christopher,

GetNextTaskId() will return -1 in the following cases:

1. GetNextTaskId(intRespID,Teamplate.BLL.BProcess.TaskStatus.Waiting)

there are no tasks in Waiting state, or intRespID is not valid Workflow user ID, or task that is in waiting state is alredy assigned to the user Id that does not match the value of intRespID

2. GetNextTaskId(intRespID,Teamplate.BLL.BProcess.TaskStatus.Ready)

there are no tasks in Ready state, or intRespID is not valid Workflow user ID, or task that is in ready state is alredy assigned to the user Id that does not match the value of intRespID

If you have parallel tasks that are in ready state, say Task Id 5 and Task Id 6, GetNextTaskId(intRespID,Teamplate.BLL.BProcess.TaskStatus.Ready) where both parameters are correct will return 5.

Acceptable values for UpdateTask are:

valid Workflow user ID,valid Task Id (e.g. the model has tasks with IDs 2,3,4, if you pass 5 the update will fail),valid Due Date(DateTime datatype), valid Task Priority value (you can use Teamplate.BLL.TaskPriority enum to ensure the valid value is passed e.g. Teamplate.BLL.TaskPriority.Normal.ToString()).

You code worked in 5.0 only under specific condition: you had several parallel tasks and updated next task when one of parallel tasks has been advanced (not the last one though), in this case your next task was in Waiting state.

If understand correctly you want to set Task due date and responsible Id. The best way to accomplish this is to set these properties on the Task Ready event.

e.g.

Sub Task3_Ready(ByVal data As System.Object)
 Task3.DueDate = dNewDate
 If Not data Is Nothing Then
  Task3.ResponsibleId = CInt(data)
 End If 
End Sub

When you invoke WorkflowAdvance you can pass responsible Id to the next Task ready event

oPr.WorkflowAdvance(3, 6); where 3 is task id and 6 is user Id

Best Regards,

Galina

Hello Galina,

First of all, thanks again for your detailed response. 

I am having a little trouble understanding your response to apply it to my problem.

Quote:
"You code worked in 5.0 only under specific condition: you had several parallel tasks and updated next task when one of parallel tasks has been advanced (not the last one though), in this case your next task was in Waiting state."

I think if I can understand this statement I would be able to apply your recommendations.  What is different from the 5.0 version and the 6.0 version that applies to my workflow? 

You recommended using the Task Ready Event.  I am not sure what this is (dll function, class function made by the programmer, some custom workflow event that needs to be applied to the model).  Also how would you declare the "Task3" variable to have access to those properties w/o using the UpdateTask Function of the API?

Thanks again,

Christopher

Hi Christopher,

First on task statuses, how and when the status of task changes:

For example, I have a model that consists of 4 web tasks: TaskWebForm2 , TaskWebform3 , TaskWebForm4, TaskWebForm5. TaskWebForm# is the name of web task object in the model and processes based out of this model.

TaskWebForm2 links to TaskWebForm3 and TaskWebForm4 with no business rules(that makes 3 and 4 parallel tasks). TaskWebForm3 and TaskWebForm4 have links to TaskWebform5 (you can execute 5 when both 3 and 4 are completed).

When I advance TaskWebForm2 (BProcess.WorkflowAdvance(2,Nothing)), 2 becomes Completed, and 3 4 change their status to Ready (as they are parallel tasks they can be executed in any order). When I advance  say TaskWebForm4, it changes its status to Completed, TaskWebForm3 remains in ready state, and TaskWebForm5 changes its status to Waiting. When TaskWebForm3 is advanced(in this case the last parallel task) 3 becomes Completed, and TaskWebForm5 changes its status to Ready.

In the example above  (I do not know how you designed the workflow) nextTID = pro.GetNextTaskID(respID, Teamplate.BLL.BProcess.TaskStatus.Waiting) will work only when TaskWebForm4 (BProcess.WorkflowAdvance(4,Nothing)) is advanced and TaskWebForm5 becomes Waiting.

There is no difference in task changing status between 5.0 and 6.0.

Second, task events. Any Task object in a model has Ready/Execute/Complete/Failed/Overdue/Reset events. If you open your model select a task you will see all the events available for this task object. When you double-click on say Complete event of TaskWebForm4 the following script will be generated in the script view of the model:

Sub TaskWebForm4_Complete(ByVal data As System.Object)

End Sub

When in your Web form you advance say TaskWebForm4 you can pass any data to this task Complete event or next task Ready event: BProcess.WorkflowAdvance(4,17) 17 here is user id I want TaskWebForm5 to be assigned.

Sub TaskWebForm4_Complete(ByVal data As System.Object)
 'check if any data has been passed by BProcess.WorkflowAdvance
 If Not data Is Nothing Then
  TaskWebForm5.ResponsibleId = CInt(data)
 End If
End Sub

Or use Ready event of next task:

Sub TaskWebForm5_Ready(ByVal data As System.Object)
 If Not data Is Nothing Then
  TaskWebForm5.ResponsibleId = CInt(data)
 End If
End Sub

Sorry for the long expanation, I hope it helps.

Best Regards,

Galina

 

Galina,

I think I finally understand what you are getting at.  However, the GetNextTaskId shouldn't be returning "-1" and that is my problem.  This works fine in 2 different environments in captaris 5.0 and .NET 1.1.  Your suggested work around, by setting the process attribute on the Completed or Ready event, might work but it would require a lot of code re-write that isn't in the time budget for this project and if there is no difference between the .NET 1.1  and the 2.0 dlls I am guessing there is something else wrong w/ the set up or db connection causing the error rather than syntax or code design.

I was hopping to get upgraded to captaris 6.0 or 6.5 to stay within support but I am guessing that it just isn't going to happen w/ the problems I have run into w/ this app. 

As result it is likely that I will be upgrading the application to 2.0 using windows workflow foundation as a replacement.  Not complaining or putting fault, just letting you know what I am planning on doing for reference or feedback.

Thanks for all your help on this topic. 

Regards,

Christopher

Hey,

Well almost a year has past and I am revisiting the conversion of our application that uses captaris.  I have the application deployed in the 2.0 framework w/ captaris 6.0 on two test servers (front end and sql). 

I am still receiving the "-1" when I run the GetNextTaskID function.  I am passing the function a valid tplateID and my models have not changed and are working in captaris version 5.0 and framework 1.1. 

I am able to create an instance of a new "task" and complete the first step "CA Data Entry".  The WorkflowAdvance() function appears to work correctly but after the task list advanced I have code that assigns it to the new user.  This is the approver that user that is set in the "CA Data Entry" step.  It can be the same as the user who created the task or different.  Below I have just set to myself (1908). 

I see that the status of the tasks in the TASK table are InActive.  Did something change from 5.0 to 6.0 of when a task is in the waiting stage?

Any ideas how to fix this? 

 

Code:

Dim pro As Teamplate.BLL.BProcess

Dim px As New CA.LoadBProcess

Dim nextTID As Integer

Dim respID As Integer

Dim tplateID As Integer

Dim taskRe As CA.ReassignTask = New CA.ReassignTask

 

tplateID = CInt(Request.Cookies("TPLATE")("TPLATEID"))

pro = px.getBProcess()

pro.SetTextValue("JOBEXTRA", "TBLJOBEXTRADETAILS/APPRTID", Me.rcbApproval.SelectedValue)

pro.SetTextValue("JOBEXTRA", "TBLJOBEXTRADETAILS/APPRNAME", Me.rcbApproval.Text)

respID = pro.GetOwner()

pro.WorkflowAdvance(CInt(Request.QueryString("TID")), "")

nextTID = pro.GetNextTaskID(respID, Teamplate.BLL.BProcess.TaskStatus.Waiting)

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("respID: " & respID & "<br/>")

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("Me.rcbApproval.SelectedValue: " & Me.rcbApproval.SelectedValue & "<br/>")

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("Me.rcbApproval.Value: " & Me.rcbApproval.Value & "<br/>")

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("Me.rcbApproval.Text: " & Me.rcbApproval.Text & "<br/>")

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("Request.Cookies(TPLATE)(NAME): " & Request.Cookies("TPLATE")("NAME") & "<br/>")

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("CInt(Request.QueryString(PID)): " & CInt(Request.QueryString("PID")) & "<br/>")

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("nextTID: " & nextTID & "<br/>")

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.End()

 

Print Out:

respID: 1908
Me.rcbApproval.SelectedValue: 1908
Me.rcbApproval.Value: 1908
Me.rcbApproval.Text: Rathermel, Christopher
Request.Cookies(TPLATE)(NAME): Christopher K Rathermel
CInt(Request.QueryString(PID)): 32660
nextTID: -1

User from DB:

guid	id	sid	domain	name	descrp	email
004e930b-b786-4591-b9ae-049177435230	1908	0	VIRCHOWKRAUSE	CR10718	Christopher Rathermel	CRathermel@virchowkrause.com

 

Table TASK

PID	ID	NAME	INSTANCEID	STATUS	RESPONSIBLEID	ASSIGNED	STARTDATE	COMPLETEDATE	DUEDATE
32660	6	Client/Project Data Approval	0	Ready	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 10:05	NULL	7/2/2009 9:51
32660	7	Project Referrals	0	InActive	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 9:51	NULL	7/2/2009 9:51
32660	15	VKEB Project Approval	0	InActive	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 9:51	NULL	7/2/2009 9:51
32660	16	CFS Project Approval	0	InActive	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 9:51	NULL	7/2/2009 9:51
32660	17	VK Capital Project Approval	0	InActive	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 9:51	NULL	7/2/2009 9:51
32660	18	VKWM Project Approval	0	InActive	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 9:51	NULL	7/2/2009 9:51
32660	19	Civic Project Approval	0	InActive	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 9:51	NULL	7/2/2009 9:51
32660	33	Proposal	0	InActive	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 9:51	NULL	7/2/2009 9:51
32660	99	VKLLP Project Approval	0	InActive	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 9:51	NULL	7/2/2009 9:51
32660	114	Data Creation	0	InActive	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 9:51	NULL	7/2/2009 9:51
32660	125	CA Data Entry	0	Complete	1908	NULL	7/2/2008 9:51	7/2/2008 10:05	7/7/2008 9:51

 

 

Okay the jig is up: 

I changed the GetNextTaskId function to this and it worked:

nextTID = pro.GetNextTaskID(respID, Teamplate.BLL.BProcess.TaskStatus.Ready)

 

Why did this change and why when I asked has anything changed to I get the standard "nothing has changed between the v5.0 and v6.0."

Thanks,

Chris