"Workflow must be in Published state." when trying to execute a CRM 2011 Workflow

Question

I need to execute a CRM 2011 workflow from .Net. I have looked at the CRM 2011 SDK example which uses the ExecuteWorkflowRequest message. The example works which is a good start, but the sample also creates the CRM Workflow item that it then executes.

I am trying to execute a workflow item that already exists. But I keep on getting a error "Workflow must be in Published state." even though I have Activiated the workflow.

I have tried executed the same workflow item it with the CRM 4.0 SDK and it executes fine. But I can't use this SDK with the way the system works as I need to execute a workflow item form a custom code workflow activity.

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

For each workflow created there are two workflow entities stored in CRM 2011 database. The workflow entity has an attribute titled 'Type'. Type == 1 is published. Type == 2 is draft. When you query for the workflow, be sure to specify the Type value in your where clause.

var workflow = context.CreateQuery("workflow").FirstOrDefault(w =>
w.GetAttributeValue<int>("type") == 1 &&
w.GetAttributeValue<string>("name") == workflowName &&
w.GetAttributeValue<bool>("ondemand") == true &&
w.GetAttributeValue<string>("primaryentity") == targetEntityName);

Refer to the CRM 2011 SDK sample code for examples how to connect to the Organization service.