SharePoint Designer workflow - update list item field without creating new version?

Question

Hello,
I have a list that uses versioning.
I have a workflow, designed in SharePoint Designer, that will track changes in some columns, and if there is a change it will send out an email.
To track the changes eg in the Status column, I have a hidden "OldStatus" column so I can compare the current value with the previous value.
If it's different it means it has been changed, and I send out an email, then update the OldStatus with the current value so they're in sync again.
Problem I have now is that when I update the OldStatus column in my workflow it will create a new version of the listitem. I don't want that. This is a system value change and has no value at all to the end user.
In C# I can do a systemupdate to avoid this, but how can I do this in SharePoint Designer?
Please don't tell me I should write the entire workflow in code, only to get access to the systemupdate command....

Answer 1

I created a Worfklow Activity class, called "UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode".
I add the default context properties to work with:
#region Context properties
public static DependencyProperty __ContextProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("__Context", typeof(WorkflowContext), typeof(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode));
[Category("My Workflow Actions")]
[Browsable(true)]
[DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Visible)]
public WorkflowContext __Context
get
return ((WorkflowContext)(base.GetValue(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode.__ContextProperty)));
set
base.SetValue(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode.__ContextProperty, value);
public static DependencyProperty __ListIdProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("__ListId", typeof(string), typeof(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode));
[ValidationOption(ValidationOption.Required)]
public string __ListId
get
return ((string)(base.GetValue(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode.__ListIdProperty)));
set
base.SetValue(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode.__ListIdProperty, value);
public static DependencyProperty __ListItemProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("__ListItem", typeof(int), typeof(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode));
[ValidationOption(ValidationOption.Required)]
public int __ListItem
get
return ((int)(base.GetValue(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode.__ListItemProperty)));
set
base.SetValue(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode.__ListItemProperty, value);
public static DependencyProperty __ActivationPropertiesProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("__ActivationProperties", typeof(SPWorkflowActivationProperties), typeof(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode));
[ValidationOption(ValidationOption.Required)]
public SPWorkflowActivationProperties __ActivationProperties
get
return (SPWorkflowActivationProperties)base.GetValue(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode.__ActivationPropertiesProperty);
set
base.SetValue(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode.__ActivationPropertiesProperty, value);
#endregion
Then I add my own input parameters to work with:
public static DependencyProperty StaticFieldNameProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("StaticFieldName", typeof(string), typeof(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode));
[Category("My Workflow Actions"), Browsable(true)]
[DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Visible)]
public string StaticFieldName
get
return Convert.ToString(base.GetValue(StaticFieldNameProperty));
set
base.SetValue(StaticFieldNameProperty, value);
public static DependencyProperty FieldValueProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("FieldValue", typeof(string), typeof(UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode));
[Category("My Workflow Actions"), Browsable(true)]
[DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Visible)]
public string FieldValue
get
return Convert.ToString(base.GetValue(FieldValueProperty));
set
base.SetValue(FieldValueProperty, value);
Then the actual workflow action code:
protected override ActivityExecutionStatus Execute(ActivityExecutionContext executionContext)
try
if (this.__Context == null)
throw new Exception("__Context is NULL");
if (this.__Context.Site == null)
throw new Exception("__Context.Site is NULL");
//reload the web using the SPSite object to work around any limitations on the objects
//applied to the user running the workflow
SPWeb tmpweb = __Context.Web;
SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
using (SPSite site = new SPSite(tmpweb.Url))
using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
//load list
SPList lst = web.Lists[new Guid(__ListId)];
//load listitem
SPListItem item = lst.GetItemById(__ListItem);
//update field value
item[this.StaticFieldName] = this.FieldValue;
//commit changes
item.SystemUpdate();
//return success workflow status
return ActivityExecutionStatus.Closed;
catch (Exception exc)
string sMsg = "Error in 'UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode':" + Environment.NewLine
+ exc.Message + Environment.NewLine + Environment.NewLine +
"StaticFieldName: " + this.StaticFieldName + Environment.NewLine +
"FieldValue: " + this.FieldValue;
Common.WriteErrorToLog(sMsg);
//return failed workflow status
return ActivityExecutionStatus.Faulting;
Note: the WriteErrorToLog function is a custom function that writes the error to the event log. It's located in another class. You can replace it with your own error handling approach.
Then we need to specify the workflow action in the .actions file, so SharePoint Designer knows about it and which parameters are required:
<Action Name="Set field in current item (silent mode)"
ClassName="My.WorkflowActions.UpdateFieldInCurrentItemSilentMode"
Assembly="My.WorkflowActions, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=0f8d2d9e2dfb2160"
AppliesTo="all"
Category="My Workflow Actions">
<RuleDesigner Sentence="Set field %1 in current item to value %2 (silent mode)">
<FieldBind Field="StaticFieldName" DesignerType="ParameterNames" Id="1" Text="StaticFieldName" />
<FieldBind Field="FieldValue" DesignerType="ParameterNames" Id="2" Text="FieldValue" />
</RuleDesigner>
<Parameters>
<Parameter Name="StaticFieldName" Type="System.String, mscorlib" DesignerType="ParameterNames" Direction="In" />
<Parameter Name="FieldValue" Type="System.String, mscorlib" DesignerType="ParameterNames" Direction="In" />
<Parameter Name="__Context" Type="Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions.WorkflowContext" Direction="In" />
<Parameter Name="__ListId" Type="System.String, mscorlib" Direction="In" />
<Parameter Name="__ListItem" Type="System.Int32, mscorlib" Direction="In" />
<Parameter Name="__ActivationProperties" Type="Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWorkflowActivationProperties, Microsoft.SharePoint" Direction="Out" />
</Parameters>
</Action>
That is all you need for the specific code, the rest is common code to build custom workflow actions, which you can find on many blogposts or this forum.