Work Flow in Status Error

Question

Hi Experts,
I have a Workflow which triggers on record update.
After the start step i have 3 assignment Fields and then Some validations etc.
I can see that this workflow is stopped at First assignment step Some times with Error.
And when i Open the workflow and close it again, then the next time there is a Update to a Record this workflow works fine...
This is strange..
the Workflow entry which is in ERROR will remain the same, Even if i press 'Perform' ..
DId anyone face this issue earlier!!!
It works fine for 2 days and suddenly i can see in Workflow table there is a entry with Error at First Assignment step of Workflow.
when i Open work flow, Edit some description and save it back and the rest of the workflows from then are executing without error.
But the one with Error in WF table still remains the same even after selecting 'Perform' on it.
KR
John

Answer 1

Hi John,
Please find details of a SAP Note 1553992 on this issue:
Symptom
- Data Manager crashes when trying to click on workflow job line (only    in MDM 5.5).
- Workflow jobs are in error state due to executing next step such as     syndication step after a job was in error state due to bad assignment.
Other terms
- Workflow crash Data Manager, O28627 2011
Reason and Prerequisites
o Description of the root cause of the bug and ways to reproduce and/or diagnose the issue:
Reproducing the scenario can be done by creating a workflow with the following steps:
1. Start
2. Bad Assignment (e.g. assignment created unique constraint violation)
3. Syndication
4. Stop
After executing the workflow job, the job is shown in error state in MDM Data Manager.
Clicking on next -> Syndication step changes the workflow job to a job that only the owner can see. The job is shown in MDM Data Manager in error state, its step description is empty and no user specified in user column.
Clicking on the workflow job will lead to a crash in Data Manager.
MDM Data Manager crashes since the workflow job is is in error state but none of his steps is in error state.
In this mode(unlisted), MDS prepares the workflow list to be send to Data Manager with user name with value NULL.
Data Manager crashes when it tries to access the user name of the workflow.
The issue was introduce with MDM 5.5.
Issue is not relating to a specific platform/DBMS.
Solution
o The workaround is:
Delete workflow job in error state using Java API.
o The description of the fix is:
The fix handles two scenarios:
1. Existing workflow jobs in error state that caused a crash
   in MDM Data Manager. A fix was made in MDS to add the owner as user
   name to the workflow jobs in such scenario.
   As a result users are able to delete the workflow job or show its
   history.
2. New workflow job will not stay in Error state and the next step will
   be correctly performed.
o The issue was fixed in the following code lines and versions:
- MDM 5.5 SP06 Patch05 Hotfix 45 (Build 5.5.65.125) -
    change list #94328
- MDM 7.1 SP07 (Build 7.1.07.113) - change list #94340
- MDM 7.11     (Build 7.11.0.146) - change list #94339
o What areas of the code were fixed?
Workflow Run Time
o What areas of the code were affected by the fix?
Workflow Run Time
o The following component(s) need to be replaced to correct the specific flaw addressed by this note:
In 5.5 Version:
Master Data Server
MDM SERVER 5.5
In 7.1 Version:
Master Data Server
o Additional component(s), if any, that were impacted and should be regression-tested by the code change:
In 5.5 Version:
GUI Clients
JAVA API
In 7.1 Version:
Data Management Clients
JAVA API
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Ravi