Shapes in the SharePoint Server workflow template in Visio

  • Article

Learn about the shapes in the SharePoint Workflow template in Visio 2013.

Note

SharePoint 2010 workflows have been retired since August 1, 2020 for new tenants and removed from existing tenants on November 1, 2020. If you’re using SharePoint 2010 workflows, we recommend migrating to Power Automate or other supported solutions. For more info, see SharePoint 2010 workflow retirement.

Introduction

This article lists the shapes contained in the SharePoint Workflow template in Visio 2013 and in the Visual Designer in SharePoint Designer 2013. When the template is opened, also opens the SharePoint Workflow Actions, SharePoint Workflow Conditions, and SharePoint Workflow Terminators stencils. Many of the shapes listed in the stencils correspond to specific actions, conditions, or other logical constructs in the Declarative Designer for building workflows in SharePoint Designer 2013.

Important: The following is a reference for workflow actions that are supported in SharePoint Designer 2013. Most of these actions are available in SharePoint Designer 2010, although one of those (Wait for List Item Event) has been revised and enhanced in the present version. Twelve new actions are introduced in the present version, and 25 actions have been removed. (To see a list of actions, conditions, and blocks that have been removed, see Workflow actions available using the workflow interop bridge..md)

Action shapes

The following table shows a list of all the shapes that are contained in the SharePoint Actions stencil in the SharePoint Workflow template in Visio 2013.

Note: Each shape listed in the following table will have the properties listed and a Properties property.

Shape in Visio 2013 and SharePoint Designer 2013 Visual Designer Action in the SharePoint Designer 2013 Declarative Designer Properties in SharePoint Designer 2013 Visual Designer Description
Add a Comment
Add a Comment
Comment
Enables you to leave informative comments in the workflow designer for reference purposes. This is especially helpful when there are other users collaborating on the workflow.
Add Time to Date
Add Time to Date
Months
Days
Hours
Minutes
Date
Output
Adds a specific time in minutes, hours, days, or months to a date, and stores the output value as a variable. The date can be a current data, specific date, or a lookup. The 'Current Date' value returns UTC midnight.
Assign a Task
Assign a Task
Task Settings
Task Outcome
Task Item ID
Assigns a workflow task to a user and establishes a due date for completion of the task.
Call HTTP web service
Call HTTP Web Service
HTTP Request
Parameters
Response Content Variable
Response Header Variable
Response Code Variable
Functions as a method call to a HTTP web service.
Note: The current build supports SharePoint calls only to anonymous HTTP services and only using string parameters and return types. Also, we do not support composite XML elements. Note, too, that we currently support classic ASMX only and do not provide support for the WCG service.
Check In Item
Check In Item
Item
Comment
Checks in an item that is checked out. You can check in items only from a document library.
Caution: The workflow crashes if you try to check in an item that is not checked out.
Check Out Item
Check Out Item
Item
Checks out an item. The workflow verifies whether the item is checked in before it checks out a document. You can check out items only from a library in your site.
Caution: The workflow crashes if you try to check out an item that is not checked in.
Copy document
Copy Document
Document
Library
Copies a document from the current list to a different Document Library list.
Count items in dictionary
Count Items in a Dictionary
Dictionary
Output Variable
Counts the number of items in a dictionary variable.
Create a project from current item
Create Project From Current Item
Enterprise Project Type
Takes the current item and creates a new project in the SharePoint farm PWA site.
Create List Item
Create List Item
Item
Output Variable
Creates a new list item in the list that you specify. You can supply the fields and values in the new item. You can use this action whenever you want a new item to be created with specific information.
Delete Item
Delete Item
Item
Deletes an item.
Note: This action is terminated on the computer running the Workflow Manager workflow engine and throws a System.InvalidOperationException exception. There is no workaround.
Discard Check Out
Discard Check Out Item
Item
Discards the changes and checks the item back in if an item is checked out and changes have been made to it.
Caution: The workflow crashes if you try to check in an item that is not checked out.
Do Calculation
Do Calculation
LeftOperand
Operator
RightOperand
To
Performs an arithmetic calculation and stores the output value in a variable.
Note: For SharePoint, this action supports only the Double numeric type. Integers are not supported. Use of the "+" operator (concatenation) for strings is not supported.
Extract Substring from End of String
Extract Substring from End of String
Number of Characters
String
Output
Copies a specified number of characters starting from the end of a string and stores the output in a variable.
Extract Substring from Index of String
Extract Substring from Index of String
String
Index
Output
Copies a substring starting at a specified index in the string and places the value in a variable.
Note: Be aware that although the index value in the present Technical Preview build of SharePoint Designer is zero-based, values in SharePoint Designer 2010 were indexed starting at 1.
Extract Substring from Start of String
Extract Substring from Start of String
Number of Characters
String
Output
Copies a specified number of characters beginning at the start of a string and stores the output in a variable.
Extract Substring of String from Index with Length
Extract Substring of String from Index with Length
String
Index
Number of Characters
Output
Copies out a substring comprising a specified number of characters, starting at a specified index in the string, and places the value in a variable.
Note: Be aware that although the index value in the present Technical Preview build of SharePoint Designer is zero-based, values in SharePoint Designer 2010 were indexed starting at 1.
Find Interval Between Dates
Find Interval Between Dates
Units
Start Date
End Date
Output
Calculates the time interval in minutes, hours, or days between two dates and stores the output in a variable.
Find substring in string
Find Substring in String
Substring
String
Output
Finds a particular substring inside of a string and returns the index of the substrings's starting position.
Get item from dictionary
Get Item From Dictionary
Item Name of Path
Dictionary
Output Variable
Returns a particular item from a dictionary variable.
Log to History List
Log to History List
Message
Writes a message from a list of predefined message items to the workflow history list.
Pause for Duration
Pause for Duration
Days
Hours
Minutes
Causes a workflow to pause executing for a specified time interval, in days, hours, and minutes.
Pause until Date
Pause Until Date
Date
Causes a workflow to pause executing until a specified date and time.
Replace substring in String
Replace Substring in String
Search String
Replace String
String
Output
Replaces a particular substring with another substring.
Send an Email
Send an email
Email
Automatically sends an email message that contains a predetermined message to a user or group when a specified workflow event occurs.
Important: If the site is not added to the Trusted Sites list then emails are routed to the Outlook Junk folder.
Set field in Current Item
Set Field in Current Item
Field
Value
Sets a field in the current item to a value.
Set Time Portion of Date/Time Field
Set Time Portion of Date/Time Field
Hours
Minutes
Date
Output
Creates a timestamp, and stores the output value in a variable. You can set the time in hours and minutes and add a current date, specific date, or lookup.
Set workflow status
Set Workflow Status
Status
Sets the status of the workflow.
Set Workflow Variable
Set Workflow Variable
Variable
Value
Sets a workflow variable to a value. You can also use this action when you want the workflow to assign data to a variable.
Start a list workflow
Start a List Workflow
Association Name
Inputs
Item
Starts a SharePoint 2010 List workflow.
Note: The Start a list workflow has the following issues:
  • The 'Assignments' type field cannot be used as a parameter when the 2010 workflow has a TaskProcess action in it.
  • When multiple calls are made to the same 2010 workflow the result will be multiple data sources in the 2013 workflow lookup functionality. These data sources are all the same.
  • Variable names in 2013 cannot contain special characters such as '?' and '#'. If a 2010 workflow contains special characters then they will be converted to hexadecimal code in the 2013 workflow.
Start a site workflow
Start a Site Workflow
Association name
Parameters
Starts a SharePoint 2010 Site Workflow.
Note: The Start a list workflow has the following issues:
  • The 'Assignments' type field cannot be used as a parameter when the 2010 workflow has a TaskProcess action in it.
  • When multiple calls are made to the same 2010 workflow the result will be multiple data sources in the 2013 workflow lookup functionality. These data sources are all the same.
  • Variable names in 2013 cannot contain special characters such as '?' and '#'. If a 2010 workflow contains special characters then they will be converted to hexadecimal code in the 2013 workflow.
Start a task process
Start a Task Process
Process Settings
Process Outcome
Creates tasks on multiple users and enables the tasks to be taken through a customized process.
Translate document
Translate Document
Document
Language
Document Library
Translates a document into a particular language
Note: Requires a preconfigured Machine Translation Service Application.
Trim String
Trim String
String
Output
Removes white spaces from the beginning and end of a string.
Update List Item
Update List Item
Item
Updates a list item. You can specify the fields and the new values in those fields.
Wait for Event in List Item
Wait for Event in List Item
Event
Related Item
[Enhanced version of Office 2010 action.] Pauses the current instance of the workflow to await a specified list item event. This action listens for two events: ItemUpdated and ItemAdded.
Wait for field change
Wait for Field Change
Field
Value
Waits for a field on the current item to equal a particular value.
Set Project Field
Set Project Field
Field
Value
Sets a value for a particular field on Project Server.
Note: This action requires the project to be checked in first. If the project is not checked in, the workflow will be terminated and users cannot open that project in Project Web App.
Set Project Stage Status
Set Project Stage Status
Stage Status
Stage Information
Sets the status of the Project Stage.
Note: An exception occurs when a current project is checked out.
Set status field in idea list
Set Status Field in Idea List
Status
Updates the status on the original list item that is associated to the current project.
Wait for Project Event
Wait for Project Event
Event Name
Waits for a particular Project Event.

Condition shapes

The following table shows a list of all the shapes that are contained in the SharePoint Conditions stencil in the SharePoint Workflow template.

Shape in Visio 2013 and SharePoint Designer 2013 Visual Designer Action in the SharePoint Designer 2013 Declarative Designer Properties in SharePoint Designer 2013 Visual Designer Description
If Any Value Equals Value
If any value equals value
Value
Operand
Value
Compares two values. You can specify whether the values should be equal or not equal.
Person is a Valid SharePoint User
Person is a valid SharePoint user
User
Checks to see whether a specific user is a registered user or a member of a group on the SharePoint site.
Skip Project Stage
Skip Project Stage
NA
This condition checks to see if the skip to stage feature has been activated on the server for the current workflow instance.

Terminator shapes

The following table shows a list of all the shapes that are contained in the SharePoint Terminators stencil in the SharePoint Workflow template.

Shape in Visio 2013 and SharePoint Designer 2013 Visual Designer Action in the SharePoint Designer 2013 Declarative Designer Properties in SharePoint Designer 2013 Visual Designer Description
Start
NA
NA
Begins the workflow. Every SharePoint workflow diagram must have only one Start shape.
Stage
Stage
NA
Contains any number of shapes and may include branching. All actions in the workflow must be contained by a stage. Stage shapes are visualized by using container shapes. A Stage shape requires that an Enter and an Exit shape be added to the edges of the container to define the paths in and out of the stage.
For more information, see the section titled "Stages, loops, and steps" in the article Workflow development in SharePoint Designer and Visio.
Step
Step
NA
Represents a grouped series of sequential actions. Steps must be contained by a stage. A step shape must also have an Enter and Exit shape, which are added when the shape is dropped onto the canvas.
For more information, see the section titled "Stages, loops, and steps" in the article Workflow development in SharePoint Designer and Visio.
Simple Stage
Stage
NA
Adds new stages to the top level of the workflow when in Stage View in Visio 2013.
Loop n Times
Loop n Times
Loop Count
Defines a series of connected shapes that will execute as a loop, returning from the last shape in the series to the first, until the loop has executed a specified amount of times. Like stages, loops are represented by a container shape that includes an Enter and Exit shape.
For more information, see the section titled "Stages, loops, and steps" in the article Workflow development in SharePoint Designer and Visio.
Loop with condition
Loop with Condition
Loop Count
Loops until a specific condition is met.
Start Parallel Action
Parallel Block
NA
End Parallel Action
Parallel Block
NA

See also