Is there a way to reorder steps in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Workflow?

Question

I'm creating a workflow in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. I have a step which then has several conditions. I accidentally placed the steps that should be under the third condition at the same level as the main step. Is there a way to move the steps up into the main steps condition without deleting and recreating the steps?

Lallygag

Answer 1

The short answer is no as the browser based designer is quite limited. The slightly longer answer is yes if you think the amount of work involved in recreating the errant steps is significant.

You can export the workflow via solution export and edit the XAML directly then reimport. XAML workflows are a supported method of creating workflows and there is tooling support within Visual Studio 2010 (CRM 2011 workflows are native WF4). The SDK can provide more information.

However, once you do this you cannot then reload the workflow in the web designer interface. You will always have to export/edit it as an XAML workflow. Finally, you can only do this for on-premise as CRM Online doesn't currently support XAML workflows.

If you do choose to stick with the browser based designer always take regular exports of the workflow via solution export to prevent this problem. I appreciate in your current situation this statement is essentially useless, but it's worth reiterating.

Goldcrest

Thanks, this is very helpful to know - especially about not being able to edit XAML workflows create via VS and then edit via web interface. – Lallygag

Answer 2

No, but if the steps that are in the wrong place are right at the end of the workflow you could cheat by inserting a reverse condition above them to stop the workflow. So if you wanted:

If foo = bar
   Do Stuff (several steps)

but you've got:

If foo = bar
   <no steps here>
Do stuff (not inside the condition).

then replace that condition with it's opposite and put in it a stop

If foo != bar
   Stop Workflow
Do stuff (not inside the condition, and no explicit "otherwise" (else) needed.

Brehm

Answer 3

There is a 3rd Party tool available to make the editing of native workflows much more flexible and forgiving. I played with it as a beta and it did what it said it would. There was a couple of quirks in the UI but nothing compared to the pain that you describe of having to shuffle things around. I haven't looked at it in a while now so those quirks may have been addressed. If not, it's still worth looking at.

http://www.teamknowledge.co.uk/tk-process-builder.php

Cohune