stopWorkflow does not work inside NodeJS : ReferenceError: document is not defined

[saunlani]

This is the error I receive when attempting to use stopWorkflow in an external NodeJS API:

my execution:
sp.list("ListName","http://company.com/").stopWorkflow({ID:6736, workflowName:"2010 Workflow"});

the error:

(node:14288) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: ReferenceError: document is not defined
    at C:\Repos\node_modules\sharepointplus\dist\lists\stopWorkflow.js:50:7
    at new Promise (<anonymous>)
    at new Wrapper (C:\Repos\node_modules\core-js-pure\internals\export.js:15:24)
    at C:\Repos\node_modules\sharepointplus\dist\lists\stopWorkflow.js:48:12
(node:14288) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was
not handled with .catch(). (rejection id: 2)

[Aymkdn]

There is no API to stop a workflow. So as a workaround the script opens an iframe to the Workflow Instance page where there is the "stop workflow" option. And then the form is posted to cancel the workflow.

In a Node environment, I'm not sure right now. I'll have to do some research to see how it's possible to have the same kind of behavior.

[saunlani]

I see, yeah this function is actually my main purpose behind using your package. So any help at all is greatly appreciated!

[Aymkdn]

I'll need a few days to find the time to work on it.

[Aymkdn]

I don't have the bandwidth right now to investigate. If you cannot wait for a couple of weeks, then I'll invite you to explore by yourself the below solutions:

• https://github.com/jsdom/jsdom – that can interpret HTML/JS from a page
• Puppeter https://pptr.dev/ – that can open a browser (without the UI) and runs through a page

You have to use $SP().getWorkflowID() to get the instances: you need the last instance that contains an url. Something like:

async function run() {
  let params = await $SP().getWorkflowID({ID:itemID, workflowName:"The workflow name"});
  if (params.instances.length===0) return "No instance available for this workflow/item ID.";
  let pageUrl = params.instances[params.instances.length-1].StatusPageUrl;

  // then call "pageUrl" with either `jsdom` or a puppeter script
  // once the page is loaded, you need to trigger the below from the page:
  // window.__doPostBack('ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$HtmlAnchorEnd','')
}

[Aymkdn]

I took some time to find out a solution. It took me one hour, and here is how to proceed: https://github.com/Aymkdn/SharepointPlus/wiki/Stop-a-workflow-2010-from-Node-Server-Application

[saunlani]

seriously, thank you very much for resolving this so quickly!

[saunlani]

I'm noticing this stopWorkflow solution works perfectly for workflows that were automatically started. For workflows that were manually started, the stopWorkflow function will not successfully stop the workflow.

Can you please confirm that this is working for you with workflows that have not been automatically started on item creation?

[Aymkdn]

I don't know. I'll have to create a list and a workflow and test.

[Aymkdn]

I've just tried, and it worked as expected: I manually started a workflow (that is doing a "pause for 5 hours") then I used the code to stop it, and it worked.

[Aymkdn]

It's using the "End this workflow" link from a Workflow Status page. So if you can see this link for the workflow/item you want to stop, then it's supposed to work:

[saunlani]

Interesting. Can you please try starting two workflows and using a for loop to iterate through them and stop both of them?
I'm not seeing an error when it tries to stop the workflows, but I'm also noticing it's not actually stopping the second workflow.

[Aymkdn]

Sorry, I don't have the time to do it. Please, refer to my previous comment.

[saunlani]

Yeah I've tested this thoroughly and it seems like the stopWorkflow function is only working for the very first workflow. It has no effect on other workflows.

[Aymkdn]

It seems there is an issue in my code as the getWorkflowID will only return the data for the first workflow. I'll have to fix it.

[Aymkdn]

I've just published v6.1.4 that fixes $SP().list().getWorkflowID() and also that makes $SP().list().stopWorkflow() works in Node app (so no need to use the wiki page that I'm going to delete)

[saunlani]

Thanks again sir!