Can workflow state change be a trigger?

jlloyd · March 29, 2013, 6:07pm

I am doing a database publish, and am having real trouble with date fields. The issue at hand is this: I need a reliable date as to when the content was first published into the database, so I can do application specific actions (outside the CMS). I have tried using the last_modified date, but my content is so interconnected that I have hundreds of content items that show updated any time I change one of them. (possibly caused by using the wrong relationship type?)

My next attempt was to create a proprietary date field (sys_CalendarSimple) in the content type, and add a Pre-Processing transform using the sys_AddCurrentDateTime() extension. This was working perfectly except in one use case: if a user edits content but allows it to sit in the draft or quick edit states for a few days… then without making further modifications workflows to public, the date is now several days old, and my cron job doesn’t pick up the change.

So what I really need is when the item is workflowed to public, the timestamp needs to be updated. I don’t see any transforms for the content type or for the field where I can trigger based on workflow state.

Anybody know of an available field that already has this maybe?

Thanks,

-Jason

jlloyd · April 1, 2013, 1:01pm

Digging around the Rhythmyx database, I have discovered in the contentstatus table, there is a column named stateentereddate, which contains the info I would like to use… is there any way to access this data in my DB publishing template?

Thanks,

jlloyd · April 10, 2013, 11:33am

Bump… I really need some ideas on this one. My only alternative at this point requires a ton of database and code implementation that will be prone to breakage. Nobody knows how to get the date that an item moved into the public state?

Thanks,

-J

jitendra · April 10, 2013, 12:24pm

You could write your own workflow extension that updates a hidden date field on your content type…

jlloyd · April 16, 2013, 4:36pm

Are there any resources available to guide me through creating a workflow extension? I’ve searched the forums and if the answer was there, it wasn’t immediately obvious to me. Also, is that a concession that the “stateentereddate” field from the “contentstatus” table is definitely NOT available during publish? It seems like that should be native functionality.

Thanks,

-Jason

Nate_Chadwick · May 9, 2013, 12:16pm

There are a couple of examples in the PSO Toolkit on GitHub.

This one is a pretty simple Workflow Action:

github.com

percussion/PSOToolkit/blob/master/src/com/percussion/pso/workflow/PSOSetRevisionLock.java

/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 1999-2011 Percussion Software.
 * 
 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to use, copy and create derivative works of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software") for internal use only and only in connection with products from Percussion Software. 
 * 
 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 * 
 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL PERCUSSION SOFTWARE BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 ******************************************************************************/
/*
 * com.percussion.consulting.workflow PSOSetRevisionLock.java
 *  
 * @author DavidBenua
 *
 */
package com.percussion.pso.workflow;


import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.PreparedStatement;

This file has been truncated. show original

There is some higher level doc on extension writing in the Technical Reference Manual