Copy List Item Extended Activity

copyitem.gif

Feature Matrix

Feature List Items Files Notes
Copy Item X X
Move Item X X
Overwrite Item on Destination X
Specify Destination Subfolders X when copying/moving files in and out of doc. libs, path to a sub folder can be specified as the destination (ex. http://moss/site/doclib/subfolder)
Copy/Move File Attributes X when copying/moving files in and out of doc. libs, any attributes that exist in destination lib. are also set
Copy/Move Item History X List item history is never kept, file version history is always copied/moved
Copy/Move Item Attachments X
Copy/Move Item Cross SiteX X
Copy/Move Item with Person Fields Cross SiteX X


Warning: This custom action presents a potential security issue. Because it runs as SHAREPOINT\system it can copy file/items to any site in the farm. A user with access to create SPD workflows on any one site, can set this activity up to copy to sites that he does not have access to. If you do not want this behavior i suggest you remove this activity from DPWorkflow.Actions file, located in [SPHive]\TEMPLATE\1033\Workflow\ folder.
Last edited Jan 24 2008 at 12:15 AM by unclepaul84, version 13
Comments
fromonesource Jan 23 2008 at 7:16 PM 
Can this be set to run as domain\current user? Wouldn't that be a good option to reduce the security risk?

unclepaul84 Jan 24 2008 at 12:19 AM 
i guess we can intruduce a flag that can be set in .ACTIONS that let's server admin choose which mode this activity will run in.

DkmSk Mar 18 2008 at 11:37 PM 
While copy from English site into Russian:
System.ArgumentException: Value does not fall within the expected range.
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldCollection.GetFieldByDisplayName(String strDisplayName, Boolean bThrowException)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldCollection.get_Item(String strD

liamkennedy Apr 11 2008 at 11:27 PM 
Can you add in the capacity to create the specified folder if it does not exist in the target? Thanks

matt9250 May 16 2008 at 5:31 PM 
thank you so much, this saved my life!

aiweiyang Jul 1 2008 at 10:06 PM 
I have MOSS 12.0.6219.100 installed on VPC 2007. The VPC is from Ted Pattison training class. I installed the SPDActivities 0.5.0 Alpha. I am able to see the action item Copy List Item Extended but when I clicked on it, it did not go to action pane as you did in your screen shot. Any suggestions?

Thanks in avdance

2deerpark Jul 17 2008 at 7:26 PM 
This is very close to what I am trying to do - if possible you have suggestions on my steps to achieve please forward.

ISSUE: I have created a workflow in list A, with conditions I want to create list item in another List (B) which is in another colleciton. (example: http://mine/siteA/ListA - want to populate and create new item in http://mine/siteB/ListB)

I have connected List (B) collection to the data source library - the puzzle is how do I populate the fields for a new item in List B from List A after connecting the two sites?? Create a new workflow (the only thing the workflow looks at the list attached to the workflow) if anyone has a few steps on this I would be happy with some direction from this point.



Thanks so much

ccole Jul 25 2008 at 6:58 PM 
I am getting an error when my new workflow runs. I was able to install the package and activate the feature just fine, and the Copy List Item Extended action is available in SPD when I create the workflow. The problem happens after I add an item to the list (the workflow is set to start when the item is added). The workflow fails and the information provided in the first workflow history entry is:

"System.ArgumentException: Value does not fall within the expected range.
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldCollection.GetFieldByDisplayName(String strDisplayName, Boolean bThrowException)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldCollection.get_Item(String strD"

The second workflow history event says "An error has occured in Copy Item to Employee Events Calendar"

I'm not sure what I've gotten incorrect - the action is set up just like your example above. Can you provide any insight as to where I may have gone wrong?

Thanks!!
Chanda

alistairhigson Sep 13 2008 at 1:13 AM 
Does this work for page libraries? Or Publishing fields in a regular list? I can't get it to work with either.

mag3rquark Oct 16 2008 at 8:02 AM 
Hey,
will this work on a german language moss ? If not, how can i handle this ?

guessdip Nov 6 2008 at 3:00 AM 
Hii,
Can we update the some specified list item for cross site? Exactly i need to update list item from one url to another url??is there any Custom action for that??

plangford Nov 21 2008 at 6:17 PM 
Earlier you mentioned a setting to run as user instead of system account. Has anything come of this?
And/or is there a method to set the CREATED BY to the current user instead of the System account.
The problem is that workflows will not start on items added by system account in the new list/library.

wcp Dec 3 2008 at 3:26 AM 
Does anyone know how to get this to work for updating/overwriting list items? I'm trying to use this on a calendar item copy and each time the source calendar is updated, a new item gets created on the destination List.

mcgraw Dec 5 2008 at 9:59 PM 
To install on a farm does the setup need to be run on all frontend servers?

Zoidy Dec 12 2008 at 4:31 PM 
Any chance this could be made to work cross-farm so sending a list item from an intranet farm to an extranet farm?

pnewhook Dec 12 2008 at 9:31 PM 
I'm getting a similar error to those mentioned above

System.ArgumentException: Value does not fall within the expected range.
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldCollection.GetFieldByDisplayName(String strDisplayName, Boolean bThrowException)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldCollection.get_Item(String strD

why might this be?

ChrisMiller Jan 5 at 1:56 PM 
I am similarly interested in getting this to work for updating/overwriting list items. I think the reason revolves around the fact that it doesn't talk to lists the same way it talks to libraries. the ?ID= is needed to put it in the correct entry for an update.
Any help would be appreciated, since I am not a full time programmer and do not have access to VS at this time.

Panvega Jan 20 at 2:34 PM 
I have the same question than someone above:
ISSUE: I have created a workflow in list A, with conditions I want to create list item in another List (B) which is in another colleciton. (example: http://mine/siteA/ListA - want to populate and create new item in http://mine/siteB/ListB)

How can I choose in the Lists (.ACTIONS DesignerType CreateListItem) from the other site collection? I need the properties from the ContentType in order to create a new List item in List B.
Thanks Alex

myfootsmells Jan 24 at 12:48 AM 
So I've added the Activites and Activated them through the Central Admin page. When I add the activity in a workflow no new activity line shows up. It looks as if nothing happened. Any ideas why? It happens for all the Activities you've written.

Thanks. - M

ollikiel Jan 27 at 1:21 PM 
"I have MOSS 12.0.6219.100 installed on VPC 2007. The VPC is from Ted Pattison training class. I installed the SPDActivities 0.5.0 Alpha. I am able to see the action item Copy List Item Extended but when I clicked on it, it did not go to action pane as you did in your screen shot. Any suggestions?

Thanks in avdance"

I got the exactly same issue, when starting to create a wrofkflow based on the copy list item extended activity.

Any suggestions?

pobblebonk Jan 31 at 5:42 PM 
Hi,
We are in need of a basic replication of list data between a central branch server to remote branch servers. I was wondering if we could user this or one of the other workflow activities from this project to do the synchronization. The branch servers are aimed at ensuring staff have access to our main Intranet portal even if the link between branches goes down. There will be a forms document repository which we will need to keep in sync however there will not be any need for versioning on the remote branch servers.

Any thoughts on the applicability of this project to this sort of requirement would be appreciated.

cocae Feb 10 at 4:39 PM 
I have a problem when I define a workflow of copy list item extended. I copy my current item to other list overwrite existing items and when started my workflow no overwrite item, this item appears repeated. can you help me??

wickid1ne Feb 12 at 4:44 PM 
I installed the package and activated it with no problems. I then verified that it was available in SPD no problem there. But for some reason, we are not able to upload any documents into SharePoint. I get an error message stating "Unable to complete this operation. Please contact your administrator.
Troubleshoot issues with Windows SharePoint Services". I dont seem to have the problem when i am logged into the Server and open any sharepoint site. What could be the problem?

wcannon Feb 25 at 8:31 PM 
I am getting the following error when using this to copy a list it to a subweb: System.Security.SecurityException: Access denied.
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPFormDigestSettings.set_Enabled(Boolean value) at P.Sharepoint.Workflow.ListItemCopier.CopyFileWithHistoryCrossSite(SPFile sourceFile, SPFolder destination. I've added the account the app pool is running under as a site collection administrator. Any help would be appreciated.

imfruity Mar 11 at 8:17 PM 
I have an email enabled list that stopped working at about 620,000 emails. I then created another and it stopped at 100,000. the third fails to start at all. these emails are small in size but for some reason the list stopped working. Will this workflow allow me delete items maybe based on a date range?

Thanks

SharePointKevin May 19 at 9:25 PM 
Using this activity I find that it will not copy a column value that is set prior in the same workflow ie via a variable or other activity. Is this the expected behavior? If so, how might I get around this behavior?

jarnspiger May 22 at 11:36 PM 
I have been successfully using the Copy List Item Extended Activity in workflows. However with the Microsoft change in Administrator logins not being able to create workflows that start automatically I have had to redo workflows. Now this workflow does not seem to be able to find the list even though I copy the list url and in the error message which states it can't find the list when I click on it, it goes to the list. Should I reinstall the activity? I really need the wonderful activity. Any help would be appreciated. This is being done on a site collection that was "cloned" using DocAve. Would that have any impact? I even recreated the list that it can't find ... still can't find. Any help appreciated.

JSdream Jun 4 at 7:16 PM 
Any chance of extending the Feature Matrix for copying/moving/overwriting/deleting items into Lists? Specifically the ability to copy/move/delete list items, into List Library subfolders (now available in 2007)? I was unwaware of the limitiation of the extension on Lists, until I started receiving both exception and deadlock SQL errors when I tried applying my copy/move workflows on my List Library, and not a document Library.

scottrooke Jun 23 at 8:10 PM 
I've struggled to figure out what this error is really saying....

System.ArgumentException: Value does not fall within the expected range.
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldCollection.GetFieldByDisplayName(String strDisplayName, Boolean bThrowException)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldCollection.get_Item(String strD

I think I figured it out.

Make sure the user who has interacted with the WF has permissions on the destination list. I've run into a scenario where the user has permissions and still I am getting this error. So, I created a new list. Change the location where to copy the item to, and TA..DAH!!!! It works. I haven't looked at the code to determine what's going on but this is how I solved it.

I hope this helps.

Scott

scottrooke Jun 23 at 8:12 PM 
SharePoint Kevin - May 19 at 3:25PM (ANSWER)

I had this same issue. What I ended up doing was updating the item in the destination list with the value from the source list in an update list item action after I copied the item. When you copy the item you get the List Item ID in return. Use this variable to when updating the destination item.

Good luck!

Scott

BBluEE Jul 21 at 9:40 PM 
Hello.
I observed something in a workflow using this actity.
I update a field in the current item and then i copy/move it to another list from another site.
The field updated in the step before the copy activity did not persist in the new copied/moved item.
When you start the workflow on a current item, is it being stored somewhere and used through the workflow with the parameters taken when the workflow started?
If u update a field inside the workflow the activities after the update would not see the change?

Dan

feygirrl Aug 10 at 9:10 PM 
I extracted the files on the C Drive of my SharePoint web application server but I am unable to get past the timeout issue. Any ideas? Because this solution is EXACTLY what I need!!!!

Here are the details:
***** SOLUTION DEPLOYMENT *****
***** ERROR *****
Timeout error
CodePlex.SharePointInstaller.InstallException: Timeout error ---> CodePlex.SharePointInstaller.InstallException: Timeout error
at CodePlex.SharePointInstaller.InstallProcessControl.WaitForJobCompletionCommand.Execute()
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at CodePlex.SharePointInstaller.InstallProcessControl.WaitForJobCompletionCommand.Execute()
at CodePlex.SharePointInstaller.InstallProcessControl.TimerEventInstall(Object myObject, EventArgs myEventArgs)
***** SOLUTION RETRACTION *****
***** ERROR *****
Timeout error
CodePlex.SharePointInstaller.InstallException: Timeout error
at CodePlex.SharePointInstaller.InstallProcessControl.WaitForJobCompletionCommand.Rollback()
at CodePlex.SharePointInstaller.InstallProcessControl.TimerEventRollback(Object myObject, EventArgs myEventArgs)

mephleg Aug 12 at 4:08 PM 
We tried using this, but it creates a new item in the list. What we want is it to update an existing item. It is set to 'overwrite' but it does not overwrite.

hamman Aug 19 at 1:49 PM 
Same issue here. Setting overwrite does not, it creates duplicate entries. Not sure how to fix this. Anyone have any ideas?

Phydeaux Aug 26 at 4:17 AM 
Overwrite doesn't work for me either. Has anyone found a solution,

vwolters Sep 1 at 9:54 PM 
I am having the same overwrite issue but, I am really looking for an "update" solution which will update based on a specific field within the list. Because of the different quids between the two different list on the two different farms it is hard to maintain versioning on a single item on both list while transfering the same item back and forth multiple times.

Dave_Schafer Oct 6 at 7:44 PM 
Lots of talk on how to UPDATE a list item (extended) First off, Let me say thanks to the developers..... Great tools. I've used several of these workflow activities sucessfully. Secondly, it seems like many people are confused about the option to overwrite items or not. Overwrite works on files in document libraries, not on list items. This is shown in the matrix above. Lastly, Here's the GUI workaround I've used to Update list items on another site, not just copy or move a list item. I have identical lists on site A and on site B. (referred to as lists A and B respectively) I want changes made to list A reflected (updated) on List B. We know the "Copy List Item Extended" activity can only COPY or Move list items between sites, it cannot UPDATE..... it cannot overwrite list items. We also know that SharePoint Designer has an option called "Update List Item" that can update lists ONLY if they are on the same site. I didn't connect the dots until I was driving home from work. When I got back to the office the next day, this is what I did.................. I created another identical list (List C). I created the list on Site B (where list B resides(the one I want to update)) and used the "Copy list Item Extended" in one workflow to COPY the list item from list A to C. (Now I have identical list items on A and C) Since List C is on the same site as list B I can start another workflow but this time on list C, which uses the "update list item" in SPD to UPDATE my final destination list (List B) As soon as C updates B the workflow deletes the list item from list C. I'm using a common ID related column to identify the same item in all lists to ensure the correct list item receives the update. It works great with one exception and maybe someone here has the answer. The workflow on list C doesn't fire using "when new item is created" or "whenever an item is changed" because list items COPIED into another list doesn't trigger the workflow. I am having to manually start it. When I find an answer to that issue....... the planets will be in alignment once again. Hope this helps some.

ramkanumuri Oct 19 at 11:43 AM 
Hi,

I have requirement like "Copy List item including version history (only copy not move)". I am using codeplex tool for this functionality.I am able get this functionality work by selecting "Move" option of "Copy list item extended activity" but not able to get it by "Copy" option(it is copying only current version).I don't to want move item i want only copy including version.

Is there anything i need to do?or missed out any steps?

Plase help me

Texodi Oct 19 at 8:49 PM 
ramkanumuri , have you found a solution. The activity was working fine until I installed a patch from the Microsoft that fixed the problem when workflow wouldn't start automatically if a document was submitted by e-mail. After upgrade it stopped working.......?
Any solution.

Texodi Oct 19 at 8:50 PM 
ramkanumuri , have you found a solution? The activity was working fine until I installed a patch from the Microsoft that fixed the problem when workflow wouldn't start automatically if a document was submitted by e-mail. After upgrade it stopped working.......?
Any solution?

Updating...
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