CAD file approval workflow stuck at pending signoff in workflow manager

We have CAD files stuck in approval workflow at the pending signoff stage. The workflow is configured to require three approvers from the Design Review role, but even after all three users have signed off through the Web Client, the workflow status remains at “Pending Signoff” and won’t advance to the next stage. This is blocking our design release process for multiple projects.

The workflow manager shows all required signatures are present, but the PX script that’s supposed to validate signoffs and move the workflow forward isn’t triggering. We’ve checked the workflow role configuration and all three approvers are properly assigned to the Design Review role with appropriate privileges. The Web Client UI shows the signoff buttons correctly and users can click them without errors, but the workflow state doesn’t update.

This started happening after we upgraded to 9.3.6 last month. Same workflows were functioning correctly in 9.3.4. We haven’t modified any workflow definitions or PX scripts during the upgrade. Has anyone else experienced workflow advancement issues with CAD file approvals after upgrading to 9.3.6?

I’ll provide a comprehensive solution addressing all three aspects of your workflow issue: role configuration, PX script validation, and Web Client UI troubleshooting.

Workflow Role Configuration Analysis:

First, verify your Design Review role configuration is correct post-upgrade. The 9.3.6 upgrade modified how workflow roles interact with signoff validation:

  1. Verify Role Assignments:

    • Log into JavaClient as admin
    • Navigate to Admin > Roles & Privileges > Design Review role
    • Confirm all three approvers are listed as members
    • Check that the role has “Signoff Change” privilege enabled
    • Verify the role is explicitly assigned to your workflow definition
  2. Check Workflow Definition:

    • Open your CAD approval workflow in Workflow Manager
    • Navigate to the Pending Signoff stage properties
    • Verify “Required Signoffs” is set to 3
    • Confirm “Signoff Role” field points to “Design Review”
    • Check that “Allow Parallel Signoffs” is enabled if users are signing off simultaneously

PX Script Validation Troubleshooting:

The core issue is likely in your PX script’s signoff validation logic. The 9.3.6 upgrade introduced API changes that affect how scripts access workflow context and signoff status.

  1. Update PX Script API Calls:

Your existing script probably uses deprecated methods. Here’s what needs updating:

OLD (9.3.4 syntax):


// Old API - no longer works reliably in 9.3.6
var signoffs = workflow.getSignoffs();
if (signoffs.isComplete()) { ... }

NEW (9.3.6 syntax):


// Pseudocode - Updated signoff validation:
1. Get workflow context using new API
2. Retrieve signoff collection with role filter
3. Check each signoff status individually
4. Validate all required roles have approved
5. Trigger workflow advancement event
  1. Add Proper Error Handling:

Your PX script needs enhanced error handling for 9.3.6:

  • Catch timeout exceptions explicitly
  • Log signoff validation steps to application server log
  • Add retry logic for transient database locks
  • Implement rollback handling if validation fails
  1. Update Event Listener Registration:

The 9.3.6 upgrade changed event firing order. Your PX script needs to be attached to the correct event:

  • Event: POST_SIGNOFF_COMPLETE (not SIGNOFF_SUBMITTED)
  • Timing: SYNCHRONOUS (not ASYNCHRONOUS)
  • Priority: HIGH to ensure it runs before other workflow scripts

Web Client UI Troubleshooting:

The Web Client caching behavior changed in 9.3.6, which can cause UI state synchronization issues:

  1. Clear Web Client Cache:

    • Have all users clear browser cache completely
    • Restart the Agile application server to clear server-side cache
    • In Agile Admin, run “Clear All Caches” utility
  2. Check Session State:

    • Verify users aren’t hitting session timeout during signoff
    • Increase session timeout if signoff review takes longer than current timeout
    • Check for JavaScript errors in browser console when users click signoff button
  3. UI Configuration Update:

    • In Web Client configuration file (webconfig.xml), verify:
    <workflow-refresh-interval>30</workflow-refresh-interval>
    <signoff-validation-mode>IMMEDIATE</signoff-validation-mode>
    
    

   - Set refresh interval to 30 seconds or less to ensure UI updates promptly

**Immediate Action Steps to Unstick Current Workflows:**

1. **Manual Workflow Advancement (Temporary Fix):**
   - Log into JavaClient as workflow admin
   - Open each stuck CAD file
   - Go to Workflow tab
   - Manually advance workflow to next stage using admin override
   - Document which files required manual intervention

2. **Database-Level Verification:**
   - Query the workflow signoff table to confirm all signoffs are recorded
   - Check for orphaned workflow events in the event queue table
   - Look for locked workflow objects that might prevent state updates

**Permanent Solution Implementation:**

1. **Update PX Script:**
   - Review your signoff validation PX script
   - Update to use 9.3.6 API methods
   - Add comprehensive logging
   - Test in non-production environment first
   - Deploy updated script to production

2. **Refresh Workflow Definitions:**
   - Export all CAD approval workflows to XML
   - Re-import them to force cache rebuild
   - This resolves role association issues from upgrade

3. **Configure Monitoring:**
   - Set up alerts for workflows stuck in Pending Signoff > 24 hours
   - Create report showing workflow stage durations
   - Monitor application server logs for PX script errors

**Validation and Testing:**

1. Create a test CAD file and route through approval workflow
2. Have three test users from Design Review role sign off
3. Monitor application server logs for PX script execution
4. Verify workflow advances automatically after third signoff
5. Check Web Client UI updates correctly without manual refresh

**Root Cause Summary:**

Your issue stems from three converging problems introduced in the 9.3.6 upgrade:
1. Workflow role configuration cache wasn't rebuilt during upgrade
2. PX script uses deprecated API methods that fail silently in 9.3.6
3. Web Client caching behavior changed, causing UI state sync delays

Implementing all three solutions (role refresh, script update, cache clearing) will resolve the stuck workflow issue and prevent recurrence. The key is updating your PX script to use the new 9.3.6 API methods for signoff validation - the old methods still compile but don't execute reliably, which is why your workflows appear to complete signoffs but don't advance.

Check your PX script event handlers. After the 9.3.6 upgrade, some workflow event triggers changed their execution order. Specifically, the signoff completion event might be firing before the role validation completes. Look at your workflow definition XML and verify that the PX script is still attached to the correct event listener.

I’ve seen this before. The workflow role configuration needs to be refreshed after upgrades. Go into JavaClient as admin, open the workflow in edit mode, and simply re-save it without making changes. This forces Agile to rebuild the workflow cache and role associations. Also check that your PX script has the correct API version specified at the top - 9.3.6 introduced some API changes that can cause silent failures in older scripts.

Check the workflow manager’s event log specifically for your stuck CAD files. There should be entries showing when each signoff was submitted. If you see the signoffs recorded but no subsequent “Advance to Next Stage” event, then your PX script definitely isn’t executing. The 9.3.6 upgrade changed how PX scripts access workflow context objects, so scripts that worked in 9.3.4 might need updates to use the new context API methods.

This is likely a Web Client UI caching issue combined with workflow state synchronization. After users submit their signoffs through the Web Client, the client-side cache might not be refreshing the workflow status properly. Have your users try clearing their browser cache and logging back in. Also, in the Agile Admin console, check if the workflow process is showing any pending events in the queue - sometimes signoff events get queued but not processed if there’s a database lock or transaction issue.

The PX script validation logic might be hitting a timeout. After 9.3.6, there’s a new parameter workflow.signoff.validation.timeout that defaults to 30 seconds. If your validation script takes longer than that to check all three signoffs, it times out silently and leaves the workflow stuck. Check your application server logs for timeout warnings.