Starting an Activiti workflow programatically in Java

[mmarinovich]

Hi folks,

Firstly - sorry, I've just started developing with Alfresco so this might be a dopey question…

I'm trying to start a custom Activiti workflow from within a custom action.  In order to start the workflow I need to use a WorkflowService instance.  In order to get a WorkflowService instance I need a ServiceRegistry instance (or injection somehow?).  In order to get the ServiceRegistry I need to use the ApplicationContext…which is something I've not been able to do successfully. 

In my action class I have tried to use this:

         ApplicationContext ctx = ApplicationContextHelper.getApplicationContext();
         ServiceRegistry serviceRegistry = (ServiceRegistry) ctx.getBean(ServiceRegistry.SERVICE_REGISTRY);
‍‍‍‍

…or this…

         ApplicationContext ctx = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("classpath:alfresco/application-context.xml");
         ServiceRegistry serviceRegistry = (ServiceRegistry) ctx.getBean(ServiceRegistry.SERVICE_REGISTRY);
‍‍‍‍

…both of these cause errors when they execute:

 2012-07-16 09:29:27,842  DEBUG [alfrescoapc.action.InitialiseAssignment] [org.subethamail.smtp.server.Session-/10.20.128.29:47589] Started executing InitialiseAssignment action for FW%3a Test assignment
 Cannot create JDBC driver of class '' for connect URL 'null'
java.lang.NullPointerException
   at sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver.getProtocol(JdbcOdbcDriver.java:507)
   at sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver.knownURL(JdbcOdbcDriver.java:476)
   at sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver.acceptsURL(JdbcOdbcDriver.java:307)
   at java.sql.DriverManager.getDriver(DriverManager.java:253)
   at org.apache.tomcat.dbcp.dbcp.BasicDataSource.createConnectionFactory(BasicDataSource.java:1437)
   at org.apache.tomcat.dbcp.dbcp.BasicDataSource.createDataSource(BasicDataSource.java:1371)
   at org.apache.tomcat.dbcp.dbcp.BasicDataSource.getConnection(BasicDataSource.java:1044)
   at org.alfresco.config.JndiObjectFactoryBean.lookup(JndiObjectFactoryBean.java:44)
   at org.springframework.jndi.JndiObjectFactoryBean.lookupWithFallback(JndiObjectFactoryBean.java:201)
   at org.springframework.jndi.JndiObjectFactoryBean.afterPropertiesSet(JndiObjectFactoryBean.java:187)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.invokeInitMethods(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1477)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1417)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:519)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:288)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:190)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:322)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:106)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyPropertyValues(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1325)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1086)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:517)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:288)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:190)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:322)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:106)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyPropertyValues(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1325)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1086)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:517)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:288)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:190)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:322)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:106)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyPropertyValues(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1325)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1086)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:517)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:288)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:190)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:322)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:106)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.applyPropertyValues(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1325)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1086)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:517)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:288)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:190)
   at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:580)
   at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:895)
   at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:425)
   at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.createWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:276)
   at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.initWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:197)
   at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener.contextInitialized(ContextLoaderListener.java:47)
   at org.alfresco.web.app.ContextLoaderListener.contextInitialized(ContextLoaderListener.java:63)
   at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.listenerStart(StandardContext.java:4135)
   at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.start(StandardContext.java:4630)
   at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChildInternal(ContainerBase.java:791)
   at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChild(Conta2012-07-16 09:29:33,873  INFO  [management.subsystems.ChildApplicationContextFactory] [org.subethamail.smtp.server.Session-/10.20.128.29:47589] Starting 'sysAdmin' subsystem, ID: [sysAdmin, default]
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Can someone please advise if this is the right approach or if I should be doing something else?

A little bit more background on what I'm doing here (just in case it's important):  Inbound email is being delivered into Alfresco and automatically creating content in a folder.  The folder has a rule that invokes my custom action.  The action is meant to add some aspects to my content, call some other custom code, move my content to another folder, and kick off the workflow for the content item.  So far the adding of aspects and moving of folders works fine.

I'm working with Alfresco Community v4.0.0.d which is running on Windows 2008 64bit server edition and a MySql Database.

[mmarinovich]

Ok - I have answered my own question now.  Basically the way to get hold of the services you need is to inject them using Spring (no, I'm not a Spring developer so this is all learning curve).

So, in your action class you need to create a property variable and setter method like this:

   private WorkflowService workflowService;

   public void setWorkflowService(WorkflowService workflowService) 
   {
      this.workflowService = workflowService;
   }
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Then in the action bean configuration you need to tell spring to inject an instance of the workflow service, like this:

   <bean id="initialiseAssignment" class="za.edu.icg.alfrescoapc.action.InitialiseAssignment" parent="action-executer">
      <property name="nodeService">
        <ref bean="NodeService" />
      </property>
      <property name="workflowService">
        <ref bean="WorkflowService" />
      </property>
   </bean>
‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

…time to find a good book on Spring…