start a new process

[#1]

Hi,

I try to start a new process via the public api on a 4.2 on-premise installation.
If I send a POST request with a REST client to the URL http://localhost:8080/alfresco/api/-default-/public/workflow/versions/1/processes
with this body

 
{
"processDefinitionKey": "activitiAdhoc",
"businessKey": "55",
"variables": [
            {
                "name": "bpm_priority",
                "value": 1,
                "type": "d:int"
                }
        ]
}
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I get this response:

{
error: {
errorKey: "Could not read content from HTTP request body: Can not deserialize instance of java.util.LinkedHashMap out of START_ARRAY token at [Source: java.io.BufferedReader@3ac6cf75; line: 3, column: 20] (through reference chain: org.alfresco.rest.workflow.api.model.ProcessInfo["variables"])"
statusCode: 400
briefSummary: "09310034 Could not read content from HTTP request body: Can not deserialize instance of java.util.LinkedHashMap out of START_ARRAY token at [Source: java.io.BufferedReader@3ac6cf75; line: 3, column: 20] (through reference chain: org.alfresco.rest.workflow.api.model.ProcessInfo["variables"])"
stackTrace: "[org.alfresco.rest.framework.jacksonextensions.JacksonHelper.constructList(JacksonHelper.java:139), org.alfresco.rest.framework.webscripts.ResourceWebScriptHelper.extractJsonContentAsList(ResourceWebScriptHelper.java:301), org.alfresco.rest.framework.webscripts.ResourceWebScriptPost.extractObjFromJson(ResourceWebScriptPost.java:116), org.alfresco.rest.framework.webscripts.ResourceWebScriptPost.extractParams(ResourceWebScriptPost.java:58), org.alfresco.rest.framework.webscripts.AbstractResourceWebScript.execute(AbstractResourceWebScript.java:64), org.alfresco.rest.framework.webscripts.ApiWebScript.execute(ApiWebScript.java:127), org.alfresco.repo.web.scripts.RepositoryContainer.transactionedExecute(RepositoryContainer.java:377), org.alfresco.rest.api.PublicApiRepositoryContainer.transactionedExecute(PublicApiRepositoryContainer.java:45), org.alfresco.repo.web.scripts.RepositoryContainer.transactionedExecuteAs(RepositoryContainer.java:529), org.alfresco.repo.web.scripts.RepositoryContainer.executeScript(RepositoryContainer.java:341), org.alfresco.rest.api.PublicApiRepositoryContainer.access$001(PublicApiRepositoryContainer.java:26), org.alfresco.rest.api.PublicApiRepositoryContainer$1.doWork(PublicApiRepositoryContainer.java:81), org.alfresco.repo.tenant.TenantUtil.runAsWork(TenantUtil.java:119), org.alfresco.repo.tenant.TenantUtil.runAsTenant(TenantUtil.java:88), org.alfresco.rest.api.PublicApiRepositoryContainer.executeScript(PublicApiRepositoryContainer.java:77), org.springframework.extensions.webscripts.AbstractRuntime.executeScript(AbstractRuntime.java:378), org.springframework.extensions.webscripts.AbstractRuntime.executeScript(AbstractRuntime.java:209), org.alfresco.repo.web.scripts.TenantWebScriptServlet.service(TenantWebScriptServlet.java:74), org.alfresco.rest.api.PublicApiWebScriptServlet.service(PublicApiWebScriptServlet.java:53), javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:728), org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:305), org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:210), org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.GlobalLocalizationFilter.doFilter(GlobalLocalizationFilter.java:61), org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:243), org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:210), org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:222), org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:123), org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:502), org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:171), org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:99), org.apache.catalina.valves.AccessLogValve.invoke(AccessLogValve.java:953), org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:118), org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:408), org.apache.coyote.http11.AbstractHttp11Processor.process(AbstractHttp11Processor.java:1023), org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$AbstractConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:589), org.apache.tomcat.util.net.AprEndpoint$SocketProcessor.run(AprEndpoint.java:1852), java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145), java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615), java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:724)]"
descriptionURL: "http://developer.alfresco.com/ErrorsExplained.html#Could not read content from HTTP request body: Can not deserialize instance of java.util.LinkedHashMap out of START_ARRAY token at [Source: java.io.BufferedReader@3ac6cf75; line: 3, column: 20] (through reference chain: org.alfresco.rest.workflow.api.model.ProcessInfo["variables"])"
}-
}
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Could anybody help solving my problem?

[kaynezhang]

I didn't find an webscript match you url (http://localhost:8080/alfresco/api/-default-/public/***)，are you sure it is written correctly?

[#3]

I copied the url from the chapter "Api Reference" on docs.alfresco.com. The format I used is described there. Maybe I missundeestood something.

[kaynezhang]

open your web browser and visit http://localhost:8080/alfresco/service/index/package/org/alfresco/repository/workflow,all webscripts related to workflow are listed here.you can see their descriptions and matching uri.

[#5]

hi kaynezhang,

yes you are right, the WebScript I try to call is not listed at http://localhost:8080/alfresco/service/index/package/org/alfresco/repository/workflow. However the script is described in the Alfresco One Public API Reference and the fact that a GET call on the script http://localhost:8080/alfresco/api/-default-/public/workflow/versions/1/processes delivers a reasonable response let me assume that the script is there.

Hence I think my POST body has a bug. Could anybody help me creating a process via the public api?

[boriskr]

Hello! I've also stucked with a process launch. I do everything according to the reference:
http://docs.alfresco.com/community/pra/1/concepts/act-processes-post-process.html

It works fine if no variables are passed:

 { "processDefinitionKey":"approvingProcess" }
‍‍‍

And when I pass some variables,

 { "processDefinitionKey":"approvingProcess",
"variables": [
    { "name":"department",
      "value":"Trades"}]
 }
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I get an error
"Could not read content from HTTP request body: Can not deserialize instance of java.util.LinkedHashMap out of START_ARRAY token\n at [Source: java.io.BufferedReader@1be281f9; line: 1, column: 44] …and so on…
What can be the cause?

[sebdavid]

Hi,

I'm facing this too with 5.0.d. It seems it is a jackson deserialization issue.

From what I see, the Json value of "variables" that we pass is an array of serialized Variable object.
But in the ProcessInfo object, the expected type for "variables" is a Map<String, Object>.
Jackson is then saying a kind of "I can't deserialize a map from a START_ARRAY token".

Sebastien.

[sebdavid]

Hi,

It seems that the documentation behind the link following link is wrong :
http://docs.alfresco.com/community/pra/1/concepts/act-processes-post-process.html

The JSon representation of a simple map (Map&lt;String, String>) is like :

{
 "key1" : "value1",
 "key2" : "value2",
 …
}‍‍‍‍‍

As said previously, the target type of the <i>variables</i> attribute is Map&lt;String, Object>.

So I managed to start a workflow with the following request :

POST http://localhost:8080/alfresco/api/-default-/public/workflow/versions/1/processes?alf_ticket={{ALF_T...}}
Request body : 
{
   "processDefinitionId": "activitiAdhoc:1:4",
   "processDefinitionKey": "activitiAdhoc",
   "businessKey": "myBusinessKey",
   "variables": {
          "bpm_assignee" : "myUserId"
   },
   "items": []    
}‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

[jm_pascal]

Aloah,

This is an example :

<b>POST : http://hostnameort/alfresco/api/-default-/public/workflow/versions/1/processes</b>

{
   "processDefinitionId":"activitiAdhoc:1:4",
   "variables":{
      "bpm_assignee":"admin",
      "bpm_workflowDescription":"Title Of Task",
      "bpm_sendEMailNotifications":false,
      "bpm_workflowPriority":1,
      "bpm_workflowDueDate":"2015-04-21T00:00-0400"
   },
   "items":[
      "a7049303-e538-4df0-b62e-8684bf26047d"
   ]
}
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Hope it helps.

[arak]

Thanks for this information, right at this moment I needed start a workflow using the RESTful API Alfresco.

Greetings,
Pablo.