Validation messages

The designer checks your process as you build it and lists every problem in the toolbar’s problems list. Publish runs the same checks and refuses the version while any of them remains. Run-time faults appear in the Error Message of a faulted process instance. In the messages below, X, A and B stand for the names of your stages, gateways and ends.

Process

Message	What it means	How to fix it
The process has no end.	No End node exists.	Add an End (Add > End) and connect a path to it.
Process start stage is not set.	Nothing is connected to the Start pill.	Connect the start to the first stage.
Unable to locate start stage X	The start points at a stage that doesn’t exist.	Connect the start to an existing stage.
The start stage must be a stage, not a gateway or an end.	The start points at a gateway or End.	Add a stage first and start the process there.
Process owner is not set.	Process Instance Owner is empty.	Set it in Properties.
Process due date is not set.	The process Due Date is empty.	Set it in Properties.
Process title is not set.	The process Title is empty.	Set it in Properties.
Unable to parse due date expression.	A due date expression is damaged.	Open it and enter the expression again.
One or more stages without incoming or outgoing transition exist.	Some stages are not connected into the flow.	Connect them or delete them.
A stage with a unique name X already exists.	Two elements share a name. Stages, gateways and ends share one set of names.	Rename the new element.
A transition with unique name X already exists.	Two transitions share a name.	Rename one of them.
Entity X does not exist. / Entity X property Y does not exist.	The process or task table, or a selected column, is missing in this environment.	Install or restore the table or column, or select another one.

Stages

Message	What it means	How to fix it
Stage title is not set.	General > Title is empty.	Enter a title.
Stage owner is not set.	General > Stage Owner is empty.	Enter an owner expression.
Stage due date is not set.	General > Due Date is empty.	Enter a due date expression.
Stage completion criteria is not set.	Assignment > Completion Criteria is empty.	Enter a Yes/No expression.
Stage has no outgoing transition; connect it to a stage, a gateway or an end.	Every stage must lead somewhere.	Connect it, for example to an End.
Stage has no incoming or outgoing transitions.	The stage is not connected at all.	Connect it or delete it.
Not set up yet: add a title, owner, due date, assignment and completion criteria.	A new stage has not been configured.	Open the stage and fill in its sections.
Task title is not set.	Assignment has no task Title.	Enter a title.
Task due date is not set.	Assignment has no task Due Date.	Enter a due date.
Stage assignment strategy is not set.	Assign To is empty.	Choose an option.
No task entity properties is not specified.	No task columns are selected.	Select the task columns in Assignment.
User stage assignment strategy user property is not set.	Assign To is User, but User is empty.	Enter a user expression.
Team stage assignment strategy property team is not set.	Assign To is Team, but Team is empty.	Enter a team expression.
Tasks is not set.	A custom assignment has no Task or Tasks expression.	Enter the expression that returns the task or tasks.
Name is required	A stage flow action has no name.	Name the action.
Action name already exists.	Two actions in the stage share a name.	Rename one.
One or more required argument is not set.	A required input of a flow or sub-process is not mapped.	Map every required input.

Transitions

Message	What it means	How to fix it
Guard is not set.	A transition leaving a stage has no condition.	Enter a Guard. For a catch-all, use an always-true condition last in the evaluation order.
Transition A to B needs a condition, or must be the gateway’s default transition.	A transition leaving an exclusive or inclusive gateway has neither.	Enter a Guard, or switch Default path on.
Transition A to B leaves a parallel gateway, so it cannot have a condition.	Parallel gateways take every path.	Remove the condition, or change the gateway’s Kind.
Transition A to B leaves a parallel gateway, so it cannot be a default transition.	Parallel gateways have no default.	Switch Default path off.
Transition A to B cannot be a default transition; only transitions leaving an exclusive or inclusive gateway can.	Default path is on for a transition leaving a stage.	Switch it off and enter a Guard.
Default transition A to B cannot have a condition.	The default path also has a condition.	Remove the condition, or switch Default path off.
Gateway X has more than one incoming transition from A.	Two transitions connect the same source to the same gateway. Reported when you publish.	Delete one of them.

Gateways

Message	What it means	How to fix it
Gateway X has no incoming transition.	Nothing leads into the gateway.	Connect a stage or gateway to it.
Gateway X has no outgoing transition.	The gateway leads nowhere.	Connect it to a stage, gateway or End.
Gateway X neither splits nor merges; it needs more than one incoming or more than one outgoing transition.	One in, one out: the gateway does nothing.	Add paths, or delete the gateway and connect directly.
Gateway X has more than one default transition.	Two outgoing transitions are marked Default path.	Keep one default.
Gateway X cannot be reached from the start stage.	No path from the start leads to it.	Connect it into the flow or delete it.
Gateway X cannot connect to itself.	A transition starts and ends at the same gateway.	Delete that transition.
Gateway X is part of a loop made only of gateways; a loop needs at least one stage.	Gateways are connected in a circle with no stage between them.	Put a stage in the loop, or break it.

Ends

Message	What it means	How to fix it
End X has no incoming transition.	Nothing leads to this End.	Connect a path to it, or delete it.
End X cannot have outgoing transitions.	An End is the last element of a path.	Delete the transition leaving it.

Escalations

Message	What it means	How to fix it
A stage cannot escalate to itself.	The stage is its own escalation stage.	Add a separate escalation stage.
The start stage cannot be an escalation stage.		Choose another stage, or start the process elsewhere.
Stage B is already the escalation stage of A.	An escalation stage has only one parent.	Add a new escalation stage for the second stage.
Stage B is the escalation stage of more than one stage.	Same as above.	Give each stage its own escalation stage.
Stage B has incoming transitions, so it cannot be an escalation stage.	Escalation stages are reached only by escalation.	Remove the transitions into it.
Stage B is an escalation stage; transitions cannot lead to it.	A transition points at an escalation stage.	Point the transition at another stage.
Escalating from A to B would make the escalations loop.	The chain of escalations comes back to a stage already in it.	Break the chain.
Escalation stage B of stage A does not exist.	The escalation stage was removed.	Choose Remove escalation or add the escalation stage again.

Run-time faults

These messages appear in the Error Message of a process instance with the status Faulted. See Instances.

Message	What it means	How to fix it
No business process transition matched.	A stage completed, but none of its transitions’ conditions was true.	Add a last transition with an always-true condition, or widen the conditions. Publish and activate a new version for future instances.
No transition leaving gateway X matched.	An exclusive or inclusive gateway found no true condition and has no default path.	Add a Default path to the gateway.
The business process cannot go on: gateway X waits for branches that can no longer arrive.	A merge waits for branches that will never come, usually a parallel merge after an exclusive split.	Use a matching gateway kind for the merge. See Gateways and ends.
An error occurred in active stage X. Check stage record for error details.	Something failed while the stage was starting or finishing, such as a stage flow.	Open the stage record’s Error, and the trace if tracing is on. Fix the cause in the flow or expression.

Versions, deletion and starting

Message	What it means	How to fix it
Updating business process name/entity/project is not permitted.	These fields are fixed after you create the process.	Create a new process if you need a different name, table or project.
Cannot activate … because it is a draft version. Make sure to publish business process version first.	Only published versions can be activated.	Use Publish or Publish & Activate.
Business process is in use by another business process, logic flow or logic recipe. Remove all dependencies before deleting.	Something still uses this process.	Remove it from the other processes, flows and recipes first.
A start refused with CODE: message	The process’s precondition refused the start.	The code and message are the ones set in If not, fail with. See Starting processes.
A start refused because the process does not have an active version	No version is active.	Activate a published version.