How can I prevent an Approver from approving his own edit?

Question

I have a list with required Approval voor items (without an Approval workflow). One security group makes changes (changes are logged in a separate list) and another group approves or rejects the changes.

Problem: Approvers can also edit items during the process, and then approve their own changes.

I've tried using an SP 2010 Approval workflow, where the workflow stops if an item is edited (for example, by an Approver). But because all edits must be approved, the workflow starts again, and the same Approver can then approve his own changes.

Is there a way to prevent the user who has edited an item from approving it, even if he/she is in the Approver group?

Answer 1

Perhaps you could add an event receiver on ItemUpdating, and do the check there. If the uppdating user is the last editor, stop the approving.

Answer 2

The ItemUpdating event receiver is one way. But I remember coming across scenarios where Receiver fires after WF kicks off. So, if you are going by the receiver way, ensure that the WF is not auto triggered but instead triggered inside the receiver.

Check below

https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/office/en-US/cb41f341-d1a2-4763-a917-db98453600a5/start-sharepoint-designer-workflow-from-event-receiver?forum=sharepointdevelopment

https://zimmergren.net/starting-a-sharepoint-workflow-from-code-event-receiver/