iterate through all columns/fields in list using workflow

Question

I'm new in Sharepoint and I need help. Is there a way to iterate throught all columns/fields in list using workflow?

I'm trying to make a universal workflow that will allow me send notifications to users when list item changes.

I would like to achive similar functionality to "Alert Me' option where all columns and values are sending in email body, but I need more control - on my list there are two fields with assosiated user: User1 and User2. First field is mandatory, second is optional. First user should receive notifications/alerts only if second user is not specified. I know how to do this with workflow and it works, but my problem is that I have many different lists with different columns and also with columns User1 and User2. Example:

List1 columns: User1, User2, Column1, Column2.

List2 columns: User1, User2, Column1, Column3, Column4.

List3 columns: User1, User2, Column3, Column4, Column5. etc.

Is there a way to make one workflow and use it for all those lists? Maybe there is another method to achive this?

Answer 1

In SharePoint Designer, you can create 2 kinds of workflows.

• List workflows - work on chosen lists or libraries. Can work on all columns, or can be assigned to a list content type
• Reusable workflows - work on content types and can then be used with various lists/libraries which have that list content type.

In either way, a content type requires a defined set of fields to work with, so your scenario of having different lists with different fields using the same universal workflow won't work unless all lists share common columns. In that case Reusable workflows would suffice. Even if other tools like the REST API or CSOM (C#) were to be opted for, you would still require handling for different columns, especially if new lists with new columns can all of a sudden require to use the same workflow too.