Error passing XML to Sharepoint Workflow

Question

I am using workflowManager.StartWorkflow to pass the following XML into a standard Approval workflow.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<dfs:myFields
xmlns:dfs="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/infopath/2003/dataFormSolution"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:dms="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2009/documentManagement/types"
xmlns:q="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/infopath/2009/WSSList/queryFields"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/infopath/2009/WSSList/dataFields"
xmlns:ma="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2009/metadata/properties/metaAttributes"
xmlns:pc="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/infopath/2007/PartnerControls"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <dfs:queryFields />
  <dfs:dataFields>
  <d:SharePointListItem_RW>
     <d:Approvers>
        <Assignment>
           <Assignee>
              <pc:Person>
                 <pc:DisplayName>Maree Jones</pc:DisplayName>
                 <pc:AccountId>SOMECOMP\mcjones</pc:AccountId>
                 <pc:AccountType>User</pc:AccountType>
              </pc:Person>
           </Assignee>
           <d:Stage xsi:nil="true" />
           <d:AssignmentType>Parallel</d:AssignmentType>
        </Assignment>
     </d:Approvers>
     <d:ExpandGroups>true</d:ExpandGroups>
     <d:NotificationMessage>A skill rating has been created which requires your approval.</d:NotificationMessage>
     <d:DueDateforAllTasks xsi:nil="true" />
     <d:DurationforSerialTasks>5</d:DurationforSerialTasks>
     <d:DurationUnits>Day</d:DurationUnits>
     <d:CC />
     <d:CancelonRejection>true</d:CancelonRejection>
     <d:CancelonChange>false</d:CancelonChange>
     <d:EnableContentApproval>true</d:EnableContentApproval>
  </d:SharePointListItem_RW>
   </dfs:dataFields>
</dfs:myFields>

But I get the following error. Is there something obviously wrong with the XML? How can I go about debugging this error?

inWF Internal Error, terminating workflow Id# 56751cae-35f8-4a3e-bd1a-5458e2bb7cbe 02/04/2013 11:03:43.78 w3wp.exe (0x095C) 0x0BA4 SharePoint Foundation Workflow Infrastructure
98d4 Unexpected System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. ---> System.InvalidOperationException: Operation is not valid due to the current state of the object. at Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Actions.StageContainer.UpdateFromString(SPWeb web, SPItemKey itemId, String assignmentString) at Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Actions.OfficeTask.get_ParticipantList()
--- End of inner exception stack trace --- at System.RuntimeMethodHandle._InvokeMethodFast(Object target, Object[] arguments, SignatureStruct& sig, MethodAttributes methodAttributes, RuntimeTypeHandle typeOwner) at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture, Boolean skipVisibilityChecks) ... 02/04/2013 11:03:43.78* w3wp.exe (0x095C) 0x0BA4 SharePoint Foundation
Workflow Infrastructure 98d4 Unexpected ... at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityBindPropertyInfo.GetValue(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] index, CultureInfo culture) at System.Reflection.PropertyInfo.GetValue(Object obj, Object[] index)
at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.MemberBind.<>c__DisplayClass1.b__0(Object sender, PathMemberInfoEventArgs eventArgs) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.PathWalker.TryWalkPropertyPath(Type rootType, String path) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.MemberBind.GetValue(MemberInfo memberInfo, Object dataContext, String path) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityBind.GetMemberValue(Object dat... 02/04/2013 11:03:43.78* w3wp.exe (0x095C)
0x0BA4 SharePoint Foundation Workflow Infrastructure
98d4 Unexpected ...aSourceObject, MemberInfo memberInfo, String path, Type targetType) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityBind.InternalGetRuntimeValue(Activity activity, Type targetType) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.DependencyObject.GetBoundValue(ActivityBind bind, Type targetType) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.DependencyObject.GetValueCommon(DependencyProperty dependencyProperty, PropertyMetadata metadata) at Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions.CoerceActivity.get_Value() at Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions.CoerceActivity.Coerce() at Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions.CoerceActivity.Execute(ActivityExecutionContext provider) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityExecutor1.Execute(T activity, ActivityExecutionContext executionContext) at System.Workf...
02/04/2013 11:03:43.78* w3wp.exe (0x095C)
0x0BA4 SharePoint Foundation Workflow Infrastructure
98d4 Unexpected ...low.ComponentModel.ActivityExecutor1.Execute(Activity activity, ActivityExecutionContext executionContext) at System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityExecutorOperation.Run(IWorkflowCoreRuntime workflowCoreRuntime) at System.Workflow.Runtime.Scheduler.Run()

Answer 1

The XML was invalid for the approval workflow. The correct XML is below.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<dfs:myFields xmlns:dfs="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/infopath/2003/dataFormSolution" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:dms="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2009/documentManagement/types" xmlns:q="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/infopath/2009/WSSList/queryFields" xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/infopath/2009/WSSList/dataFields" xmlns:ma="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2009/metadata/properties/metaAttributes" xmlns:pc="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/infopath/2007/PartnerControls" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
   <dfs:queryFields />
   <dfs:dataFields>
  <d:SharePointListItem_RW>
 <d:Approvers>
    <Assignment>
       <Assignee>
          <pc:Person>
             <pc:DisplayName>Jia Ji JOnes</pc:DisplayName>
             <pc:AccountId>ZZZDomain\jjones</pc:AccountId>
             <pc:AccountType>User</pc:AccountType>
          </pc:Person>
          <pc:Person>
             <pc:DisplayName>Matthew Jones</pc:DisplayName>
             <pc:AccountId>ZZZDomain\mjones</pc:AccountId>
             <pc:AccountType>User</pc:AccountType>
          </pc:Person>
       </Assignee>
       <d:Stage xsi:nil="true" />
       <d:AssignmentType>Parallel</d:AssignmentType>
    </Assignment>
 </d:Approvers>
 <d:ExpandGroups>true</d:ExpandGroups>
 <d:NotificationMessage>test</d:NotificationMessage>
 <d:DueDateforAllTasks xsi:nil="true" />
 <d:DurationforSerialTasks>5</d:DurationforSerialTasks>
 <d:DurationUnits>Day</d:DurationUnits>
 <d:CC />
 <d:CancelonRejection>false</d:CancelonRejection>
 <d:CancelonChange>true</d:CancelonChange>
 <d:EnableContentApproval>true</d:EnableContentApproval>
  </d:SharePointListItem_RW>
   </dfs:dataFields>
</dfs:myFields>