Workflow initiation form after publish from Word does not open in web browser

Question

I developed a custom workflow in VS2010 with a custom aspx initiation form (<Workflow InstantiationUrl="" /> is defined). Moreover this workflow has InitiationType OnMajorCheckIn. So if I publish a document via the web browser, the custom initiation form opens and I can start the workflow to publish a major version.

But if I open and edit a document in Word, save the changes and choose to publish a major version, the initiation form does not open in the web browser and the workflow does not start.

Does anybody know, if it's possible to open the custom aspx workflow initiation form in the web browser after publishing a major version in Word?

Answer 1

This scenario as you've described isn't possible. Workflows cannot be started from the Office client - Microsoft simply haven't added that functionality I'm afraid.

You should be able to get around this by using the document properties and exposing them within SharePoint. They could then be used to start the workflow. You'd also need to set the workflow to start automatically on document changes.

Answer 2

A little late to the party but I'll write this anyway...

It is possible. It just needs the Manual InitiationType on the workflow to enable initialisation from Office.

See this article