Lifecycle state transitions blocked when CAD files remain locked during approval workflow progression

PLM Windchill
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1

Product lifecycle state transitions are failing when associated CAD files are locked by users during approval workflows. The lifecycle state machine configuration requires all CAD documents to be unlocked before advancing to the next state, but our CAD file locking policy allows users to maintain locks during review.

We’ve set lock grace periods to 2 hours, but approval workflows often take 8-12 hours. The asynchronous validation process checks lock status every 30 minutes, and if any CAD file is locked, the entire state transition is blocked.


State Transition Error: CAD files locked
at wt.lifecycle.LifecycleHelper.validateTransition(LifecycleHelper.java:678)
Locked files: 3, Workflow duration: 9.5 hours

This creates a deadlock - approvers need to review CAD files (requiring read locks), but the state transition requires all locks released. How do others handle asynchronous validation with long-running approval processes?

2

The issue is your lifecycle state machine configuration is too restrictive. You can configure different lock requirements for different state transitions. For approval workflows, you should allow read locks but block write locks. Modify your state transition rules to check lock type rather than just lock existence. This way, reviewers can view files without blocking the workflow.

3

Your lifecycle state transition blocking issue requires a comprehensive approach addressing all four key areas:

1. Lifecycle State Machine Configuration Modify your lifecycle template to differentiate lock types during state transitions. Navigate to Type and Attribute Management > Lifecycle Templates > [Your Template]:

Update transition rules:


<TransitionRule name="ApprovalToReleased">
  <LockValidation type="WRITE_LOCK_ONLY" />
  <AllowReadLocks>true</AllowReadLocks>
</TransitionRule>

This allows read locks (for reviewers) while blocking only write locks during approval-to-released transitions. The default configuration blocks ALL locks, which is unnecessarily restrictive.

2. CAD File Locking Policy Configuration Implement workflow-aware lock policies. Update site.xconf:


<Property name="wt.epm.lock.workflowAware" value="true"/>
<Property name="wt.epm.lock.approvalReadLock" value="SOFT"/>

Then create a custom lock policy class:


// Pseudocode - Workflow-aware lock policy:
1. Check if CAD file is part of active approval workflow
2. If yes, classify existing locks as SOFT (non-blocking)
3. Allow state transition to proceed with soft locks present
4. Auto-release soft locks when workflow completes
5. Hard locks (active editing) still block transitions
// See Lock Management API Guide Section 5.3

Register the policy in the lock manager configuration.

3. Lock Grace Periods Extension Your 2-hour grace period is insufficient for 8-12 hour approval workflows. Implement dynamic grace period calculation:


<Property name="wt.epm.lock.gracePeriod.base" value="7200000"/>
<Property name="wt.epm.lock.gracePeriod.workflowExtension" value="true"/>
<Property name="wt.epm.lock.gracePeriod.workflowMultiplier" value="6"/>

This extends the base 2-hour grace period by 6x (12 hours total) when files are part of active workflows. Grace period automatically reverts to 2 hours after workflow completion.

4. Asynchronous Validation Optimization Your 30-minute validation interval is too frequent and doesn’t account for workflow context. Reconfigure the validation service:

  • Navigate to Site > Utilities > Background Tasks > Lifecycle Validation
  • Change interval from 30 minutes to 120 minutes
  • Enable workflow-aware validation mode
  • Configure notification triggers

Add a workflow completion trigger that forces immediate validation:


<WorkflowActivity name="PostApprovalValidation">
  <TriggerValidation immediate="true"/>
</WorkflowActivity>

This reduces unnecessary validation cycles while ensuring transitions happen promptly after approval completion.

Immediate Workaround: For your current blocked transitions, create an administrative override script:


// Pseudocode - Force transition with lock override:
1. Identify objects stuck in approval state
2. Get list of locked CAD files for each object
3. Temporarily convert write locks to read locks
4. Trigger state transition validation
5. Allow transition to proceed
6. Log override action for audit trail
// Requires administrator privileges

Workflow Template Enhancement: Add lock management activities to your approval workflow:

  • Pre-approval: Convert all write locks to read locks
  • During approval: Monitor lock status, notify if write locks detected
  • Post-approval: Release all read locks automatically
  • Pre-transition: Final lock validation with soft lock allowance

This ensures locks are properly managed throughout the workflow lifecycle without manual intervention.

Monitoring and Validation: After implementation:

  1. Test with a pilot approval workflow
  2. Monitor lock status at each workflow stage
  3. Verify state transitions proceed with read locks present
  4. Confirm write locks still properly block transitions
  5. Check grace period extensions activate during workflows

The combination of workflow-aware lock policies, extended grace periods, and optimized validation will resolve your state transition blocking issues while maintaining data integrity.

4

The asynchronous validation frequency of every 30 minutes is excessive and likely causing performance issues. Reduce it to every 2 hours for approval workflows. Also, configure the validation to send notifications when locks are blocking transitions, so users know to release their locks rather than having the system silently fail.

5

Your 2-hour grace period is way too short for approval workflows. We use 24-hour grace periods for files in approval states. However, the better solution is to configure your asynchronous validation to distinguish between ‘hard locks’ (user actively editing) and ‘soft locks’ (user viewing for approval). Only hard locks should block state transitions. Soft locks should be allowed during approval workflows and automatically released when the approval completes.

6

Check your workflow template configuration. You can add a pre-transition activity that automatically releases all read locks on CAD files associated with the object being transitioned. This runs before the state validation, ensuring locks don’t block the transition. The workflow can then reacquire locks if needed for post-transition activities.

7

We had this exact problem. The solution was to implement a lock grace period extension that’s aware of active workflows. When an approval workflow is in progress, the system automatically extends the grace period until the workflow completes or times out. You need to customize the lock manager to check for active workflow tasks before enforcing grace period expiration. This requires modifying the CAD file locking policy to be workflow-aware.