This help site is based on the available in-product assistance as of December 2016. Please note that this site is provided as a convenience and it does not go through rigorous layout testing.


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Nintex Workflow 2010 > Workflow Actions
Copy item

This workflow action copies an item from one list or library to another within the current site (not parent sites and not sub-sites). It only allows copying from the root level of a location (e.g; a folder within a document library is not valid) to the root level of another location in the same site. The content type of the source must match the content type of the destination - the workflow will error if the source and destination are incompatible. To copy the library item in the workflow to another location in SharePoint (including folders and sub-folders of the same site), please use the "Copy to SharePoint" action.

To use the workflow action:

  • Locate the action in Workflow Actions Toolbox (located on the left hand-side);
    • Click on the Category listings to reveal the actions; OR
    • Search for the action using a keyword.
  • Select the action, drag it onto the design canvas and drop it onto a design pearl.

Alternatively

  • Left-clicking the pearl, mouse-over Insert Action and then the Categories to reveal the actions, click the required action from the list.

To change the settings used by the action:

  • On the action’s title click the down arrow to activate a drop-down
  • Select Configure; OR
  • Double-click the action's icon.

For more information on the other options in the drop-down, please refer to the Getting started with the Nintex Workflow designer.

Options for this action

Copy from

This mandatory field is used to select the list or library where the item that is to be copied is located.

Where

This mandatory field is used to select the filter criteria to return one or more items to be copied (e.g; Created By, Title, Content Type etc.). The information types available in the drop-down are dependent on what is selected in Copy from.

For more details on using List lookups, please refer to the Using lookups.

For details on using Insert Reference, please refer to Inserting reference fields. 

Copy to

This mandatory field is used to select the destination in the current site for the item when it is copied. The destinations available in the drop-down are dependent on the content of the site. 

Only root level locations are valid (folders and sub-folders are not supported).

Overwrite an existing item

If the item to copy is a file in a library, and a file with the same name already exists in the target library, this option will determine if the file will be overwritten. If this option is not selected, a time stamp will be added to the end of the filename.

Overwriting a file does not increase its file version.

Troubleshooting

Action not executing

The work load for this action is added to a job queue. The workflow executes jobs in the queue as a batch when it reaches a "commit" point. For more information, see the Nintex article "Designing your Workflow - Commit Pending Changes Action NW2010 & NW2013."