Workflow versions
Nintex Workflow 2013 provides version management for workflows, by automatically incrementing the version number depending on the method of persistence used for that workflow.
Each workflow has a version number consisting of a major version and minor version, as shown in the following format, where <Major> represents the major version and <Minor> represents the minor version:
<Major>.<Minor>
Incrementing the workflow version
If a workflow is saved, either by clicking the Save button in the Workflow designer or by using the SaveFromNWF service operation, or its related operations, from the Workflow web service, the minor version of the version number is incremented. The minor version is incremented even if no changes were made to the workflow before saving it.
If a workflow is published, either by clicking the Publish button in the Workflow designer or by using the PublishFromNWF service operation, or its related operations, from the Workflow web service, the major version of the version number is incremented. As with saving a workflow, the major version is incremented even if no changes were made to the workflow before publishing it.
For example, if you created a workflow in the Workflow designer, but haven't yet saved it, the version number for a new workflow starts at 0.0. If you then click the Save button in the Workflow designer, and save the new workflow, then the version of that workflow is incremented to 0.1. If you immediately click the Save button again, without making any changes to the workflow, and save the new workflow again, the version of the workflow is incremented to 0.2. If, at this point, you click the Publish button, and publish the workflow, the version of the workflow is set to 1.0.
Incrementing the major version of a workflow resets the minor version of the workflow to zero (0). For example, using the published workflow from the previous example, you revise and save that workflow again, so that you have a published version of that workflow, whose version is set to 1.0, and a saved version of that workflow, whose version is set to 1.1. At that point, if you again publish the workflow, the version is set to 2.0.
The version information for a saved or published workflow is maintained on the server. The version information is not included with the workflow metadata when the workflow is exported. However, if you use the SaveFromNWF service operation, or its related operations, to save a workflow, you can read the UIVersion property of the WorkflowMetadata object returned by the service operation to obtain the resulting incremented version of the saved workflow. For more information, see WorkflowMetadata.
Working with prior versions
Nintex Workflow 2013 always uses the latest published version of a workflow. However, it also retains prior versions of that workflow, and you can access prior versions of saved and published workflows from the Workflow designer. For more information about opening prior versions of a workflow, see the Nintex Workflow 2013 product documentation.
You cannot use the Workflow web service to retrieve prior versions of a workflow. The ExportWorkflow service operation always exports the latest saved version of a workflow. Similarly, the SaveFromNWF and PublishFromNWF service operations, and some of their related operations, overwrite the current version of a workflow with the contents of an exported workflow and increment the version number on the server, regardless of the version or contents of the exported workflow.
See Also
Concepts
Operations
Exporting and importing workflows
Saving and publishing workflows