SharePoint Approval Workflow

Question

I have a custom content type in SharePoint which has an approval workflow associated with it. The content type contains several Choice Site Columns. There is now a requirement to change the values of the choice columns AND update the existing content to reflect the new values.

Eg,

Existing Choices:
Choice 1
Choice 2
Choice 3

New Choices
Choice 1a
Choice 2a
Choice 3

So, some of the choices are being renamed.

As far as i can tell, whilst changing the choice column is straight forward, the existing list items won't automatically pick up the new values i.e. a list item with Choice 1 selected will still show Choice 1 until the list item is physically edited. But editing the item will require re-approval of the workflow. There are a few thousand items spread over several lists which will be affected by this change.

So, my question: Is it possible to suspend or detach the workflow whilst the changes are made and then re-attach / re-activate after the changes have been made, thus avoiding the need to re-approve everything? Or am i best to look at automating the re-approval?

Any help much appreciated

Answer 1

Hi,

You could update the values using the object model, the SPListItem.SystemUpdate method that optionally allows you to prevent that a new version is created.

You could use SPSiteDataQuery to find all items using your content type and then update them using the method mentioned above.

Regards, Daniel Karlsson