Action tool not working when running on schedule

[jeffleedaimler]

I have a workflow that outputs a monthly file that's overwritten every month and then a daily file that gets saved with a new name each day. I'm controlling the output using 'Action' tools to update the value of the 'Disable' option of the container it's in depending on a formula using

'DateTimeToday()'. This way, the workflow should read the date of when the workflow is executed and control the containers and the output accordingly. There is no separate user input required.

I have this saved as an 'Analytic App' (.yxwz file). All of the container controls using the Action tools work correctly when I click the 'Run as Analytics App' button. When I upload to our company gallery and then manually run the published version, it also works correctly. However, the problem is when I have the same workflow scheduled. The scheduled run seems to ignore all of the Action tools and keeps all containers active. This causes an error because the multiple branches output to the same filename and the Action tools are supposed to control which containers are enabled/disabled. Why is there a difference in Action tool function compared to when I run the workflow manually?

Here's a screenshot of my workflow layout:

Here's a screenshot to show the difference in execution details between the scheduled run and the manual run for the exact same published workflow:

I need the monthly file to overwrite the existing file in a shared network folder and it needs to be run on the first weekday of every month.  That kind of custom schedule doesn't appear to be available so that's why I'm trying to control output using the Action tool formula. The daily files are output to keep as logs with the filenames adjusted to include the run date. Please also share if you know a different way of going about this. Thanks.

[jeffleedaimler]

Hmm.. You tried publishing this to server and running this on a schedule and it still outputs results correctly? I'm not sure how to do an inner and outer app setup. :(

But if the configuration is incorrect for some reason, why would it run correctly for me when I run manually? The problem only shows for a scheduled run.

[apathetichell]

poster an inner/outer example - it shouldn't really be an issue but this would fix the issue if it's the headless action tools.

[Brian_P]

I'm experiencing a similar issue with an action tool that doesn't get applied when the workflow is run on schedule. In my case it was updating a directory tool, so I've had to find an alternative solution (I'm using the same formula to update a field that has the folder path, and passing the dynamically updated folder path to Python Tool to act as the Directory tool.

Alternatively I may try nesting the entire workflow as a Macro and using the same text input/dynamic formula and feeding it to the Macro to update the Directory tool.

If this is still an issue you could do the same, nest your containers in a macro and have a text field/formula in your workflow feed into the macro to trigger if the container is Enabled/Disabled.

[BlaseG]

Did anyone figure this out?  I'm having the same issue.  From what I've read online it's because action tool doesn't work with scheduled workflows, only when manually run.