Faults

Faults are errors or failures that occur within a workflow while it is running.

Faults can occur for any number of reasons, such as issues in activity execution or with one of the runtime services. When a fault occurs, it is raised to the workflow runtime and the workflow is terminated. If a fault is raised while an activity is executing, the remainder of the activity’s work is cancelled. If more activities follow the faulted activity, that work cannot be started or completed. With no way to handle these faults, the workflow can never complete.

Faults can be both user-defined and created automatically by the system. A workflow can be configured to recover from faults; however, if a fault is not handled, the workflow ends and logs a description of the fault.

Workflow allows you to work with faults in three ways: through Fault activity, Faulty Scope activity, and Fault Handlers. Each one of these functions has both a versatile and specific role to play when designing a process. By using these functions, expected issues can be resolved without causing a major system disruption.