RNG deletion bug makes actions un-deletable/ un-editable/ work lost

Description:

Removing a random number action and then saving can make referring actions error, uneditable, and un-deletable. This causes the referring actions to be ‘fixed’ in the workflow - they can’t be removed. Potentially causing loss of work.

Desired behaviour:

Saving after removing an action from a wf should be handled safely.

Actual behaviour:

You can save a wf that uses actions that reference other actions which have been removed. Doing this makes the referencing action error, un-editable, and un-deletable.

Steps to repro:

1. Create a new workflow

2. Configure the Start action to trigger appropriately.

3. Add a Random Number Generator action [rng_1]

   1. Set min to 1

   2. Set max to 10

   3. Set decimal places to 0

4. Add a second say action [say_1]

   1. In message to send, type ‘random number: ‘ followed by ‘/‘ and then select the RNG action from the dropdown, and then the’ RANDOM NUMBER’ option.

5. Save the wf.

6. Switch over to teams and test the workflow.

7. Confirm that it is working correctly. It should give you: ‘random number: #’ where # is a rand from 1 to 10

8. Back in the wf editor, Delete rng_1

9. Save the wf

10. Select say_1

11. Error message appears.

12. Go back to the view of all workflows

13. Reopen the workflow. Note that say_1 is still present and still errors if you select it. It can’t be deleted as the button to delete it should appear on the screen that errors out. Similarly, it can’t be configured to remove the mistake.

14. Switch back to teams and re-test: wf does not fail.

Suggestions for mitigation:

• Prompt the user confirm there are no other actions in the wf that use this action - failure to do so can cause the wf to break permanently.

Suggestions for improvement:

• Make it possible to select and delete an action from the main wf view.

• Have validation on an action when trying to delete it, so that it checks for other actions using it before allowing the user to delete the action.

• Have action interactions automatically removed on save if they reference actions that are no longer valid/present

• On save, validate all action interactions. Where there are action interactions that are invalid (like where they call an action that has been removed), flag these to the user, along with a list of the actions which are failing validation. The user message could be something like: “The following actions fail validation: saving now will invalidate the workflow and prevent it from running.” Ensure that any wf listed as invalid are prevented from running.