Support Article
"This action is not allowed" error during flow execution
SA-9245
Summary
You are using Pega 7.1.7 and when you attempt to advance the flow you instead see an error: "This action is not allowed as it's outside the current transaction."
Error Messages
ERROR on UI : "This action is not allowed as it's outside the current transaction."
Log Files :ERROR: posted transaction id for frame 'pyWorkPage' DOES NOT match record , which could be related.
Steps to Reproduce
Any sequence of steps which might result in the Coaching Tips being updated and FinishAssignment being called.
Root Cause
The root cause of this problem is a defect in Pegasystems’ code/rules. The problem results from a race condition involving FinishAssignment and the refresh of the Coaching Tips. This can occur even if your Application does not use coaching tips. It is simple to verify that you have encountered this issue if you use Fiddler to trace the client/server interactions when the problem occurs. If the following three requests go across the wire in the indicated sequence (even if there are other interactions occuring interspersed with these 3), then you will experience the issue. The three steps are:
1. A POST to run the activity CPMDisplayCoachingTip is issued.
2. A POST to run the activity FinishAssignment is issued
3. A POST to run the activity ReloadSection where the StreamName for the activity is CPMCoachingTipHolder
If you see those three posts in this sequence followed by the error, then it is this sequence which is causing the error.
Resolution
If you are not using Coaching tips, then create a custom version of PegaCA-Work!CPMRefreshCoachingTip and removing the current content (which is only 1 line). This eliminates the problem.
If you are using Coaching tips, then you must contact Pega to determine some alternative solution.
The fix requires different way to prevent the sequence of requests from occuring as they do (1,2,3). If you keep the same commands, you must force the sequence to be 1,3,2.
Published January 31, 2016 - Updated December 2, 2021
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