How to add values from a “Person or Group” list column type to workflow email To or CC field

Question

On SharePoint 2007 I have a custom list with a custom content type. The content type contains (among other things) a Person or Group typed column that allows the creator to add additional stakeholders to the item.

On creation of a new list item, I have a custom workflow (created through SharePoint Designer 2007) that:

1. Sends an email to the creator, confirming the item has been received and the workflow is starting.
2. Sends an email request to a manager including a link to the item, asking them to review and approve/reject the item, adding comments as appropriate.
3. Pauses until approval status changes.
4. Sends an email to the creator advising updated status (and any comments).
5. Stops if item is rejected.
6. If approved, then sends another email to a clerk requesting they assign a cost-code to the item (populate a field that until now has been marked "office use only"), including a link to the item.
7. Sends email to creator advising the content of the updated field from 6.

This is all working OK. (As an aside, I'm open to any suggestions as to how this could be done better, while ideally avoiding the additional "complete task xyz" steps that are added to the site's task list as a result of implicitly or explicitly assigning a task to a user).

I'd like to be able to update steps 1, 4 and 7 (where an email is sent to the item's creator) to also CC the email to the other stakeholders, as listed in the item's Person or Group column.

I'm using the "Send an Email" action, and then the "Define Email Message" dialog. For the To and CC fields' "Select Users" dialog, if I choose "Workflow lookup...", only the subset of the item's fields of type Single line of text are available from the "Current Item", and some of the meta-data fields (eg "Created By", "Content Type", "File Type", etc). But I'm not able to select the column from my content type that contains the Person or Group data I'm interested in adding as email recipients.

The Person or Group column I'd like to get recipient values from is currently configured as:

• Require that this column contains information: No
• Allow multiple selections: Yes
• Allow selection of: People and Groups
• Choose from: SharePoint Group ( members)
• Show field: User name

Can anyone please tell help me include a list of user/group accounts from within the item, into the workflow's CC field of an email?

Answer 1

You can try creating a dynamic string and place that column in the configuration of it and then using that variable in your CC section.

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In detail:

• Add a step prior to all the email steps
• On this step, use the action "Build Dynamic String"
• Click the 'dynamic string' link in the new action, to open the "String builder" dialog
• Click the "Add lookup..." button
• Set "source" to "Current Item", and change the "Field" to the column name containing the recipient list
• OK
• Either accept current variable name, or create a new one.
• OK
• In the email action(s), from the "Define Email Message" dialog, click the To or CC button
• Choose "Workflow lookup...", click "Add >>"
• Set "source" to "Workflow data", and change the "Field" to be the new string variable.