“Render Failed”, The Workaround

Some time has passed when I encountered this problem:

<!– #RENDER FAILED –>    
(a View of a doc lib with a filter involving “Approved” value, a doc lib i.e. workflow enabled) 

It was not a good situation. There were less than two days left between the build and its presentation to the CIO. Adding to my misery, the two days constituted the precious weekend.

So, the situation is somewhat like this:
Official timings for Friday are gone, Im sitting in my office, searching through blogs and communities in the hope that someone must have encountered something of the similar. And yes, looked like the whole world was having the same problem. I found communities, blogs and newsgroups listing the <!– #RENDER FAILED –> problem everywhere…………..but……………..only the problem……………….and not the solution. I browsed pages after pages, blogs after blogs, communities after communities and sometimes big names suggesting no solution but only the problem………….(yes less than two days to go, i think u guys can well imagine my trauma and the strenuous condition i was in)……..

 But Just In Time (JIT), it was microsoft which came as a last minute savior………and the celebrated KB Article 925425 was published on May 14, 2007.

So here is the scenario:

• You create a new Doc Library in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (MOSS 2007).
• You create a new workflow on the new doc library settings page. This new workflow uses the Approval template under Settings.
• You create a new view in the doc library. To do this, you select the workflow that you created from the list in the Filter section of the new view. Under the new workflow, you select not equal to. Then, you type Approved in the filter field.

In this scenario, you receive the following error message when you try to select the new view in the doc library:

 

Here is the workaround to this problem:

To work around this problem, add the integer value for the Approved string in the filter field when you create the new view. To do this, follow these steps: 

In SharePoint, locate the doc library, next to View click the view that you want to change, and then click Modify this view.

In the Filter section, delete Approved from the filter field. Then, type 16.

Note The number 16 is the integer value for the Approved string.

Click OK to save the changes.

Hope u ppl are able to find this out rather easily……………..:)