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Errors that occur during workflow execution cannot be directly returned to the caller, since the caller generally does not know how to respond to the error (in fact, the caller may be a background engine with no human operator). You can use Oracle Workflow Builder to define the processing you want to occur in case of an error. Use Oracle Workflow Builder to assign the Default Error Process associated with the System:Error item type or create your own custom error process. See:

Error Handling for Workflow Processes, Oracle Workflow Developer's Guide.

The error process can include branches based on error codes, send notifications, and attempt to deal with the error using automated rules for resetting, retrying, or skipping the failed activity. Once you define an error process, you can associate it with any activity. The error process is then initiated whenever an error occurs for that activity. See: To Define Optional Activity Details, Oracle Workflow Developer's Guide.

The Workflow Engine traps errors produced by function activities by setting a savepoint before each function activity. If an activity produces an unhandled exception, the engine performs a rollback to the savepoint, and sets the activity to the ERROR status.

Note: For this reason, you should never commit within the PL/SQL procedure of a function activity. The Workflow Engine never issues a commit as it is the responsibility of the calling application to commit.

The Workflow Engine then attempts to locate an error process to run by starting with the activity which caused the error, and then checking each parent process activity until an associated error process is located.

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