Refresh Variable Not Refreshing

Question

I have the following code snippet from an interface expression that is not updating the refresh variables. I have confirmed that local!refresh updates on record action as it is supposed to, but I cannot get local!selected_tasks or local!expired_tasks. I have tried multiple different configurations of the refresh parameters inside a!refreshVariable() as you can see from all the commented out portions, but none of them seem to work. 
 I removed all of the record type references in the code, but I assure you they are there in my actual expression. 
 Any insight would be greatly appreciated. local!refresh: a!refreshVariable(
 value: rand(),
 refreshAfter: "RECORD_ACTION"
),
 local!selected_process_ids: if(
 a!isNotNullOrEmpty(ri!clientSignOffProcess),
 ri!clientSignOffProcess[],
 null()
 ),
 local!selected_workflow: ri!clientSignOffProcess[],
 local!selected_tasks: a!refreshVariable(
 value: a!queryRecordType(
 recordType: ,
 fields: {
 },
 filters: {
 a!queryFilter(
 field: ,
 operator: "=",
 value: ri!clientSignOffProcess[]
 ),
 a!queryFilter(
 field: ,
 operator: "=",
 value: cons!WSP_WORKFLOW_STATUS_WAITING_ON_CLIENT_SIGNOFF_ID
 )
 },
 pagingInfo: a!pagingInfo(startIndex: 1, batchSize: 50)
 ).data,
 refreshOnVarChange: local!refresh,
 /*refreshAfter: "RECORD_ACTION",*/
 /*refreshAlways: true()*/
 ),
 local!expired_tasks: a!refreshVariable(
 value: a!forEach(
 items: local!selected_tasks,
 expression: if(
 rule!WSP_UTIL_checkIfPacketIsExpiredByWorkflowId(
 fv!item[]
 ),
 fv!item[],
 0
 )
 ),
 /*refreshAfter: "RECORD_ACTION",*/
 refreshAlways: true(),
 /*refreshOnVarChange: local!refresh*/
 ),

Mike Schmitt · Answer

I sometimes use a technique similar to this, but instead of calling "rand()", I would recommend you call "now()" so that you can view the updated timestamp pertaining to the last time the refresh variable updated. 
 Further, be careful as to whether you're assuming any passed-in RI values might refresh due to the refresh variable (they won't, at least not inherently), as well as the refresh behavior of any expression rules you call (when they contain their own local variables). Aside from those suggestions, I don't know whether we see a complete enough picture of either your setup here, or the resulting behavior, to make many guesses as to the cause of what you're experiencing. I do stand behind @Shubham's earlier suggestion to cascade refreshes - it looks like you've already incorporated that into the example code you posted.

Mike Schmitt · Answer

Carey Kitsunari said: we need to re-query the table to refresh the variables that we use to determine which rows need regeneration, but as seen above, that is not happening 
 Is the record action process activity-chained all the way through the final DB change(s) that would be expected to get picked up in the refreshed query? If not, then this setup won't work (as the refresh will take place immediately after chaining breaks, and most likely happen before the final DB writes). If you could post an overview screenshot of your process flow, that might help. Certain screenshot tools (i like the freeware "greenshot") allow piecemeal redaction of individual screenshot elements if they contain sensitive info, fwiw.