Workflow Overview
Workflows describe a business process
- A series of work units, decisions, and rules needed to complete a specific business process/activity
- People or automated process
- Described graphically
- Long running
- Stateful
- E.g. Sales management, Supply chain automation, Document processing, Bug tracking
- Freestanding independent software package providing workflow functionality
- Integration with different application systems (desktop or server) which handle processing of the elementary workflow activities
- Workflow-functionality is part of the (application) software system (ERP, DMS, PPC etc.)
- Controls the sequence of elementary functions of the system within the application
Why Use Workflow
- Runtime Infrastructure
- Flexible Flow Control
- Long Running and Stateful
- Design Time Transparency
- Runtime Transparency
- Workflow makes development process more understandable.
When to use workflow
- Code increases with the complexity of business processes and becomes correspondingly harder to understand and maintain
- Is apt for Long running transaction where state needs to be maintained
- Coordinate work where part of the work is done by humans and part by the system
- Coordinate multiple processes based on their outcomes
- Compensate for cancelled processes automatically
- Track and audit multiple processes
What is Workflow Foundation
WINDOWS WORKFLOW Foundation – A preview
Windows Workflow Foundation is a framework, not a language.
- Windows Workflow Foundation is flexible and extensible
- Windows Workflow Foundation enables model-driven workflow development
- Makes workflow technology accessible to all .NET developers - means that it provides full support for C# and Visual Basic .NET, debugging, a graphical workflow designer and the ability to develop your workflow completely in code
- Provides capabilities previously only available in BizTalk
- Single workflow technology for the Windows platform
- Finally, “The” technology for Future Release of Biztalk Server
- Component of .NET framework 3.0 –
- Supported on Windows Vista, XP SP2, Server 2003 and above
- Released with Windows Vista in January 2007
- Need Visual Studio 2005 and above for IDE integrated development
- Ships with / used by Office 2007 as well
- Six Microsoft products are built on WF: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft BizTalk Server "vnext", Microsoft Speech Server 2007, Microsoft System Center "Service Desk", Microsoft Identity Integration Server "future version", and Microsoft Dynamics "future version".