Creating Business Workflow

Using SharePoint Designer 2007 Presented by Tarek GhazaliIT Technical Specialist Microsoft SQL Server MVPMicrosoft SQL Server 2005 MCTSWeb Development MCPLebDev Vice President – Lebanese Dev. Community

What are workflows?Encapsulated logic for coordinating business processes

» provides abstractions to model real world processes» valuable for modeling long running and stateful

behavior» Workflows in WF are decomposed into activities» Windows Workflow Foundation supports two

fundamental workflow styles:

Sequential workflows

modeled as flowchart

State machine workflow

modeled as state diagram

Sequential Workflows

State Machine Workflows

Windows Workflow Foundation (WF)

• Single workflow technology for Windows– Extensible framework & toolset– Base platform for Microsoft, ISV and customer solutions

• A framework for building workflow into applications– A framework to build on - not an application or server– Exposed to developers via .NET 3.0

WSS Workflow

• Windows Workflow Foundation run-time engine – Hosted in Windows SharePoint Services (WSS)– WSS supports workflows on items and documents

• WF associated with list, document library or content type• WF can be started and completed by user actions• WF can be configured to start without user action

• Out-of-box capabilities– Review, approval, collect signatures, issue tracking, translation,

expiration…• Development platform

– Visual Studio plug-in– SharePoint Designer wizard

Workflow architecture in Windows SharePoint

Services 3.0 Windows SharePoint Services provides custom implementations of the following services for the engine: transaction, persistence, notifications, roles, tracking, and messaging. Developers can then create workflow solutions that run within Windows SharePoint Services.

Authoring Scenario Pyramid

Visual Studio & WF SDK

Out-of-the-BoxSolutions

(with customization)

SharePoint Site Designer Workflow

Routing & Approval

Tracking Applications

List ModerationDocument Expiration

Pro

fessio

nal D

evelo

per

En

d U

ser

Custom Tracking Apps

Document Processes

Custom Form Actions

LOB integration

Industry specific processes

SharePoint Feature Areas

Docs/tasks/calendars, blogs, wikis, e-mail integration, project

management “lite”, Outlook integration,

offline docs/lists

CollaborationCollaborationBusinessBusiness

IntelligenceIntelligence

PortalPortal

Enterprise Portal template, Site

Directory, My Sites, social networking,

privacy control

Enterprise scalability,contextual relevance, rich

people and business data search

Rich and Web forms based front-ends, Line Of Business actions, pluggable SSO, Workflow

Server-based Excel spreadsheets and data visualization, Report Center, BI Web Parts, KPIs/Dashboards

Integrated document management, records management, and Web content management with policies and workflow

BusinessBusinessProcessesProcesses

SearchSearchContentContentManagementManagement

PlatformPlatformServicesServices

Workspaces, Mgmt,Workspaces, Mgmt,

Security, Storage,Security, Storage,

Topology, Site ModelTopology, Site Model

What Is SharePoint Designer?

• Use Office SharePoint Designer 2007 to create and deploy interactive solutions on the SharePoint platform, without having to write code – You can design SharePoint workflows and

applications without having to use traditional procedural coding languages or techniques.

The value of “no code” applications

• No code = No risk

• Designed for Rapid Development

• Administrator-controlled developers extensibility points

SharePoint Designer Benefits

• SharePoint Designer provides you with easy-to-use tools that you can use to:– Build conditional views and forms with validation.– Read, write, and present data from a variety of data

sources—such as XML files, SQL databases, and Web Services.

– Compile data from multiple sources to create flexible, customized views and reports.

– Build Web Part pages and connect Web Parts to create sophisticated business applications.

SharePoint Designer -Workflow Designer

• The Workflow Designer automates business processes like automated task assignment and notification associated with SharePoint lists and document libraries by setting up custom workflow conditions and actions and linking them to the SharePoint data.

– Creating application logic without code

SharePoint Roles and Responsibilities

Rule-Based “No Code” Workflows

Workflows are composed of pre-existing building blocks and conditional logic

Based on Events, Conditions, and ActionsDescribed by XOML files in Web siteTriggered by initiation form or list eventsSupports rich data binding to list items

Extensible via custom actions, conditions

Sample Workflow Actions

• Assign Custom Task

• Send Email

• Create/Update/Delete

List item

• Collect Data from User

• Wait for Timer

• Wait for Data Change

Demo

Developing Workflow Tools Comparison

• Using Visual Studio.NET Designer– It’s not for a specific SharePoint Site– Developing custom code to your activities– Design Forms to communicate with users– Done by Professional Developer– Can author both sequential and state workflows

• Using SharePoint Designer– It’s for a specific SharePoint Site– Code-free, declarative rules-based workflows .– you are in effect assembling pre-existing activities into workflows– Likely Done by Web designer or Knowledge worker.– Can Author sequential workflow only.

Running Workflows Authored in SharePoint Designer 2007

• workflows authored in Office SharePoint Designer are not compiled and deployed as assemblies

• Stored as their source files within Windows SharePoint Services and compiled into memory only when needed – The workflow markup file– The workflow rules file– ASPX forms for any custom workflow forms

necessary

Workflow component structure in Windows SharePoint Services

SPWorkflowManager object hierarchy

Resources & Questions

• Microsoft Resources:– http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/– http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/– http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/prodinfo/demos.mspx

• Contact me: – tghazali@sqlmvp.com

• Download Presentation :– http://www.sqlmvp.com