SharePoint Designer Workflows Nuts, Bolts and Examples SharePoint Saturday Chicago Suburbs March 19 th 2016

Drew Madelung Twitter LinkedIn : /in/dmadelung Senior SharePoint and Office 365 consultant specializing in business- oriented content management solutions. Avid Wisconsin sports fan and golfer.

What are we going to talk about? A look back through the years How do I start? Not your basic workflow info Let’s see some examples!

Evolution of SharePoint Designer  SP Designer 2007 Will work with 2003 & 2007  SP Designer 2010 Only 2010  SP Designer , 2016 and SP Online (Office 365)  SP Designer 2016? Not being created It’s a free download!

Upgrading from 2010 Workflows  There is no in-place workflow upgrade  2010 workflows will run in SP 2013 on-premises and Office 365  Migrate 2010 workflows and continue to use them in 2010 mode  Rebuild workflows using new 2013 actions  Rebuild workflows using ISV (Nintex, K2) Options

Deprecated features – 2010 to 2013  Design View  Content type association with reusable workflows  Association columns  Impersonation steps  User Profile lookup as a data source  Workflow visualization  Multiple workflow actions

New features – 2010 to 2013  Ability to define stages and jump between them  Stage level loops  Dictionary variable  App steps  Ability to call SP 2010 workflows  Task processes  Multiple workflow actions

Workflow in SharePoint  Brings the workflow engine off SharePoint  Allows execution of SharePoint 2010 workflows  Powered by Windows Workflow Foundation 4

Workflow actions  Different workflow actions are available depending on… Version of workflow Type of workflow Location of action in a workflow

Workflow actions – 2010 to 2013 New in 2013  Assign a Task  Start a Task Process  Go to This Stage  Call HTTP Web Service  Start a List Workflow  Start a Site Workflow  Build Dictionary  Get Property from Dictionary  Count Items in Dictionary  Trim String  Find Substring in String  Translate Document  Set Workflow Status  Create a Project from Current Item (MS Project)  Set the current Project stage status to this value (MS Project)  Wait for Project Event (MS Project)  Set this field in the Project to this value (MS Project) Deprecated in 2013 Add List Item Permissions Assign a Form to a Group Assign a To-do Item Capture a version of the Document Set Collect Data from a User Copy List Item Declare Record Inherit List Item Parent Permissions Lookup Manager of a User Remove List Item Permissions Replace List Item Permissions Send Document Set to Repository Set Content Approval Status Set Content Approval Status for the Document Set Set Workflow Status Start Approval Process Start Custom Task Process Start Document Set Approval Process Start Feedback Process Undeclare Record Call HTTP Web Service lets you specify any of several request methods, including GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE. This lets you tell the web services, specifically RESTful services, what to do on the service that you’ve specified with the URI property on the activity.RESTful Start a List Workflow Starts a List workflow based on the SharePoint 2010 Workflow platform. Start a Task Process Creates tasks on multiple users and enables the tasks to be taken through a customized process.

Office 365 – SharePoint Online  Runs 2010 and 2013 workflows  You connect just like on-premises farms

SharePoint Designer 2013 Workflows  Built at Site level (not site collection)  List/Library, Reusable, or Site Workflows  Can be created using Visio  Can be saved as a template  Ran on a timer job These are all true for SharePoint Online!

Creating a SharePoint 2013 Workflow Open Designer and connect to your site Click one of the New workflow options in the ribbon Click Workflows in the Site Objects navigation to view all current workflows

Creating a SharePoint 2013 Workflow Enter a Name and Description Pick the 2013 platform type for your new workflow

Creating a SharePoint 2013 Workflow Add new conditions Add new actions Add new loops Create variables Add new steps Add new stages

What cool things can I do? Custom Actions Workflow Stages App Steps Utilize REST Services

Custom Actions  5 different actions available Dictate where they appear List Item Menu Display Form Ribbon Edit Form Ribbon New Form Ribbon View Ribbon  Configured on library or a list  Available in SharePoint 2010, 2013 and SharePoint Online

Custom Actions - Continued  Actions can do 1 of 3 things 1. Navigate to form 2. Initiate a workflow 3. Navigate to URL  You can add images to the actions  You can set the Rights Mask Security  When to use them? Adding a link for a print functionprint function Link to supporting list that contains related data Start an approval or review workflow Link to a custom edit form that shows more fields for the item Link to an upload or insert item on a related list Start a workflow to create an item

Workflow Stages  Eases ability to build more advanced logical workflows  Uses IF/Else statements to transition between stages > Just steps > Steps in Stages

App Steps No more impersonation step from 2010  3 steps to configure 1. Allow workflow to use app permissions Done via activation of Site Feature “Workflows can use app permissions” 2. Grant full control permission to workflow Multiple step process to set trust for the Workflow app Detailed steps herehere 3. Develop the workflow to wrap actions inside an App Step App step will now be available in SP Designer ribbon Allows the ability to run a workflow that requires elevated permissions

REST Service REST allows ability to remotely interact with SharePoint objects To access a specific site collection, use the following construction: To access a specific site, use the following construction:

REST Service - Continued Call HTTP Web Service & Dictionary actions 1.Build Dictionary(s) 2.Call REST service GET, POST, PUT, DELETE 3.Get Items in Dictionary (If necessary)

REST Service - Continued Can be used to… Manage content across site collections Create content (items, lists, sites, etc…) Retrieve content to be looped through Retrieve user profile information And lots more! Use Postman or Advanced REST client Chrome extension

Any other tips? Advanced Properties SharePoint Designer Cache Copy & Paste Debugging

Advanced Properties  Certain settings are only visible in action Properties  Right click on action -> click Properties…  Important in Task Process actions  Can set BCC for Send actions

Clearing SharePoint Designer Cache 1.Close SPD 2.Use File Explorer to navigate to: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebsiteCache 3.Delete everything in this folder 4. Use File Explorer to navigate to: %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Web Server Extensions\Cache 5.Delete everything in this folder

Copy & Paste  You can copy & paste within the text-based designer in 2013 Use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V or use Right-click functionality  Actions can copy but conditions and steps don’t always work  Copying between workflows can cause crashes  No support for Undo  Cannot copy content between workflow versions Make sure you check all variables/lookups after copying!

Debugging  Log to history list Review workflow history list - /Lists/Workflow%20History/AllItems.aspx Send an action for Dictionary variables due to large size  Add a comment  If/Else checks on major milestones & error handling  Hidden column to track data points  Fiddler (On-Premises) Debugging isn’t just for when the workflow application is created, but includes all issues that arise at a later time.

This all sounds cool, but what should I build? Let’s look at some examples

Good starting workflow ideas More complex workflow ideas Vacation approval Equipment Reservation IT request task creation New project site creation New employee onboarding Finance invoice approval This one sounds fun!

Do you like demos? I like demos Let’s do a demo

Super Helpful links  SharePoint Community SharePoint Community  SharePoint Designer 2013 Download SharePoint Designer 2013 Download  What’s changed in SharePoint Designer 2013 What’s changed in SharePoint Designer 2013  Workflow actions quick reference – SharePoint 2013 Workflow actions quick reference – SharePoint 2013  Workflow actions quick reference – SharePoint 2010 Workflow actions quick reference – SharePoint 2010  Get started with workflows in SharePoint 2013 Get started with workflows in SharePoint 2013  Create a workflow with elevated permissions (app step setup) Create a workflow with elevated permissions (app step setup)  Get to know the SharePoint REST service Get to know the SharePoint REST service  Advanced REST Client Chrome Extension Advanced REST Client Chrome Extension  Calling the SharePoint 2013 REST API from a SharePoint Designer Workflow Calling the SharePoint 2013 REST API from a SharePoint Designer Workflow  SharePoint 2013 workflow recursion prevention SharePoint 2013 workflow recursion prevention  Install and configure workflow for SharePoint 2013 Install and configure workflow for SharePoint 2013  Workflow Manager Farms for SharePoint 2013 – harbar.net Workflow Manager Farms for SharePoint 2013 – harbar.net  SharePoint Designer Custom Actions SharePoint Designer Custom Actions

Questions? Reach out anytime!

SharePoint Designer Workflows Nuts, Bolts and Examples SharePoint Saturday Chicago Suburbs March 19 th 2016A

Appendix  Clear SharePoint Designer Cache.bat file script cd "%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Web Server Extensions\Cache" del *.web /S /Q "%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Web Server Extensions\Cache" cd "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebsiteCache\" rmdir /S /Q "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebsiteCache\." mkdir "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebsiteCache" dir "%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Web Server Extensions\Cache" dir "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebsiteCache" pause

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