Introducing Windows Workflow Foundation

Understanding Windows Workflow Foundation Janakiram MSV Developer Evangelist Microsoft Corporation Introducing Windows Workflow Foundation

Agenda Architecture & Concepts Workflow Styles Summary

WPF-Windows Presentation Foundation –XAML –XAMLPad, Expression Editor, VS Designer CardSpace WCF-Windows Communication Foundation WF-Workflow Foundation Orcas –.NET 3.0 Visual Studio Extensions.Net Framework 3.0

Power of Flow Chart Maintainability is expensive Code is opaque Modules are hard-wired

Flowchart Scenarios Document Life Cycle Management LOB Application Workflow Business Process Management UI Navigation Logic

public void PlaceNewOrder(Employee e, Product p) { if(e.FTE) switch(p.Category) { case “Computer”: if (GetManagerApproval(e,p)) { Inventory i=InventoryServiceProxy.GetInventory(P.ProductID); if(i.InStock) { PurchaseOrder PO=new PurchaseOrder(p,1); OrderAck Ack=OrderServiceProxy.SendPO(PO); SendMail( “Placed New Order”, ”Order #” + Ack.OrderNo+” Expected on ”+ ACK.ShipDate, e. ID ); } ………………………………………………. } Yet Another Component….

Today’s Application DevelopmentForms Data Applicationlogic Rules and policies Applicationcode Workflow model Services

What is Workflow? Dictionary.com Definition –The flow or progress of work done by a company, industry, department, or person. –The rate at which such flow or progress takes place

Tenets of Workflow Workflows coordinate work performed by people and by software Workflows are long running and stateful Workflows are transparent and dynamic through their lifecycle Workflows are based on extensible models

Introducing Windows Workflow Foundation Provide a singular engine for workflow execution for all applications built on the Windows platform Supports a wide range of scenarios Bring model-driven workflow development to the entire.NET development community Enable reusable workflow component development to ensure both developers and ISVs can deeply embed this technology in their applications.

Windows Workflow Foundation Key Concepts Host Process Windows Workflow Foundation Runtime Engine A Workflow An Activity Runtime Services Base Activity Library Custom Activity Library Visual Designer Visual Designer: Graphical and code-based construction Workflows are a set of Activities Workflows run within a Host Process: any application or server Developers can build their own Custom Activity Libraries Components Base Activity Library: Out-of-box activities and base for custom activities Runtime Engine: Workflow execution and state management Runtime Services: Hosting flexibility and communication

Workflow Basics A workflow is a class A workflow class may be defined in markup … using System.Workflow.Activities; public class Workflow1 : SequentialWorkflow { }

Workflow Basics Workflow constructor configures contained activities (like forms & controls) using System.Workflow.Activities; public partial class Workflow1 : SequentialWorkflow { public Workflow1() { InitializeComponent(); } public sealed partial class Workflow1 : SequentialWorkflow { private Delay delay1; private void InitializeComponent() { this.delay1 = new System.Workflow.Activities.Delay(); this.delay1.ID = “delay1"; this.delay1.TimeoutDuration = System.TimeSpan.Parse("00:00:05"); this.Activities.Add(this.delay1); this.ID = "Workflow1"; }

Demo Order Workflow

Workflow Composition

What are Activities? An activity is a step in a workflow –Has properties and events that are programmable within your workflow code –Has methods (e.g. Execute) that are only invoked by the workflow runtime Think of Forms & Controls –Activity == Controls –Workflows == Forms Activities fall under two broad categories –Basic – steps that “do work” –Composite – manage a set of child activities

Activities: An Extensible Approach –OOB activities, workflow types, base types –General-purpose –Activity libraries define workflow constructs –Create/Extend/ Compose activities –App-specific building blocks –First-class citizens Base Activity Library Custom Activity Libraries Author new activity Base Activity Library Extend activity Compose activities –Vertical-specific activities & workflows –Best-practice IP & Knowledge Domain-Specific Workflow Packages Compliance RosettaNet CRM IT Mgmt

Flexible Control Flow Rules-driven Activities Step2 Step1 Rule1 Rule2 Data Rules + data state drive processing order Data-driven Simple Conditions, complex Policies Constrained Activity Group State Machine Workflow State2 State1 Event Event External events drive processing order Reactive, event-driven Skip/re-work, exception handling Graph metaphor Sequential Workflow Step1 Step2 Sequential structure prescribes processing order Prescriptive, formal Automation scenarios Flowchart metaphor

Demo State Machine Workflow

Summary A single workflow technology for Windows –Platform level workflow framework for use within Microsoft products & ISV applications –Will be used by BizTalk Server, Office 2007 MBS & other Microsoft client/server products –Available to all Windows customers Microsoft is redefining workflow –Unified technology for System & Human workflow –Multiple styles: sequential, rules-based, state machine –Supports dynamic interaction Microsoft is taking workflow mainstream –Consistent and familiar programming model for reaching mainstream application developer –Available to millions of end-users through Office 2007 –Extensible platform for ISVs

Resources

Questions Microsoft Windows Vista