1. Windows Vista for Syndication and Workflow Mike Ormond Developer & Platform Group, Microsoft Ltd mike.ormond@microsoft.com http://blogs.msdn.com/mikeormond

2. Agenda Introduction to WF Workflow Basics Activities Sequential Workflow State Machine Workflow Runtime Services

3. Windows Workflow Foundation.NET Fx V3.0 –V2.0 Compilers –V2.0 CLR –VS 2005 Operating Systems –Vista –XP Sp2 –Server 2003 Sp1

4. …organized into a workflow A set of activities that coordinate people and / or software... A set of activities that coordinate people and / or software... What is a Workflow? EscalateToManager Example activities…. CheckInventory Like a flowchart Or state diagram

5. Windows Workflow Foundation

6. Host Process They run in any managed host process 6 Base Activity Library Supplied activities, base for custom activities Windows Workflow Foundation The Big Picture Workflow Activity Workflows are a set of activities Custom Activity Library You can build custom activities Visual Designer Graphical and code-based construction Runtime Engine Workflow execution and state management Runtime Services Hosting flexibility, communication, passivation, and tracking Rules Engine Declarative modeling of units of app logic

7. Windows Workflow Foundation For human and system workflow scenarios Framework for building workflow into.NET applications –Not an application or server –Exposed to developers by.NET 3.0 Single workflow technology for Microsoft products and partner / customer ecosystem Single workflow technology for Microsoft products and partner / customer ecosystem

8. Agenda Introduction to WF Workflow Basics Activities Sequential Workflow State Machine Workflow Runtime Services

9. 9 Workflow Basics A workflow is a class A workflow class can also be defined using markup

10. Creating a Workflow Instance

11. The Designer Graphical designer for workflow Drag and drop of activities Support for sequential & state machine workflows Full debugging support Hosted in Visual Studio –Rehost in your application

12. Agenda Introduction to WF Workflow Basics Activities Sequential Workflow State Machine Workflow Runtime Services

13. Activity Basics Two types of activity –Activity: Does “work” –CompositeActivity: Manages child activities Base Activity Library Custom Acitivities –Eg a library of RSS Activities

14. Feeds Platform Download Engine Download Engine RSS 0.9x RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0 Atom RSS 0.9x RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0 Atom Browsers Photos Contacts … … NewsBlogs PhotosAudioCalendarsListsMore Merge Processor Merge Processor Common Feedlist Common Feedlist Items Enclosures RSS Object Model Store Service API

15. Feeds API COM API –Two flavors: Automation-friendly (IFeed…) Early-bound (IXFeed…) Use interop from.NET framework –Type library available –Work with IFeed... classes FeedsManager Feed FeedFolder FeedItem FeedEnclosure

16. Notifications GetWatcher IFeedEvents_Event IFeedFolderEvents_Event Scope Subfolders Folder / Feed Subscribe to event Eg FeedDownloadCompleted FeedItemCountChanged Feed Events Folder Events

17. Subscribing to Blogs, News, and Other Web Sites

18. Initialized Executing Closed Compensating Canceling Faulting Activity State Machine

19. An RSS Activity

20. Agenda Introduction to WF Workflow Basics Activities Sequential Workflow State Machine Workflow Runtime Services

21. Sequential Workflow Step1 Step2 Sequential structure describes processing order Prescriptive, formal Automation scenarios Flowchart metaphor

22. RSS Sequential Workflow

23. Agenda Introduction to WF Workflow Basics Activities Sequential Workflow State Machine Workflow Runtime Services

24. State Machine Workflow Tray Closed Tray Closed Tray Open Tray Open DVD Stopped DVD Stopped DVD Playing DVD Playing DVD Paused DVD Paused Eject Play Stop DVD Player Example Exception handling Skip/re- work Reactive Event-driven

25. A state machine workflow

26. Agenda Introduction to WF Workflow Basics Activities Sequential Workflow State Machine Workflow Runtime Services

27. Rich set of runtime services, all pluggable –Persistence –Error handling –Transactions –Tracking –Data exchange –Custom Can be enabled by using code or config

28. Workflow Persistence Runtime calls service to persist workflow Upon event occurring, runtime will call service to load the workflow Windows Workflow Foundation Runtime Engine Workflow Runtime Services Persistence service Database File Store File Store File System File System oror … Write custom service to use any data store

29. Transparency Tracking service infrastructure, can track workflow, activity level events, as well as track custom data (PO amount) Workflow instances can be visualized and inspected graphically using designer State can be inspected and workflow visualized –Events –Tracking (push model) –Querying workflow state (pull model) Windows Workflow Foundation Runtime Engine Workflow Runtime Services Tracking service Database File Store File Store File System File System oror … Write custom service to use any data store

30. Data Exchange ExternalDataExchangeService allows host and workflow to communicate HandleExternalEvent and CallExternalMethod activities are used in the workflow to receive and send messages Messages are defined in contracts (interfaces)

31. Using Runtime Services

32. Summary Single workflow technology Human and system workflow scenarios Framework for building workflow into.NET applications Sequential / state machine workflows Common activities built in Write custom activities Rich runtime services

33. © 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION. http://www.microsoft.com/uk/launch2007/dev/useful.mspx