2. WEB 304 An Overview of ASP.NET and Windows Workflow Foundation Kashif Alam Program Manager Developer Division Microsoft Corporation

3. Agenda Web Workflow Overview Demo: Hello World UI Flow UI Workflow Demo: Modeling UI WorkFlow in Visual Studio PageFlow / UI Flow in ASP.NET Demo: PageFlow Development Experience Extensibility Model Summary & Questions

4. What You asked for … Can I do MVC in ASP.NET? Will UIP become part of the supported Product? Can the Wizard control navigate between pages? Can ASP.NET Navigation be abstracted and controlled by a set of rules? Can I build modular UI and navigate through it in different paths? When will ASP.NET support this functionality?

5. Vision for the Solution A powerful, easy to use, extensible framework for building integrated UI WorkFlow in ASP.NET applications Deliverables Simple declarative model for creating and consuming workflows from ASP.NET Powerful programming model for full control and extensibility Integrated Visual Studio designer support Highly scalable and componentized solution

6. Hello World UI Flow

7. Request Process Model WF UI WorkFlow Instance WF Runtime IISWindows ASP.NETPageFlow ASP.NETPageFlow ASP.NETPageFlow HostHostLayerLayerHostHostLayerLayer

8. Workflow Foundation: UI Workflow Modeling Visualize and model navigation as a process Ability to use WF as business logic layer for the page Common events to interact with WorkFlow runtime Runtime State: Utilize workflow state in web applications Hosting: Runs in partial trust Scalability: Ability to run WorkFlow delays in the background

9. UI WorkFlow Components UINavigator Ability to model a free formed WorkFlow Contains steps that require user interaction Activity Model Provides out-of-the-box activities, such as Page Activity, for building UI Workflow Ability to define rule sets in the designer for transitions Provides a framework to build custom activities WorkFlow Runtime Hosting environment for executing workflows WorkFlow Services Scheduling, Tracking, Persistence and Transaction Provider based model to configure Persistence

10. Modeling UI WorkFlow in Visual Studio

11. ASP.NET – WorkFlow Integration Page Development Leverage server-side control and event based model Controls for communicating with the WorkFlow hosting layer 2-way declarative data-binding to WorkFlow Ability to map interactive activities to Pages / Views Runtime Execute workflow in ASP.NET app domain Provider based extensibility model Scalable model to allow running multiple workflows in same page

12. ASP.NET – WorkFlow Types PageFlow Multiple pages – each page maps to an activity in WF User entry points are enforced based on the WF Activity Ability to book mark an instance If user restarts the browser session, it will go to the right steps in the workflow where the user left off.UIFlow A Page can have multiple UI Flows running at the same time Single page – multiple views, user navigates views

13. ASP.NET PageFlow Components PageFlowManager Control Controller logic Provide a mapping to the WF type Enforce association of a Page to Activity name Page Activity Mapping Define the mapping of an Page Activity to a page Workflow Manager Allow host to stop, resume, pause, start a workflow instance Listen for events from the workflow Notify controls when WF activity changes

14. ASP.NET UIFlow Components UIFlowContainer Control Provide a mapping to a workflow type StartTemplate, CompleteTemplate Container for UIFlowView control Provides the DataBinding context UIFlowView Control Provide a mapping to a Page Activity Contains HTML, ASP.NET Controls and literal text Ability to DataBind to Workflow Properties Validation (UI + business)

15. PageFlow Development Experience

16. Step by Step PageFlow Model a UI Workflow Define activities and transition rules Define data associated with the activities Build corresponding ASP.NET pages Reference the UI WorkFlow Include PageFlow controls on the pages Define relevant data-binding to get/set data Define activity mapping F5 and test

17. Choosing the Right Solution Task<asp:wizard…>PageFlowUIFlow Single page xx Multiple pages x State when close browser xx Integrate with Enterprise Workflow xx Client support xx Built-in navigation UI x Extensibility to other controllers xx

18. Extensibility Model Navigation Engine is Configurable Follows provider based model Windows Workflow Foundation is the default Can build state-less / state-based navigation Ability to bring existing navigation solutions forward <system.web>

19. Summary We hear YOU We have a Vision We are working on a solution We need your feedback

20. Call To Action Today Start working with Workflow Foundation Beta2.2 Workflow Foundation Beta2.2Workflow Foundation Beta2.2 Attend Attend CONTLC302 – UI Page Flow by hosting Win WF in ASP.NET Later this year Start working with the ASP.NET PageFlow CTP Be ready to deploy with Orcas We want your feedback Kalam@microsoft.com

22. Resources Technical Chats and Webcasts http://www.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/usa/webcasts/default.asp Microsoft Learning and Certification http://www.microsoft.com/learning/default.mspx Virtual Labs http://www.microsoft.com/technet/traincert/virtuallab/rms.mspx ASP.NET Community Site http://www.ASP.NET/ ASP.NET forums http://forums.ASP.NET/ Technical Community Sites http://www.microsoft.com/communities/default.mspx

23. © 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.