Transcript STLSUG Slide Template

Workflow and
SharePoint
Presented by Ben Geers
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What is workflow?
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Windows Workflow Foundation
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How does workflow apply to SharePoint?
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WSS v3 vs. MOSS
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Building workflows in SharePoint Designer
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Beyond SharePoint Designer
Overview
Workflow is the movement of documents
and/or tasks through a work process.
 Businesses depend on processes
 Automating process steps can do the
following:
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Improve how a process functions
Increase efficiency
Reduce errors
Force process compliance
Reporting
Often business processes depends on
people
What is workflow?
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The goal of the Windows Workflow
Foundation (WF) is to provide support for
creating applications that implement some
kind of process
Workflows in WF are made up of activities
which can be defined by users
WF takes care of all of the plumbing
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A base set of activities
A runtime engine
Persistent state (long running transactions)
Tracking of execution
Workflows are typically created using WF
Designer which lives inside Visual Studio
2005.
Windows Workflow Foundation
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Workflow templates can be installed on a
SharePoint server
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Workflow templates can then be associated
with SharePoint lists
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Workflows instances can then be started
based upon that template
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Workflow instances can be started in the
following manner
◦ Manually by the user
◦ Automatically when a list item is changed
◦ Automatically when a list item is created
Workflow and SharePoint
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Workflow activities take the form of tasks
Users interact with SharePoint workflow via
forms
There are four entry points for workflow
forms:
◦ Association – attaching a workflow to a list
◦ Initiation – kicking off a workflow
◦ Task Completion – letting users complete their
tasks
◦ Modification – changing a running workflow
Workflow & SharePoint
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Both can implement workflow
WSS uses ASPX forms to interact with workflows
MOSS provides the ability to interact with workflows
directly from Office 2007 applications.
MOSS adds the capability to use InfoPath forms as
opposed to ASPX forms for workflow interaction
MOSS includes a set of predefined workflows:
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Approval
Collect Feedback
Collect Signatures
Disposition Approval
MOSS adds the ability create reports on workflows in
Excel
WSS vs. MOSS
SharePoint Designer empowers the Information
Worker to create workflows
 Intuitive “wizard-like” interface
 Workflows can be deployed without administrator
intervention
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◦ Administrators can control the activities users can select
SharePoint Designer actually deploys the workflow
 There are limitations to SharePoint Designer:
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◦ Workflows are built for and associated with a single
document library and or list
◦ Cannot modify workflows while they are running
◦ Can only create serial workflows
◦ Cannot interact with WF from Office 2007 Applications
◦ Only initiation and completion events are available out of
the four possible event types
Building Workflows in SharePoint Designer
Demo
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Provides a graphical tool to build workflows
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While WF provides a number of standard
activities, SharePoint provided additional tailored
activities
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Custom activities can be created
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These workflows are deployed to SharePoint as
features and can be reused across multiple lists,
sites, site collections in a farm.
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SharePoint administrator must install the feature
on the farm
Building Workflows in Visual Studio 2005
Building Workflows in Visual Studio 2005
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SharePoint offers powerful workflow
functionality
• Build sophisticated workflow applications using
SharePoint Designer in WSS or MOSS
• Use MOSS pre-built workflows for quick, sitewide workflow implementation
• Integrate with WF and Visual Studio to get
even more sophisticated
Conclusion