Workflows
SharePoint 2013
• History of Workflows• Overview• New Workflow Architecture• Workflow Manager 1.0• Visio 2013 & SharePoint Designer 2013• Visual Studio Workflow• Workflow Types• Workflow Manager 1.0 in Depth
Agenda
• SharePoint 2003• No OOB Workflows• 3rd Party
• SharePoint 2007• Windows Workflow Foundation in .NET Framework 3• Hosted Workflow Foundation Runtime• WF dependent services implemented by SP
• SharePoint 2010• Same core architecture as MOSS 2007• .NET Framework 3.5 SP1• Visio for Business Analyst• Site workflows & Reusable workflows
History of Workflows
• Visual Studio developed workflows• Limited to farm solutions (fully trust)• Only available in On-Premises• No support for Office 365
• Knowledge of Workflow API
• Development & deployment of Custom forms
• Lack of transparency • What workflows were deployed / are running• History of previously run workflows
• Scalability directly tied to SharePoint
Pre SharePoint 2013 Workflows
• Automating business processes.• Build on Windows Workflow Foundation 4
Workflow overview
• Workflow Definition• Create in Visual Studio• Not in SharePoint Designer
• Workflow Association / Subscription (Creation of a Service Bus Topic)
• Workflow Instance
• Workflow Episode
• Supporting Artifacts• Workflow Tasks List• Workflow History List
Workflow glossary of terms
Workflow Tools
• Out of the box workflows
• Power User / Business Analyst / • Visio 2013• SPD 2013
• Developers• Visual Studio 2013• Office Developer tools for VS
New Architecture
• Product built by Windows & Azure Teams
• Flexible deployment model
• On-Premises SharePoint 2013 deployment
• In the Cloud for Hosted SharePoint 2013 (Office 365)
• Works the same way
• Workflow Manager Farm
• SharePoint 2013 & Workflow Manager 1.0
Workflow Manager 1.0
• Major Components• Workflow Front End (SharePoint / Web Service)• Service Bus (Pub / Sub model)• Workflow Back End (Windows Service)
• Scalability• Can reside on SharePoint Servers or different servers• HTTPS (for Production)• HTTP (for Dev)• Can stay behind a load balancer
Architecture & Scaling
• Acquire Workflow Manager 1.0• Web Platform Installer
• Web Platform Installer Command line • Download Workflow Manager + Prerequisites
• Install Workflow Manager + Prerequisites
• Install Workflow Manager 1.0 Client on SharePoint 2013 Servers• Proxy used by SharePoint Server to communicate with the Workflow Manager REST API
• Workflow Manager Tools for Visual Studio• Adds tools Visual Studio for development and debugging of Workflows
Installing Workflow Manager 1.0
• Create the Service Bus & Workflow Manager Farm• Run the Workflow Manager configuration wizard• Create the databases & provision the Service Bus & Workflow Manager Farm• Also generate PowerShell Scripts to provision via PS
• Associate SharePoint 2013 & Workflow Manager 1.0 Farm• Only needs to execute association one time per farm• Target site is just endpoint for Workflow Manager to call
Configuring Workflow Manager 1.0
• All management is done using PowerShell• PowerShell Module: Workflow Manager• Load Manually
• Load Automatically• Workflow Manager PowerShell
• Two Types of PowerShell Management command• Deployment – Microsoft.Workflow.Deployment.Commands
• Security – Microroft.Workflow.Commands
• Workflow Manager Best Practice Analyzer
Management of Workflow Manager 1.0
• Workflow Manager 1.0 RTM shipped prior to SharePoint 2013 RTM• Azure Service – February cumulative update• KB2799752: Service Bus 1 Cumulative Update 1• KB2799754: Workflow Manager Cumulative Update 1• Suspend & Resume workflow capabilities• Unhandled & Validation error termination• Configuration Wizard• Long integer • Performance & Debugging
• SharePoint 2013 March 2013 Public update (KB2767999)
• Office developer tools for Visual Studio
Updating Workflow Manager 1.0
• Install Azure Service Updates• Service Bus 1.0 Cumulative Update 1• Workflow Manager 1.0 Cumulative Update 1
• Workflow Manager 1.0 Cumulative Update 1 via WebPI• Installs Service Bus 1..0 CU as a Prerequisite
• SharePoint 2013 March 2013 Public Update• After update, rerun the workflow registration service with force
Updating Workflow Manager 1.0 Cont…
• What's New & Improved• Added support for stages • Shape Properties can be modified• Exporting made simple
• Demo
Visio 2013
• What’s New• Stages• Loops• Visio visual designer in SPD 2013• Cut, Copy, Paste • Support for calling Web Services
• Demo
SharePoint Designer 2013
Architecture – In depth
Model based on Pub Sub
Q&A