SharePoint 2013 Workflow Basics

Brief History of SharePoint Workflow

Limits of Previous Workflows

SharePoint 2007

SharePoint 2010

What is new in SharePoint 2013?

Two SharePoint Workflow Platforms

New Workflow Actions ActionDescription Assign a TaskAssigns a single workflow task to a user or group. Start a Task ProcessInitiates execution of a task process. Go to This Stage Specifies the next stage in a workflow to which flow control should be handed. Call HTTP Web Service Functions as a method call to a Representational State Transfer (REST) endpoint.

New Workflow Actions ActionDescription Start a List WorkflowStarts a list-scoped workflow. Start a Site WorkflowStarts a site-scoped workflow. Build DynamicValueCreates a new variable of type DynamicValue. Get Property from DynamicValue Retrieves a property value from a specified variable of type DynamicValue.

New Workflow Actions ActionDescription Count Items in DynamicValue Returns the number of rows in a variable of type DynamicValue. Trim String Removes all leading and trailing white-space characters from the current string. Find Substring in String Returns 1-based index of the first occurrence of one or more characters, or the first occurrence of a string, within a string. Replace Substring in String Returns a new string in which all occurrences of a specified character or string are replaced with another specified character or string.

New Workflow Actions ActionDescription Translate Document Functions as a wrapper around the HTTP activity that calls the synchronous translation API. You must configure a Machine Translation Service Application for the SharePoint site on which you run the workflow. Set Workflow Status Updates workflow status as specified in message string. Create a Project from Current Item [Microsoft Project] Creates a Project Server project based on the current item. Set the current project stage status to this value [Microsoft Project] Sets the two status fields within the current stage of the project.

New Workflow Actions ActionDescription Set the status field in the idea list item to this value [Microsoft Project] Updates the status field of the original SharePoint list item. Wait for Project Event [Microsoft Project] Pauses the current instance of the workflow to await a specified Project event: Project checked in, Project committed, Project submitted. Set this field in the project to this value [Microsoft Project] Sets the value for the enterprise custom field for a specified project.

SharePoint Designer Enhancements

Workflow Manager capabilities

Workflow Interop Bridge

How does it operate differently?

Declarative Workflows

Workflow Activities Custom Activities SharePoint Activities Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow Services.Activities Project Activities Microsoft.Office.Project.Server. WorkflowActivities Workflow Manager Activities Workflow Manager 1.0 Microsoft.Activities WF 4.5 Activities.NET 4.5 System.Activities

Workflow Activities

Authoring Tools

Visio 2013

SharePoint Designer 2013

Visual Studio 2012

Designer vs. Visual Studio SP Designer 2013Visual Studio 2012 DeclarativeYes Custom ActionsCannot create, but uses the actions created through VS Can create and consume Work inside AppsNoYes DebuggingCannot be doneFull support Visio IntegrationYes. Full plug in available.No Custom CodeNot Allowed Target AudiencePower Users, End Users and Developers Developers

How do I get Started?

Configure Workflow Manager

Workflow Service Config

Configure SharePoint Register-SPWorkflowService -SPSite " -WorkflowHostUri " -AllowOAuthHttp

Test Your Workflow

Workflow Best Practices

Caveats

Sources

Questions?