5 Stages of SharePoint Grief: Coming to Terms with the Rebuilt Workflow Platform in SharePoint 2013
SharePoint Workflow has changed dramatically in the newest version of the platform. In many ways, it’s far more powerful for all types of users, but with great power comes great…learning curves? In this session, we’ll explore this new world of workflow, from architecture and configuration to development and business user support. I will guide you through your initial desire to deny these changes and towards understanding and acceptance of the benefits of this new approach. Demos will consist of Visual Studio and SharePoint Designer workflows. All SharePoint workers, from IT Pros to Business Users, will find useful, and potentially time saving, tips by the end of this presentation.
Unleash Your Potential - Namagunga Girls Coding Club
SharePoint 2013 Workflow - San Antonio SharePoint User Group - October 2013
1. 5 Stages of SharePoint Grief
Coming to Terms with the Rebuilt Workflow Platform in SharePoint 2013
2. Who is this guy?
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Software Engineer at Applied Information Sciences
Year 8 of 10-Life with SharePoint
@SPSamL
SharePointTherapy.Blogspot.com
Blog.Appliedis.com
Contributing Author: Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Inside Out
3. Agenda
• Denial
• Look back at Workflow 2010
• Anger
• Intro to 2013 changes
• Bargaining
• Administration & Configuration
• Depression
• Development
• Demos
• Acceptance
• Important Resources
• Q&A
4. SharePoint 2010 Workflow
• Built into SharePoint install
• Added layer on top of WF
• All workflows ran within the context
of a SharePoint process
• SPD Workflows became useful
• Visio design
• Lots of Actions & Extensible
• VS templates made powerful
workflows easier to build
6. New Architecture
• Workflow Manager
• New service to host workflow
• Farm environment
• Not SharePoint specific
• Interacts with SharePoint via Web Services
• Unloads SharePoint of processing
7. Install and Config
• Can run on SharePoint box
• Dev/Small farms
• PowerShell required to associate
WF Farm to SharePoint
• WF Farm can support nonSharePoint WF as well
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Register-SPWorkflowService –SPSite
“http://intranet.wingtip.com” –WorkflowHostUri
“http://wingtipserver:122291” -AllowOAuthHttp
8. SharePoint Designer Development
• Designer has loops!
• Web Service interactions
• Dictionaries
• Array of objects
• Build, Count, Get Item
• App Step – elevated security
10. Visual Studio Development
• So, you love coded Workflows? Keep tears to a minimum, please.
• Declarative Workflow
• DynamicValue object
• What’s the point if there’s no custom logic?
• Web Services!
• HTTPSend activity
• CSOM Integration
• Workflow in SP Apps
• BIG PLUS – No more Correlation Tokens!
12. Resources
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Andrew Connell’s PluralSight Video - http://bit.ly/ACsSPWFonPS
Fabian Williams’ SPD and Fiddler Post - http://bit.ly/FWsSPDPOSTREST
My Workflow Install & Config Video - http://youtu.be/6haTejk98hU
Running Workflow with Elevated Permissions - http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/jj822159.aspx
- I’ll have these slides up on my blogAIS blog will have a post mirroring this presentation, but with reference to 1st post project
Orange layer is where you lived. Everything else was wrapped up in a bow for the most part.
- Introducing Workflow Manager- 2013 begins to show MS’ move to cloud with offloaded servicesBusiness users will finally get loops
WFM is a separate installBig improvement in scalability and re-use because of break from SP and farm envWF Events > WF Manager Client using Azure Service Bus – returns SP REST API back into SP --- Oauth authentication
MUST INSTALL/CONFIG as WF Service acct or you’ll get errors
SPD gets loops instead of hacksWeb services for custom/SP data read/writeDictionary (not quite DynamicValue, from my understanding, though)We’ll see Build and Get Item in demoCan still create 2010 WF, too
WAW Config – sort ofWas going to do code, but ran out of time and samples on MSDN are for B1R (TAP) , not B2 (Public)
- You can write code activities/actions for on-prem, but obviously won’t work in the cloud- Dynamic Value: Basically it understands JSON. So when you call a WCF service with an HTTP activity, it returns an object of type DynamicValue. You then use another activity to pull data out of this variables of this data type using an XPATH like notation. (c/o AC)WCF devs can join the SP fun. Web Services is where custom code lives for WFSee more offloading of processingBest practice for code, not custom actions (see Devices and Services company)Activities to directly interact w/ said services – get and set data through these activities and your/SP/other servicesIf you haven’t heard, CSOM got a Barry Bonds sized shot of steroids (How many recognize that name? Jose Conseco? Ivan Drago?)Client-side interaction w/ WFSP Apps (NEW NEW NEW) driven/driving WFDon’t you love tokens? How many people have had broken WF and find out it’s just a bad token reference?