Video: How Do I: Create and Debug a Sequential SharePoint Workflow?

Presenter:Steve Hansen

Join Steve Hansen as he demonstrates how to create and debug a basic sequential SharePoint workflow using Visual Studio 2008.


The following text is a software generated transcript of the video. Click on a minute link to jump to a location within the video

Minute 0
I Stephenson here with Visio tips com this video is how do I create and debug the sequential share point workflow checkpoint includes workflow functionality built on the Windows workflow foundation said Windows platform component that fights infrastructure for working women are creating workflow based applications this is handy with a chair point because a lot of times the documents I get stored in share point there s a collaboration process monitor other business processes it s handy to be able to put workflows around these veterans with the release of Visual Studio 2008 the Visual Studio tools for office team spent a lot of time and effort providing some tools makes her point workflow development even easier in particular that got two templates want for printing sequential workflows and one for trading state machine workflows so today is one run
Minute 1
Through a greater basic sequential sure workflow for it into trading the workflow and you go into my the document library that I m going to associate my workflow with them at a few columns to the document library the simple workflow that I m going to demonstrates that he is to check the value of the document status column can adhere is to watch for changes to determine what to do next so this could be a choice from
Minute 2
To load all just to the review is assigned to and then one more column for any review comments soon except the default shared by many one other thing another psycho library records a check in and checkout documents and I m going to turn that setting off a familiar versioning settings in the about us is required documents to be checked out before they can be edited in a set that s no
Minute 3
And going click okay to not doubt my Dr Lever set up a mini go into Visual Studio and create a new project Visual Basic office 2007 share 2007 sequential workflow to know a little wizard comes a series of dialog boxes that leads you through some the initial settings so just leave in the name the name for my project in here this is the site that I want to deploy my workflow to
Minute 4
Saga and click next and in this dialog box you want a few things you can only be automatically associate workflow checkbox checked so this is automatically to associate my workflow with the site in the document library that my work closely use so it knows the site from the previous dialogue by some Muslim it s asking us which library or list we want to associate the workflow with senility to an documents and it s asking us which lists to store workflow history and in finally which task list should be used for workflow tasks so these are all aware one of them and click next and then how can the workflow we started merely the man
Minute 5
By users or when an item is created that would also apply when you upload a document to the library so click finish up and out to the workflow design surface survives fall EchoStar on workflow activated activity and then I ve got a finish song dooms workflows just watched the value of the document status field to determine whether or not this workflow should keep going so that implies that I need some sort of while looping facility for at DU while it is in need to add a generate an event handler for the on workflow activated activity so there is a invoked property and just by typing in the name of a event handler here
Minute 6
And pressing enter Visual Studio will generate the event handler for you ready for you to adhere your code snowmen go back to my design surface and then I m going to view the toolbox and the need to add a few things under the Windows workflow version 3 0 and need to take this while activity and drag it right below my workflow activated activity some of them going to select a
Minute 7
And for the condition I want to create a code condition then after I choose code condition I can expand the commission property and enter what my code condition should be like to generate a procedure called his workflow pending no set identity is workflow pending procedure generated by already forming by Visual Studio I also need any other workflow item changed activity semantic like a man in drag it and drop it in my while activity so need to do a few things for the other workflow item changed personally need to set the correlation token
Minute 8
To my workflow token next I need to also generate an event handler and I m going to set equal to un workflow item changed some generated all the event handler is a need for my workflow processes workflow and only need to do a couple of things wanting them to do is create a new variable the class level variable to say is workflow pending verbal was a menu store whether or not the workflow is completed or not
Minute 9
To determine whether the workflows for clearing that up at another procedure hear a clip check status and want to do here is a look at the document status field of my document library and see if it equals review complete I can get to that there is a workflow properties object their workflow properties object allows you to treat a lot of information about a specific instance of the workflow including a document library that it is offering against the item and suffering against the task lists and so on so I need the item documents status
Minute 10
And many season sequel to review complete is going to change the value of my is workflow pending variable to false them within each of these event handlers in the odd workflow activated a fiscal check status and in the odd workflow item changed also call status for the is workflow pending a decision returns the current value of my is workflow pending variable so now I m done with this simple
Minute 11
Total and this is one of the areas where the Visio team has made limited progress in making workflow development easier instead of creating a feature a sure point feature to deploy this and then actually deploy and associate it with a document library Visual Studio handles all that for you so I can just put in a breakpoint in my on workflow activity procedure and then press F5 and Visual Studio handles all of the deploying the creamy feature reporting feature association it attaches to your W treat a VP process allows you to debug some rock at the document library knows if I go to settings and document labor settings and then workflow settings
Minute 12
My workflows indeed associated with the document library Sunoco hadn t upload a document to the library and this should trigger the really activation of the new workflow instance was as is in progress review needed into second here s going to get the breakpoint which it has been from narrative scepter my coat and press F5 to continue and so if I want to go in for Mrs workflow will edit the properties set it to review complete and
Minute 13
Ago K Mendota snarled at the workflow workflow status of Rumsfeld here is not completed in my work my view since of my workflow has finished that concludes this video and how to create and debug a sure point sequence workflow they draw to have a great day

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