Orchestration / Workflow

1051 of 1201 | Introduction - The purpose of this blog is to provide public answers to the Windows Workflow Foundation questions that I come across every now and again at work.  These questions usually target a specific scenario but can be easily abstracted to a more general inquiry of "how to accomplish X" or "why does Y happen" or "what is the purpose of Z".  The end goal is to provide a quick reference for the solutions to tricky problems that custom activity writers and complex scenario developers will face during design and implementation.  As such, welcome to Advanced Workflow: Enabling Tricky Scenarios. About the author: My name is Nathan Talbert and I work for the Windows Workflow Foundation team......

1052 of 1201 | Updated "About BizTalk" Whitepaper Online - Just FYI, we've recently updated our Understand BizTalk whitepaper to include BizTalk 2006 considerations. Talks about BizTalk and Windows Workflow, BizTalk and Windows Communication Foundation, as well as the overview of new administration functions. ...

1053 of 1201 | Use JMS Clients to Utilize Free Computer Resources - In this article, Nimish Doshi proposes using JMS to distribute work to underutilized computer resources. He presents two solutions, one of which uses WebLogic Workshop and WebLogic Integration to control the workflow of job distribution. ...

1054 of 1201 | ASP.NET Connections Conference in Orlando from April 2nd-5th - The east-coast ASP.NET Connections conference is coming up in Orlando from April 2nd-5th this year.  I'll be speaking there along with a ton of other great speakers.  There are 37 dedicated ASP.NET breakout talks at the event (click here to see the session list).  You can also cross-register with the VS Connections, SQL Connections and the new SharePoint Connections conferences going on at the same location, and get a pass that allows you to attend non-ASP.NET talks as well. If you are looking to either get started with ASP.NET 2.0, or take your ASP.NET 2.0 development to the next level (some more advanced talks on the session list: Atlas, Workflow, Personalization, eCommerc......

1055 of 1201 | Windows Workflow + SharePoint 2003 + BizTalk Scenario Built Out - So I had a use case from a customer to build a sample using BizTalk Server, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Windows SharePoint Services 2003. It was an interesting journey, and wanted to show how I got all these pieces to play nicely. Before diving into each technical component, here's a summary of the use case. Purchase Order document received from ERP system. BizTalk looks at the document, assigns a reviewer, and publishes it to SharePoint. SharePoint kicks off a workflow which creates a Task item for that user, and potentially sends them an email. User loads up PO, and approves it. SharePoint again triggers workflow which then marks users Task as "complete." ......

1056 of 1201 | Press Release: Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 and Microsoft Expression Web Designer - REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 15, 2006 – As the Internet becomes an increasingly valuable environment for individuals and organizations to share information, collaborate and carry out tasks, the people tasked with building Web sites to support these activities need increasingly powerful and versatile tools to accomplish their goals. Having adopted technologies such as Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to help create, manage and build collaborative Web sites, many organizations are discovering that their current Web-authoring tools lack support for the latest standards and capabilities that SharePoint products and technologies makes possible – su......

1057 of 1201 | WF Rocks at WinFx Event - Build custom activities http://www.WindowsWorkflow.net...

1058 of 1201 | January Webcasts of Interest - The blog has been quiet for a while.  I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and best wishes for a most excellent 2006. To start the year off the right way, here's a list of SharePoint and collaboration webcasts coming up in January... Jan 10 - Executive Circle Webcast: Empower People to Work Better Together with Microsoft Collaboration Jan 11 - Executive Circle Webcast: Collaboration Technologies in Healthcare Jan 16 - TechNet Webcast: Integrating Your SharePoint Technologies with Project 2003 Jan 16 - MSDN Webcast: ASP.NET Soup to Nuts: Server Controls Jan 19 - TechNet Webcast: Understanding the Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server Architecture Jan 23 - Tec......

1059 of 1201 | Can a web service start a workflow? - Developers have been looking for additional guidance and support on initiating Adobe LiveCycle Workflow processes from a web service. They are interested in understanding how kicking off a workflow is accomplished using web services or ultimately how processes are initiated using third-party apps. Chris Trubiani, who is one of our developer support engineers for the Adobe Enterprise Developer Program walked me through this, and I think it is worth sharing. To initiate a workflow from a third party app, you would typically use a web service call. You wouldn't use the LiveCycle WorkFlow API for that as the API needs...

1060 of 1201 | Components + Context + Abstraction <= Workflow - I have been doing a lot of presentations on the new Adobe LiveCycle Workflow for developers, technical press, partners and others. In these presentations most of the discussion turns to the benefits for the application developer. Since the primary focus is on the build scenarios, change management and other topics roll up into these discussions around building applications using a services-oriented approach and then delivering final applications as workflows, or composite applications. What are the benefits of a workflow-driven application and how does Adobe provide some leadership in this area with our new server products? When we look at code...

1061 of 1201 | West Coast Intro - So as long as we're doing intros, I'm Colin, the Pacific Northwest guy. I used to be a trainer and covered a broad range of applications in both print and web design and production. Shortly before joining Adobe, I specialized in conversion training from Quark to InDesign workflows....

1062 of 1201 | The Daily Grind 803 - Well, it looks like the week is off to a busy start... Software Shell MegaPack 7.1 - New version of this set of Windows shell emulation controls, available in both .NET and ActiveX versions. My review of version 7.0 is here, trial download is here, pricing from $295 Enterprise Library for .NET Framework 2.0 - January 2006 - This is the release version for .NET 2.0, with Application Blocks for caching, cryptography, data access, exception handling, logging, and security. Free download, but registration required. If you want a good overview of this release, check out Tom Hallander's blog entry. CSBat: The C# Interpreter - A little hack to......

1063 of 1201 | Review: Portfolio - Review: Portfolio 8 Portfolio 8 Client, $199.95 Extensis Portland, Oregon (800)-796-9798 http://www.extensis.com/en/products/asset_management/product_information.jsp?id=prod60006 Portfolio is a type of software that you might not be familiar with: it's a digital asset management package. That is, it helps you track and organize a collection of digital assets - for many shops, this primarily means photographs and other artwork, but you can have it manage any sort of file that you'd like to keep track of. The beauty of Portfolio, compared with just stuffing everything into the Windows file system, is that it uses a database to keep track of your files. This makes it very e......

1064 of 1201 | SharePoint Workflow as Commodity - I've been working with Windows Workflow Foundation while listening to the Smashing Pumpkins 'Earphoria' tracks. I just finished Geek USA. Crazy great rock and roll. Anyway, I am intrigued by the Activities Gallery on the site. By now, most people know about SharePoint in the Office 12 timeframe having some cool workflow features. I imagine a SharePoint workflow activities gallery. Think of people creating all sorts of workflow widgets for various business processes and putting them in the activities gallery. Sure, developers get something out of it by borrowing code, but there are bigger things at stake: SharePoint Workflow could make workflow a commodity. Right now, you are reading......

1065 of 1201 | The Daily Grind 802 - How did it get to be Friday again already? Software Squeet - Service to delivery RSS feeds to your e-mail. (via Scott Cate) TFS Release Candidate coming soon - In early February, apparently, and equipped with a Go-Live license. CS-Converter - And speaking of TFS, here's an application to convert RCS, CVS, SVN, or VSS repositories to TFS. 30-day trial download here, pricing from $500. (via Eric Jarvi) C# Script for .NET 2.0 - Command-line .NET scripting engine, complete with source code. Information Microsoft Developer Security Resource Kit - A new DVD of resources that you can order for a nominal fee. (via Gerardo Dada ......

1066 of 1201 | New BizTalk/WF Webcast Series On MSDN - Are you aware that we recently started a weekly BPI and Workflow Webcast Series that covers some great topics about BizTalk and Windows Workflow Foundation? The MSDN BPI Events Site has a list of both upcoming and past events. We've got another one coming up on Thursday (1/19), High Availability, Fault Tolerance and Scalability with BizTalk Server 2006 delivered by our SoCal Virtual TS Jay Lee, a real BizTalk stud from EBI Solutions. ...

1067 of 1201 | PDC wrap user group session Auckland. - *For those that attending the User Group Meeting last night in Auckland* It was fun I enjoyed the whirlwind futures tour! It was great talking to a lot of you after the session and feeding off your "excitment" around these technologies! As promised here is my resources slide... (Full slide deck will be available after my South Island tour). PDC Powerpoints Slides    http://commnet.microsoftpdc.com/content/downloads.aspx “ATLAS”    http://atlas.asp.net Windows Vista & WinFX Developer Centers    http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista     http://msdn.microsoft.com/winfx      &nbs......

1068 of 1201 | WF Rocks at TechReady2 - Build custom activities http://www.WindowsWorkflow.net...

1069 of 1201 | How to reuse Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) cool type browser editor in your components - Note: this entry has moved. Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) comes with a very cool UITypeEditor that allows selection of a type in the current project or any of its references: Its type is System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Design.TypeBrowserEditor defined in the System.Workflow.ComponentModel.dll assembly. However, if you try to use it "attach" it directly to one of your components properties, you will get an error saying "The service `System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Compiler.ITypeProvider` must be installed for this operation to suceeed. Ensure that this service is available.": Being a general fan of the ComponentModel, I knew what was this about, and started working on providing the WF type ......

1070 of 1201 | How to reuse Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) cool type browser editor in your components - Note: this entry has moved. Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) comes with a very cool UITypeEditor that allows selection of a type in the current project or any of its references: Its type is System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Design.TypeBrowserEditor defined in the System.Workflow.ComponentModel.dll assembly. However, if you try to "attach" it directly to one of your components properties, you will get an error saying "The service 'System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Compiler.ITypeProvider' must be installed for this operation to suceeed. Ensure that this service is available.": Being a general fan of the ComponentModel, I knew what was this about, and started working on providing the WF ty......

1071 of 1201 | How to reuse Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF) cool type browser editor in your components - Note: this entry has moved. WWF comes with a very cool UITypeEditor that allows selection of a type in the current project or any of its references: Its type is System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Design.TypeBrowserEditor defined in the System.Workflow.ComponentModel.dll assembly. However, if you try to use it "attach" it directly to one of your components properties, you will get an error saying "The service `System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Compiler.ITypeProvider` must be installed for this operation to suceeed. Ensure that this service is available.": Being a general fan of the ComponentModel, I knew what was this about, and started working on providing the WWF type browser editor with the serv......

1072 of 1201 | My New Years Resolution And Thanks - Well over 5 years ago I joined the nascent BizTalk Server team.  One of the reasons I came to Microsoft was because of the wide range of job roles available and yet I was just having too much fun with BizTalk Server to consider moving.  Nevertheless, with the SQL/BTS/VS launch complete and WF launched at PDC now is as good a time as any to move and after some extensive research into new roles during December starting Tuesday I`m changing jobs. My new job will be on the Windows Client Product Planning team.  Initially I`ll be thinking about the impact of virtualization and thin-client on various aspects of Windows licensing and product strategy post Vista.  This role is primarily inbound so ......

1073 of 1201 | Swish - an open source web services-based workflow API and engine. - Swish is an open source web services-based workflow API and engine.The name Swish is an acronym derived from the phrase Simple Web services Interface to Shark. Shark is a powerful open source workflow engine framework based on WfMC standards and developed using Java.Swish provides a convenient web services layer on top of Shark, offering two key benefits...

1074 of 1201 | MSDN Subscribers get WinFX on Vista on the RTM builds of Visual Studio 2005 just in time for Christmas! - You may not have noticed yet but the December CTP of Windows Vista is now available for download to MSDN Subscribers. This is important as it is the first version available to MSDN subscribers that supports the RTM version of Visual Studio 2005 and the compatible WinFX bits (including the Windows Communication, Workflow and Presentation Foundation bits). Note that after you install Vista you will need to enable the WinFX runtime this is disabled by default in this version. You can do this by going to the Vista Software Explorer, checking the box next to the WinFX runtime and click ok. Do this before you install VS2005 the Windows SDK and the Visual Studio Code Name Orcas CTP WinFX Developme......

1075 of 1201 | First Preview Download of VS 2005 Web Application Project Model Now Available - I wrote last week about a new web project model option we are going to make available for VS 2005 (you can read the original post here).  We are calling this option the ASP.NET Web Application project model (VS 2005 also has the ASP.NET Web Site project model built-in as well).   This new ASP.NET Web Application project model option provides the same conceptual web project semantics as VS 2003 web projects (a project file based structure where all code in the project is compiled into a single assembly), but with all the new features of VS 2005 (refactoring, class diagrams, test development, generics, etc) and ASP.NET 2.0 (master pages, data controls, membership/login, role management, Web P......

1076 of 1201 | News: Unity game engine to add full-screen effects, more - The Mac OS X game development engine Unity gains new full-screen graphics effects, handles new workflow tools and sports new character-related features in a forthcoming 1.2 update....

1077 of 1201 | Visual Studio 2005 RTM Will Not Start - Today I ran into a strange problem.  Visual Studios would not launch!  No matter what I did, it was totally dead.   I had remove Visual Studios 2005 Beta 2 a few weeks ago and upgraded to RTM.  Today, I installed BizTalk 2006 Beta 2 and configured it with no problems.  I went to open Visual Studios to work with BizTalk and nothing happened.   I got the Visual Studio Launch screen for about 5 seconds and then gone.  I could see the program start in the task manger but then it just disappeared.  I was not getting any errors in the event log.   I start by reinstalling VS with no luck.  So, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling VS.  Yep, that took some time; still no luck.    I then took a loo......

1078 of 1201 | MSDN Article on Workflow online - A while back, Dharma and I wrote a piece for MSDN mag on WF.It`s now online....

1079 of 1201 | WinFX Workflow: Simplify Development With The Declarative Model Of Windows Workflow Foundation - Windows Workflow Foundation allows you to write workflow-based applications in terms of domain-specific activities that are implemented declaratively or in programming languages such as C# and Visual Basic. Here Don Box and Dharma Shukla get you started....

1080 of 1201 | MSDN Flash Archive and wrap up from Launch. - So you may have noticed that I haven`t been bogging a lot recently... I have been on the road for our launch events for VS, SQL & BizTalk... I have also been head`s down completing an offline training course on Windows Workflow Foundation. Well one thing I have been doing through all this is writing the MSDN Flash... I mentioned in this week`s newsletter how to get the code and slide deck from my ASP .NET 2.0 session at launch. " I really enjoyed presenting the "Developing Cutting Edge Applications with ASP.NET 2.0" session and for those of you that were there I have hosted the demo site that I built during the session taking advantage of the 30 Day Free Hosting. If you would like to downl......

1081 of 1201 | Beyond interactive voice response - I like to say that human beings are the exception handlers for all automated workflows. But, as those of us who endure automated customer service know only too well, human exception handlers are getting harder and harder to find. So a couple of months ago, when my wife forwarded me a link to a list of IVR (interactive voice response) cheats -- that is, ways to short-circuit voice menus and get directly to human agents -- I had a hunch this idea would sprout legs....

1082 of 1201 | New Web Project Model Option Coming for VS 2005 - One of the things that weve been working on the last few months is a new web project model option for Visual Studio 2005 that we are tentatively calling ASP.NET Web Projects.  Our plan is to have an initial preview web-download version of it available for people to install on top of VS 2005 sometime in the next few weeks.   The goal with this new project-option is to address some of the feedback weve heard from people who are finding migrating existing apps to the new web-site project model in VS 2005 more work than theyd like to-do (especially because of the new web site build semantics of compiling a web project into multiple assemblies).  The new project-type will also help enable some s......

1083 of 1201 | Open Source and Visual Studio - Subversion or CVS with VS.NET Microsoft`s forthcoming Visual Studio Team System will include source code control, integrated defect tracking, testing, reports, and a bunch of other project management and project governance tools and capabilities. All built in and integrated. BUT! That does not mean that there are not other options, even open source options. AnkhSVN and Igloo are a couple examples of source code control add-ins for Visual Studio. NUnit covers unit testing.  There are others, too!  Here`s a brief list, with some details: AnkhSVN: A Subversion addin for Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, has been available for 18 months or so now. AnkhSVN is a Visual Studio .NET addin for the Su......

1084 of 1201 | SNARFing email - In a world where humans play an exception handling role, email has become the primary means that business processes (sometimes in the form of our co-workers) use to get our attention.  Build all the fancy workflow systems you want--email will still carry most of the workflow messages in your organization.  That`s one of the reasons [...]...

1085 of 1201 | Design in an innovation-free zone - I recently read an article on the Business Week web site entitled Designing in Hostile Territory that talked about tackling innovative business projects from a designers standpoint in a corporate environment that lacks a creative core. Even though the crux of the article deals with designing methods of enhancing corporate workflow, retaining customers, etc., these methods are very applicable to any designer or developer trying to sell an innovative idea to a reluctant client. The most important point I found was that of empathizing with your adversary... to find and truly understand the reasons why your client, boss, or colleague...

1086 of 1201 | News: Adobe: Aperture is a Bridge alternative, not a rival - The forthcoming arrival of Aperture has provided something of a wake-up call to Adobe—but not because the software giant sees Apple’s new pro-level application for managing and editing digital photos as a Photoshop rival. Rather, Adobe believes that Aperture underscores the desire of professional photographers to have better workflow tools. And that’s a desire Adobe hopes to meet with its own offerings....

1087 of 1201 | End of Process - Ross Mayfield wrote a nice post on `the end of process`. (via Mark) I wouldn`t say `end of process`. But I would say end of process defined as an algorithm. Few quotes: Because of constant change in our environment, processes are outdated the immediately after they are designed. Google is a more public example, albeit an exceptionally new large enterprise, where wikis and weblogs enable a culture of working openly in a flatter and decentralized organization. This is data point helps plot the trend of decentralized organizations that realize economies of scale... The business process definition must focus on data as much as possible and avoid `algorithmic` approach wherever possible. ......

1088 of 1201 | Best job - I have the best job in the world. Jon Flanders is working on a project for the BizTalk and Windows Workflow Foundation product groups so I set up some meetings for him yesterday. In between meetings he was chilling in my office so I started asking him questions about WF (being the BizTalk Server Technical Product Manager Im not as tight on WF as I could be). So Jon is in my office doing a detailed drilldown on the capabilities of the WF designer in Visual Studio and it occurs to me that hundreds of people have paid good money for the privilege of sitting in a crowded room to hear Jon do this sort of thing. Yesterday he was my personal tutor. Amazing ......

1089 of 1201 | BizTalk Server vs Windows Workflow Foundation - When I talk to BizTalk developers about the new Windows Workflow Foundation I always have to explain the difference between BTS and WWF. There are a couple of good blog posts discussing the differences: BizTalk Server 2004/2006 and Windows Workflow Foundation, Brian Loesgen Windows Workflow Foundation vs BizTalk Server, Lamont Harrington But Stephen Kaufman nails it in his latest post: "So, to summarize, Windows Workflow is great for workflow within an application whereas BizTalk is great for workflow across applications and this is precisely why BizTalk shines in Enterprise Application Integration scenarios."...

1090 of 1201 | BlogCast Interview By Dag Knig - Hi, One of my work colegues, Dag König, finally persuaded me to sit an interview for his blog. Dag is one of Sweden`s experts in all things SOA, Microsoft, and beta, and has been running one of the most popular developers blogs in Sweden for a couple of years. Dag was, of course, interested in BizTalk 2006, and how it fits in with SOA and workflow Foundation. The blog is in Swedish, but we took the interview in English. The interview is here. Dag König`s Blog is here.  ...

1091 of 1201 | Feature: Troubleshoot your workflows - Automator is usually straightforward—drag the actions you want into whatever order you want, and then click on Run. When something goes wrong, though, you’ll be glad to have the following tips on hand....

1092 of 1201 | Run Windows Workflow Foundation on Visual Studio 2005 RTM - If you now have Visual Studio 2005 RTM and wanted to try out some of the Windows Workflow stuff... you can download Windows Workflow Foundation Beta 1.2, which runs on .NET 2.0 RTM....

1093 of 1201 | Sweden BizTalk Users Group - Hi, I`m thinking of seeing if there is enough interest to start a BizTalk User Group in Sweden. The plan is to meet in Stockholm, in the city, after work hours, maybe 5pm. You will have to put up with me talking the first time, but I plan to involve other speakers to talk about Windows Workflow, SOA, and other BizTalk related stuff. If you are interested, hit the "Contact" link and I will get back to you with further details. I am aiming for late November, early December for the first meeitng. Cheers, Alan...

1094 of 1201 | Secrets: Take Control of Customizing Tiger: Automator - Still puzzled by OS X 10.4’s built-in automation tool In this excerpt from Take Control of Customizing Tiger, Matt Neuburg walks you through the finer points of Automator and gives you step-by-step instructions on building a sample workflow....

1095 of 1201 | John Evdemon and Paul Andrew on Windows Workflow Foundation - Ron sat down with John Evdemon (Architecture team) and Paul Andrew (Windows Workflow Foundation) in his Webcast today.  Well worth a listen to understand how Windows Workflow Foundation can affect your architectural decisions. [via smguest ]...

1096 of 1201 | Ron`s Webcast on Windows Workflow Foundation - Ron sat down with John Evdemon (Architecture team) and Paul Andrew (Windows Workflow Foundation) in his Webcast today.  Well worth a listen to understand how Windows Workflow Foundation can affect your architectural decisions, although to be honest my favorite bit is the sounds effects ;-)...

1097 of 1201 | Ron`s Webcast on Windows Workflow Foundation - Ron sat down with John Evdemon (Architecture team) and Paul Andrew (Windows Workflow Foundation) in his Webcast today.  Well worth a listen to understand how Windows Workflow Foundation can affect your architectural decisions, although to be honest my favorite bit is the sounds effects ;-)...

1098 of 1201 | Southern Africa, Surveys, and the Single Person Flight - In no particular order of course but let`s start with Surveys.  If you are NOT residing in the United States or Canada (aka you are from the rest of the world) then we want to hear from you and you might win a cool MP3 player as a result.  Read below for more information: Survey: How did you initially learn to use BizTalk What are your preferences for learning new topics What can we do to make BizTalk easier to learn and use Send e-mail to wssinfo@microsoft.com to obtain a secure code and link to the survey. Complete the survey for a chance to win a portable MP3 player! Southern Africa: I`m currently in Heathrow Airport.  A while back (about 20 hours or so) I was rafting on the Zambesi Rive......

1099 of 1201 | Virtual PC does not install on Windows XP 64 bit - roll on Virtual Server 2005 R2 - I knew this before I embarked on this mission, and my hope lay with Virtual Server 2005 R2which will support 64 hosts (find out more here). Ihave just enrolled on theBeta program and hope to be accepted. I am already on the Windows Workflow and BizTalk 2006 Beta programs and I need a Virtual environment in which to participate in those beta programs!...

1100 of 1201 | Feature: Take Automator for a trial run - Think Automator seems cool, but don’t know where to get started Here are five useful workflows you can try right now....