- Workflow and SharePoint Through the Years - SharePoint Workflow Today - SharePoint 2013 Workflow Architecture - Workflow Manager - Design Tools with SharePoint 2013 - SharePoint 2013 Designer - SharePoint 2013 & Visio 2013 - SharePoint 2013 & Visual Studio 2012 - SharePoint 2013 Workflow Demonstration(s)

1. WHAT YOU NEED TO
KNOW ABOUT
WORKFLOW IN
SHAREPOINT 2013
PRESENTED BY:
STEVE BOLDT
steven@k2.com
K2.COM

2. AGENDA
•
•
•
•
•
Workflow and SharePoint Through the Years
SharePoint Workflow Today
SharePoint 2013 Workflow Architecture
Workflow Manager
Design Tools with SharePoint 2013
• SharePoint 2013 Designer
• SharePoint 2013 & Visio 2013
• SharePoint 2013 & Visual Studio 2012
• SharePoint 2013 Workflow Demonstration(s)
• Q & A
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3. SHAREPOINT WORKFLOW THROUGH
THE YEARS
SharePoint 2007 / WSS 3
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4. SHAREPOINT WORKFLOW THROUGH
THE YEARS
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5. SHAREPOINT WORKFLOW THROUGH
THE YEARS
Out of box
Microsoft built and is hosting some common workflows that ship with
SharePoint, these workflows are easily configured and usable upon
installation of MOSS – attach a template to a list/library and go!
Partially Customized
Utilizing a combination of Visio/SharePoint Designer to implement
SharePoint actions/conditions to build rules-based, non-code process
Fully Customized
Build it all from scratch in Visual Studio; have to manage security,
reporting, deployment
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6. SHAREPOINT WORKFLOW THROUGH
THE YEARS
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7. SHAREPOINT WORKFLOW THROUGH
THE YEARS
Conditions:
With Specifics words in the title or other fields
Modified (either in a specific time window or by a person)
Created by or in a specific time frame
File type
File size
ADVANCED Condition
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8. SHAREPOINT WORKFLOW THROUGH
THE YEARS
Actions:
Create task
Update task
Delete task
Send email
Prompt for values
Change Item Status
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9. SHAREPOINT WORKFLOW TODAY
• Workflow moved to Workflow Manager (WM)
• Does not run in SharePoint anymore
• WM is built on WF 4
• WF 4 is part of Microsoft .Net 4.5
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10. SHAREPOINT WORKFLOW TODAY
§ Workflow moved to Workflow Manager (formerly
Azure Workflow Services)
§ Does not run in SharePoint anymore
§ WM is built on WF 4
§ WF 4 is part of Microsoft .NET 4.5
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11. SHAREPOINT 2013 WORKFLOW AT A
GLANCE
• 2 Distinct workflow platforms: 2010 and 2013
• Complete redesigned workflow infrastructure with Workflow Manager
1.0 (WM)
• Design Tool Enhancements
• Call Web Services
• Fully Declarative, no more code
• Visual Designer (with SP Designer)
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12. WORKFLOW AND SHAREPOINT 2013
Installs OTB
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Requires Workflow Manager

13. WORKFLOW AND SHAREPOINT 2013
Installs OTB
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Requires Workflow Manager

14. SHAREPOINT 2013 WORKFLOW
DEPLOYMENT LOCATIONS
On-Premise Deployment:
• WM can be installed on the WFE or separate server
• Must be connected to the SharePoint 2013 farm
• Cannot be on a Domain Controller
SharePoint Online / Office 365 (Off-Premise) Deployment:
• No Deployment necessary, already installed
• No configuration necessary
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15. KEY ARCHITECTURE CHANGES IN 2013
• Powered by Windows Workflow Foundation 4 (WF)
• SharePoint 2013 workflow is now executed in the Workflow
Manager Client 1.0 server
• Communicates with SharePoint using Azure service bus using
common protocols (I.E HTTP)
• Based on .NET framework 4.5
• Enhanced connectivity to enable cloud-based execution of
workflows.
• SharePoint Events are routed to WM and returned via REST
API
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16. SHAREPOINT WORKFLOW TODAY
SharePoint 2013 Workflow Architecture
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17. WORKFLOW MANAGER
WHAT IS WORKFLOW MANAGER?
New host which introduces new capabilities for authoring, hosting
and managing workflows. Also hosts the execution processes for
workflow instances.
Key Points:
• High Density & Multi-tenancy
• Elastic Scale
• Activity / Workflow Artifact Management
• Tracking and Monitoring
• Instance Management
• Fully Declarative Authoring (no code)
• REST and Service Bus Messaging capable
• Interop into SP 2010 Processes
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18. INTEROP BRIDGE
§ Allows for calling of 2010 workflows (List/Site) from SharePoint
2013 (Via new Coordination Actions)
§ Is put in place for backwards compatibility between SharePoint
2013 and SharePoint 2010 workflow engines
§ WM will delegate workflows or portions of workflows to the 2010
Interop engine and provide
§ Synch/Asynch mode available
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19. SHAREPOINT WORKFLOWS TYPES
§
Same as provided in 2010, which include:
§
§
Site Workflows
§ Not associated to a List or Content Type
§ As a result, not all Actions are available
§ Can only be started manually or via code
§
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Reusable & Global Reusable
§ Associated with a Content Type and not a specific list
§ Available anywhere within a Site Collection
§ Recommended best practice approach for SharePoint Workflow
construction
List Workflows
§ Associated only to a specific List
§ Context is the List & Columns
§ Not portable

20. OUT OF THE BOX WORKFLOWS
•
No native 2013 workflows come out of the box. However all 2010 can be
activated.
Examples of SharePoint 2010 Workflow templates available to be activated:
•
Disposition Approval Workflow
•
Publishing Approval workflow
•
Three state workflow
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21. SHAREPOINT 2013 WORKFLOW
DESIGNERS
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22. IMPROVEMENTS IN SHAREPOINT
DESIGNER 2013
• Introducing Stages.
• Workflow doesn’t have to be serial
• Provides for a state machine like experience
• Declarative workflows can now have loop like functionality.
• Loop x # of times.
• Loop while condition is true
• Workflows can now call REST/SOAP Services
• Improved Email editor
• Now supports rich formatting
• Designer supports Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo, Redo, Select-all
• Improved Visual Designer. Visio is now embedded. Can
switch between visual and text-style.
• Can build 2010 or 2013 workflows
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23. SHAREPOINT 2013 WORKFLOW
BUILDING BLOCKS
Stage
- Stage
Step
- Gates
Action
Action
Condition
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- Step
- Loop
- Action
- Condition

24. STAGES AND GATES
Stage
Gate
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25. SHAREPOINT 2013 WORKFLOW
BUILDING BLOCKS - STAGES
§ A word about Stages:
§ A Workflow must have at least one Stage
§ An Start shape is required outside the Stage (but
not Terminate shape)
§ Stages cannot be nested
§ Stages cannot be executed in parallel
§ Only Stages can be contained at the highest level
of the Workflow – Steps, Actions, etc. are
contained within Stages
§ No looping across Stages
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26. SHAREPOINT 2013 WORKFLOW
BUILDING BLOCKS - STEPS
Steps are a logical grouping of Activities that get performed as a single unit
of work
Caveats:
§ Steps must be within a Stage
§ Steps can be used within a Loop
§ Steps may have only one entry and one exit point.
§ Steps can have Steps nested within
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27. SHAREPOINT 2013 WORKFLOW
BUILDING BLOCKS - LOOPS
Visio 2013 and SharePoint Designer 2013 support two types of Loops:
§ Loop n Times
§ Loop with Condition
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Caveats:
§ Loops must be within a Stage, and Stages cannot be within a Loop.
§ Steps may be within a Loop.
§ Loops may have only one entry and one exit point.

28. New Actions in SPD
Action
Description
Assign a Task
Assigns a single workflow task to a user or group.
Start a Task Process
Initiates 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 (REST) endpoint
Start List Workflow
Starts a list scoped workflow (2010)
Start a site workflow
Starts a site scoped workflow (2010)
Build Dynamic value
Creates a new variable of type DynamicValue.
Get Property from Dynamic
Value
Retrieves a property value from a specified variable of type
DynamicValue.
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29. New Actions in SPD
Action
Description
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.
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.
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30. New Actions in SPD
Action
Description
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
Sets the two status fields within the current
status to this value [MS Project] stage of the project.
Set the status field in the idea
list item to this value [MS
Project]
Updates the status field of the original
SharePoint list item.
Wait for Project Event [MS
Project]
Pauses the current instance of the workflow to
await a specified Project event
Set this field in the project to
this value [MSProject]
Sets the value for the enterprise custom field for
a specified project.
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31. NEW TASK ACTIONS
Assign a task - This action is to assign a task to a single user that
outputs a variable and a TaskId. You can use the people picker to select
the person or group to whom you are assigning the task.
Start a Task Process – This action allows you to assign multiple tasks to
multiple users and then use the results in a task process.
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32. CALL HTTP WEB SERVICE
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• Accesses SharePoint 2013 via CSOM
• Expects JSON format
• HTTP Methods:
• Get
• Delete
• Merge
• Put
• Post

33. DICTIONARY TYPES
New Dictionary Variable Type:
• Build Dictionary Action
• Can contain any variable type
• Used to store info
• Important for Call HTTP Web Service
• Count Items in a Dictionary
• Counts variables in a Dictionary
• Used for looping through Dictionary
• Get an Item from a Dictionary
• Get variables stored in a Dictionary
• Useful for retrieving a stand-alone variable
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34. Workflow Example using
SharePoint Designer 2013 and
Visio 2013
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35. VISIO 2013 & SHAREPOINT 2013
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36. VISIO 2013 & SHAREPOINT 2013
• Must be Microsoft Visio Professional 2013
• Carries through traditional method of building
workflows
• Contains a dedicated SharePoint workflow stencil
set
• Matches SPD with Stages and Gates
• Can still go back and forth between Visio and SPD
• Custom actions now can appear in the stencil pane
• Still unable to add workflow properties to shapes.
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37. VISUAL STUDIO 2012
& SHAREPOINT 2013
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K2.COM
Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012
Workflow Manager 1.0 Tools for Visual Studio 2012
Can still import from SPD reusable workflows
o Both 2010 and 2013
New project types, examples include:
o Custom Activity
o Workflow (SharePoint 2013 / Workflow Manager style)
All declarative
New project item templates
Custom Activities
Allows for richer debugging capabilities

38. WORKFLOW DESIGN IN
VISUAL STUDIO 2012
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39. VISUAL STUDIO 2012 PROJECTS
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40. Visual Studio Toolbox
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41. Visual Studio Canvas
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42. COMPARING DESIGNERS
SharePoint
Designer
Visual Studio
2012
Yes
Yes
Create Reusable
Workflows
Create
Templates
Build into SharePoint App
No
Yes
Use Custom Code
No
No
Custom Actions
Consumer of
Actions
Yes, using
custom project
Visio Integration
Yes
No
Debugging
No
Yes
Create Declarative Workflow
Reusability
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43. WHAT’S MISSING IN SHAREPOINT 2013
WORKFLOW??
Actions
Conditions
Features and Functions
Stop Workflow
If Current Item Field
Equals Value
Association Columns
All Document Set Actions
All Records Management Actions
Check List item
permissions levels
Add List item
Check List Item
Permissions
All Permissions Actions
Lookup Manger of user function
Collect Data From User
Start Approval Process
Start Custom Task Process
Start Feedback Process
Copy List Item
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Content type association
Globally reusable workflow
type
Workflow visualization option
Require Manage List/Web
Permission' feature for list/site
workflow
InfoPath is not supported for
SharePoint Designer 2013
workflows.

44. What's Gone for 2013 workflows?
Actions
Conditions
Features and Functions
Stop Workflow
If Current Item Field
Equals Value
Association Columns
All Document Set Actions
Check List item
permissions levels
Content type association
All Records Management Actions
Check List Item
Permissions
Globally reusable workflow
type
Add List item
Workflow visualization option
All Permissions Actions
Require Manage List/Web
Permission' feature for list/site
workflow
Lookup Manger of user function
InfoPath is not supported for
SharePoint Designer 2013
workflows.
Collect Data From User
Start Approval Process
Start Custom Task Process
Start Feedback Process
Copy List Item
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45. For more information contact K2 at:
+1 (877) 822 5552
www.k2.com
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